The Houston Hoots offense exploded for 8 runs on 18 hits against the St. Louis Wizards, holding off a late rally attempt to keep a 2-game lead in the National League. Robin Roberts’ struggles continued, as he allowed 5 runs on 10 hits in 6 innings for St. Louis. After joining the league yesterday, Paul Waner hit his 1st home run in the 2nd inning to get the scoring started. The Hoots scored 3 more in the 3rd with 4 straight base hits, and another in the 4th thanks to Oscar Charleston’s 2-out triple. Ozzie Smith finally got the Wizards on the board in the 5th against Pete Alexander, doubling home Joe Morgan after a Rogers Hornsby error extended the inning. Willie Mays added a solo shot in the 6th, and St. Louis added more in the 7th after Mike Piazza drove in two runs after Hornsby’s 2nd error of the game. But the Wizards couldn’t stop the Hoots offense. Joe McGinnity allowed a run in each of the 3 innings he pitched in his 1st appearance in the league. Bruce Sutter picked up his 10th save with a scoreless 9th, giving Houston an 8-5 win. Charleston went 3 for 5, and was a homer short of the cycle, driving in 3 runs. Tim Raines was 2 for 5. Raines and Charleston lead the NL with a .343 and .338 average respectively.

Hoots @ Wizards – 5/10/23

Bob Feller took a no-hitter into the 6th, while the New York Swats took advantage of Nolan Ryan’s wildness to build a 4-0 lead early over the Oakland Jacks. Ryan walked the bases loaded in the 2nd inning, leading to two runs. A pair of walks sandwiched a Dick Allen double in the 3rd for another New York run. Cal Ripken Jr. added a solo home run in the 4th. Oakland finally got on the board in the 6th after Reggie Jackson broke up the no-hitter with a double. After scoring two runs in the inning, Oakland added another in the 7th when Eddie Collins tripled home Edgar Martínez to cut the Swats’ lead to a run. Joe Mauer’s RBI double gave them a little breathing room before Feller struck out the side in the 8th. Satchel Paige pitched a scoreless 9th to pick up his 7th save as the 5-3 victory gave New York their 5th straight win. Feller allowed 3 runs on 5 hits in 8 innings to earn his 4th win. Ryan dropped to 4-5 with the loss. Joe DiMaggio went 3 for 5 to take over the batting average lead with a .347 average.

Jacks @ Swats – 5/10/23

Los Angeles ace Sandy Koufax bounced back from a rare loss to pick up his 8th win of the season, holding the Chicago Docs to just one run on 5 hits while striking out 8 in 8 innings. Chicago’s Orel Hershiser kept pace, holding the Dynamos scoreless into the 5th. That’s when LA bats got hot. Ed Delahanty, making his 1st start for LA, led off the 5th with his 2nd triple of the game. Pee Wee Reese doubled him home and scored later on a double by Tony Gwynn to give the Dynamos a 2-1 lead. In the 7th, Delahanty flew out before four straight batters reached base, capped by a triple by Gwynn that put LA up 5-1. The Dynamos bats stayed hot against Curt Schilling in the 8th and 9th. Schilling allowed 5 runs on 7 hits over those two innings, allowing back-to-back home runs to Chipper Jones and Delahanty. Delahanty finished 4 for 5 with a homer, two triples, and a double, scoring 3 times. Reese was 4 for 4 with 2 doubles and a walk. Of LA’s 16 hits, 5 were doubles, 4 were triples, and 2 were homers. Koufax has now allowed one run in each of his last 4 starts. It was Hershiser’s 1st loss of the season. With this 11-1 win, the Dynamos are now 19-16.

Dynamos @ Docs – 5/10/23

For 7 innings, it looked like David Cone would break his losing streak, and the Boston Splinters’ losing streak would continue. Cone allowed just one run on 5 hits, and the Detroit Rockets took a 3-1 lead into the 8th. After striking out Carlton Fisk, Ichiro Suzuki reached on a base hit, but Nellie Fox grounded into a force play for the 2nd out. Cone walked Wade Boggs, and Frank Thomas laced a single to load the bases. Cone got ahead of Ted Williams in the count, but left one too far over the plate. Williams connected with a deep grand slam to give Boston a 5-3 lead. Eddie Plank pitched a scoreless 8th in his 1st appearance for Boston. Rollie Fingers followed with a perfect 9th for his 10th save of the season. The victory breaks Boston’s 5-game losing streak. Cone has now lost his last 7 starts. Suzuki went 3 for 3 with a walk for Boston. Lou Whitaker went 3 for 4 and drove in 2 runs for Detroit. Gaylord Perry improved to 5-2, allowing 2 earned runs on 6 hits in 7 innings.

Splinters @ Rockets – 5/10/23

Yesterday, the Los Angeles Dynamos shut out the Chicago Docs. Today, Chicago returned the favor. Jerry Koosman continued his hot streak, allowing just 6 hits and striking out 7 to improve to 5-2. Since his last loss, Koosman is 4-0 with a 0.77 ERA. LA came close to scoring in the 3rd when a Jimmy Rollins error loaded the bases with 2 outs. But Koosman struck out Turkey Stearnes to get out of the inning. Randy Johnson allowed 3 runs on just 5 hits, striking out 10 in 7 innings for the Dynamos. Albert Pujols hit just his 2nd home run of the season, a solo shot in the 4th. Sammy Sosa added a homer in the 8th that ended Johnson’s night. The win puts Chicago just 4 games behind Houston in the National League.

Dynamos @ Docs – 5/9/23

Detroit Rockets starter Dave Stieb picked up just his 2nd win, holding the 1st-place Boston Splinters to just 3 runs on 6 hits to hand them their 5th straight loss. Boston’s Rube Waddell struggled to find his rhythm in his 1st start with the team. Waddell struck out 10, but allowed 12 hits and always seemed to be pitching out of trouble. Three straight hits in the 4th gave Detroit their 1st run. In the 5th, Bobby Veach hit a 2-out triple and scored on Mark McGwire’s single to put the Rockets up 3-0. Wade Boggs hit a 2-run homer off Stieb in the 6th to cut the lead to 3-2 before another 2-out hit in the bottom of the inning gave the Rockets a 4-2 lead. Carlton Fisk’s solo home run leading off the 7th ended Stieb’s day, but the Splinters wouldn’t score again. John Hiller pitched a perfect 9th in his 1st appearance for Detroit to earn his 1st save. Boston’s lead in the American League once seemed untouchable, but they have now lost 5 in a row, and are now just 4 games ahead of New York and Detroit.

Splinters @ Rockets – 5/9/23

The Houston Hoots took advantage of 4 St. Louis Wizards errors, scoring 3 unearned runs in the 1st inning and holding off a late comeback to win their 20th game 4-3. Greg Maddux allowed just one earned run for St. Louis, but a Mike Schmidt error extended the 1st inning and put the Wizards behind 3-0 before they got to bat. Willie Stargell hit a solo home run to lead off the 3rd inning. It was his 9th of the season. Cy Young retired the first 9 batters he faced for Houston. The Wizards then cut the lead in half with 2 runs in the bottom of the 3rd. They added another in the 8th when Stan Musial hit his 2nd double of the game. Bruce Sutter collected his 9th save with a scoreless 9th inning. Honus Wagner was 2 for 5 in his debut, while Paul Waner went 1 for 4. Houston extended their narrow lead in the National League to 1 1/2 games. The Wizards entered with a 3-game winning streak, but are 14-20 after the loss.

Hoots @ Wizards – 5/9/23

Pedro Martínez turned in a strong performance against the Oakland Jacks, scattering 6 hits while striking out 8 over 8 innings to pick up his 3rd win of the season. Martínez allowed back-to-back doubles to Lou Gehrig and Hank Greenberg in the 1st inning for the only Oakland run. The New York Swats tallied 4 runs on 13 hits against Whitey Ford. Rod Carew led off the game for New York with his 2nd home run of the season. Charlie Gehringer added his 1st homer with a solo shot in the 6th. Satchel Paige picked up his 6th save with a scoreless 9th. The 4-1 victory gives the New York Swats their 4th straight win, getting them back to a .500 record at 17-17. Oakland drops to 13-21. Edgar Martínez gave Oakland a bright spot, going 2 for 4 in his debut with the team.

Jacks @ Swats – 5/9/23