The Los Angeles Dynamos overcame an early 3-0 deficit against the Chicago Docs, scoring 4 runs over the last 3 innings to win it 4-3 in a rain-shortened game. Albert Pujols hit a 2-run home run in the 1st inning off Carl Hubbell to get Chicago going early. Barry Bonds followed by leading off the 2nd with a solo homer. Ron Santo responded with a solo shot against Orel Hershiser to lead off the 3rd. Back-to-back doubles from Tony Gwynn and Craig Biggio cut the lead to 3-2. LA loaded the bases in the 4th, but Hershiser struck out Santo and Gary Carter before getting Gwynn to ground out. In the 5th, with rain starting to fall, Chipper Jones took Hershiser deep with two outs to give LA a 4-3 lead. Pujols singled to lead off the 5th, but three straight flyouts ended the inning as the rain got heavier. With no end to thunderstorms, the umpire crew called it. The win keeps LA within two games in the National League. Chicago is now 9 games back with 9 games to play.

Docs @ Dynamos – 5/21/23

Carlton Fisk hit a 3-run home run off Kevin Appier in the 2nd inning, and the Boston Splinters never looked back, topping the Detroit Rockets 8-1. Ted Williams hit a solo homer in the 3rd, and in the 4th it was Fisk again, with a solo shot to give him 2 HR and 4 RBI on the day. Alan Trammell added another solo home run in the 6th. Batting leader Ichiro Suzuki even got in on the fun, hitting a 2-run homer in the 8th off reliever Urban Shocker. Roy Halladay allowed just one run on 5 hits, striking out 8 in a complete game win. Suzuki finished 3 for 5 to raise his batting average to .365. With the win, Boston is back up to a 5-game lead in the American League pennant race.

Rockets @ Splinters – 5/21/23

In a tight game, the Houston Hoots came through with base hits at the right time, topping the St. Louis Wizards 3-2 to keep a 2 1/2 game lead in the National League race. Houston put together three straight singles to score a run off Greg Maddux in the 1st. A Stan Musial double and a Larry Walker triple off Phil Niekro gave St. Louis a 2-1 lead in the 4th. But the Hoots put together another good inning off Maddux in the 6th. Eddie Mathews capped three more hits with an RBI single, and Ted Simmons hit a double in the gap to score another run before Mathews was thrown out at the plate. Houston loaded the bases in the 7th, but failed to score. In the 8th, reliever Billy Wagner hit two batters and threw two wild pitches, but somehow escaped the inning without a Hoots run scoring. Bruce Sutter shut down St. Louis in the 9th for his 15th save. Niekro allowed 2 runs on just 6 hits in 8 innings to earn his 5th win. It’s a tight race heading into the final stretch of the season.

Wizards @ Hoots – 5/21/23

The New York Swats held on, holding off a late rally by the Oakland Jacks to win their 4th straight game, 4-3. Joe Mauer hit a 2-run single in the 1st off Stan Coveleski, but Coveleski held New York to just 4 hits over the next 7 innings. Pedro Martínez ran into trouble in the 4th when a couple of walks, a hit batter, and a wild pitch allowed Oakland to tie things up 2-2. Roberto Alomar’s sacrifice fly in the 6th put the Swats back on top 3-2. With two out in the 9th, Cal Ripken hit a solo shot off Mariano Rivera to extend the New York lead. Oakland didn’t go quietly in the bottom of the 9th off Satchel Paige. Edgar Martínez singled, and Eddie Collins walked before Paige struck out Reggie Jackson. Lou Boudreau doubled, but Collins held at 3rd as the tying run. Paige then struck out Lou Gehrig and Hank Greenberg to save things for the 4-3 win. New York has closed in the American League to within 4 1/2 games of the Boston Splinters. Martínez allowed just 2 runs on 5 hits in 8 innings. Coveleski dropped to 0-6, despite a good outing.

Swats @ Jacks – 5/21/23

Before Cy Young could retire the 2nd out in the 1st inning, the Houston Hoots were down 5-0 against the St. Louis Wizards thanks to Mike Piazza’s 2-run single followed by a 3-run home run by Stan Musial. Tim Raines tripled in a run in the 3rd to get Houston on the board, but St. Louis got the run back in the 5th. St. Louis put together a 2-out rally in the 8th against reliever Fergie Jenkins. With Willie McCovey already on, Joe Morgan singled. Jenkins walked Willie Wells to load the bases, and Duke Snider hit a grand slam to give the Wizards a 10-1 lead. Musial drove in another run in the inning to give St. Louis a 10-run lead. Robin Roberts had allowed just one run on 7 hits heading into the bottom of the 8th. But 6 hits later, Houston had narrowed the lead to 11-5. Jesse Haines came in and pitched a perfect 9th to remove any hopes of a Houston comeback. Musial finished 3 for 5 with 4 RBI. The loss ended Houston’s 4-game winning streak and narrowed their lead in the National League to 2 games over the Los Angeles Dynamos.

Wizards @ Hoots – 5/20/23

Two big errors cost the Oakland Jacks early, as they fell to the New York Swats 7-4, statistically eliminating them from a chance at the World Series. Addie Joss allowed leadoff singles to Ty Cobb and Paul Molitor before Hank Greenberg misplayed a flyball in the 1st inning. While Babe Ruth grounded into a double-play, Edgar Martínez misplayed a groundball from Dick Allen to extend the inning even further. Three more hits, including a 2-run double by Harry Heilmann, gave New York 5 unearned runs in the 1st. Greenberg followed a Charlie Gehringer error with a 2-run homer to get some runs back in the bottom of the inning off Bob Feller. But Feller cruised after that. Martínez homered in the 7th, but Feller allowed just 3 runs on 7 hits in 8 innings while striking out 10 to give New York the win. Joss allowed a run in back-to-back innings to give New York a 7-3 lead heading into the 9th. Red Ruffing finished things out, despite a Cal Ripken error leading to another unearned run that closed the gap to 7-4. Oakland is now 17-27, and are 11 games back in the American League with just 10 games left to play.

Swats @ Jacks – 5/20/23

Five of the 1st six Los Angeles hitters reached base against Chicago’s Jerry Koosman, capped by a bases-clearing double by Chipper Jones, to give LA a 4-1 lead in the 1st inning in today’s game. Jones drove in another in a 2-run 3rd. Randy Johnson held Chicago to 3 hits over 7 innings, but walked 5. Four of those walked hitters scored in the game, but the Docs could never quite catch up. Orlando Cepeda hit a solo home run in the 5th, and Pee Wee Reese added an RBI single to extend the LA lead. The Dynamos would go on to win it 8-4. Jones finished 2 for 4 with 4 RBI in the game. With the win, Los Angeles closed to 2 1/2 games with the Houston Hoots for the National League lead.

Docs @ Dynamos – 5/20/23

The Detroit Rockets jumped out to an early 8-0 lead against Jim Palmer and the Boston Splinters, and never let go. Palmer allowed 5 straight hits to start the game, capped by an RBI double by Rafael Palmeiro for a 4-run 1st inning. Bill Freehan led off the 2nd with a solo home run, and Palmeiro drove in two more with another double to put Detroit up 7-0. An error by Nellie Fox led to another unearned run in the 3rd. Ted Williams finally drove in the 1st Boston run against Bret Saberhagen in the 6th. Mark McGwire put the game out of reach with a 3-run homer off reliever Walter Johnson in the 7th. Five straight hits in the 8th ended Saberhagen’s day, but the 4 runs were too little too late, and Detroit held on for an 11-5 win. Palmeiro finished 3 for 5 with 3 doubles and 3 RBI. Joe Jackson went 4 for 5. Frank Thomas was 3 for 4 to lead the Boston offense. Heading into the final 10 games of the season, Boston still holds a 5 1/2 game lead over New York for the American League pennant.

Rockets @ Splinters – 5/20/23

The Los Angeles Dynamos held off a comeback, topping the Chicago Docs 6-5 in a sloppy game. Troy Tulowitzki hit a home run off Tom Seaver to lead off the game for Chicago. After an error by Ron Santo in the 2nd, Barry Bonds took Seaver deep to put Chicago up 3-0. Los Angeles responded in the bottom of the inning against William Bell. Craig Biggio hit an RBI single with 2 outs, and Turkey Stearnes followed with a 3-run homer to give LA the lead. Los Angeles loaded the bases to lead off the 4th and 5th innings, but only had one run to show for it, as Bell pitched out of the jam nearly unscathed both times. Chicago mounted a rally in the 6th when Jim Edmonds singled home Buster Posey. Pete Rose walked to load the bases with just one out. Bonds followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the game, but that’s all Chicago would get. After a Tulowitzki error, Ron Santo hit a sac fly to put LA on top again. Chicago had a chance in the 8th when back-to-back errors by Pee Wee Reese and Tony Gwynn loaded the bases, but Seaver struck out Lonny Frey and got Tulowitzki to ground out to end the chance. Lee Smith pitched a scoreless 9th to pick up his 9th save. The win ends LA’s 4-game losing streak and keeps them 3 games behind Houston. Stearnes finished 4 for 5, and is hitting .415 so far.

Dynamos @ Docs – 5/19/23

The Detroit Rockets held a brief lead, but couldn’t mount a comeback to overcome two home runs by the Boston Splinters. An RBI double by Rafael Palmeiro in the 4th put the Rockets up 1-0. Nellie Fox drove in Ichiro Suzuki in the 5th to tie it up. In the 6th, the Boston offense finally broke out against David Cone. Frank Thomas led off the inning with his 13th homer. With two outs, Alan Trammell doubled in another run, and Iván Rodríguez followed with a 2-run shot. RBI doubles by Kenny Lofton and Álex Rodríguez would cut the Boston lead to 5-3, but that’s where Detroit stalled. Rollie Fingers pitched a scoreless 9th to earn his 11th save. Bert Blyleven improved to 9-1, leading the American League. Cone, on the other hand, fell to 1-8 for Detroit. Suzuki went 3 for 4 to extend his lead in the American League batting title race. Boston has won 7 of their last 10, and hold a 6-game lead in the AL with just 11 left to play.

Rockets @ Splinters – 5/19/23