With the Los Angeles Dynamos just a game behind in the National League race, the Houston Hoots turned to Pete Alexander. Alexander delivered with his best pitching performance of the season, shutting out the Dynamos on 6 hits. Carl Hubbell matched Alexander through 6 innings. Roberto Clemente hit an RBI double in the 7th to give Houston a 1-0 lead. It was only the 4th hit allowed for Hubbell. In the 8th, the Hoots got some breathing room when they used 4 straight singles to score two more. LA had put two men on with no outs in the top of the 8th, but Alexander got Tony Gwynn to pop up. Craig Biggio followed with a shallow flyout, and Turkey Stearnes struck out to end the threat. With the 3-0 win, Houston has put Los Angeles on a tough rode to the World Series. Down two games with 3 left to play against the Hoots, the Dynamos will need to win them all to make the World Series.

Dynamos @ Hoots – 5/28/23

The Oakland Jacks used two big innings to build a big lead over the Boston Splinters. Boston chipped away, but their 9th-inning comeback fell short, as the Jacks took the 1st game of the final season series 9-8. Oakland’s Lefty Grove walked in a run in the 2nd inning, and allowed a 2-run single to Ichiro Suzuki to give Boston an early 3-0 lead. In the 3rd, Josh Gibson hit a bases-clearing double during a 5-run inning to put the Jacks on top. Mickey Mantle hit an RBI grounder to tie it in the 4th, but Hank Greenberg overthrew 1st as part of a 3-run inning for Oakland. Gibson added another RBI single in the 6th. Wade Boggs hit a solo home run in the 7th to cut into the Oakland lead. Mariano Rivera gave up a leadoff double to Alan Trammell in the 9th, but struck out Boggs and Nap Lajoie. That’s when Iván Rodríguez hit a two-run homer to make it a one-run game. Rivera rebounded to strike out Tris Speaker to save the game. Gibson finished 2 for 3 with 4 RBI. Lou Boudreau was 4 for 5. Suzuki was 2 for 4 to extend his hitting streak to 18 games.

Splinters @ Jacks – 5/28/23

With their spot in the World Series already secured, the Boston Splinters didn’t have anything to prove. Roy Halladay used the time to prep for the post-season, shutting out the New York Swats while allowing just 3 hits. It was Halladay’s 2nd shutout of the season. Pedro Martínez took a no-hitter into the 7th before Mule Suttles hit a solo home run with one out. Back-to-back singles and a sacrifice fly made it 2-0. Suttles drove in Ichiro Suzuki in the 8th with a 2-out single to give Boston a 3-0 lead. Martínez allowed just 5 hits himself in the pitcher’s duel. Boston will need to win 3 of their last 4 games to tie the single-season win record, set by the St. Louis Wizards last year when they went 36-18.

Splinters @ Swats – 5/26/23

After losing his last two starts, Sandy Koufax finally returned to form, allowing just one run on 5 hits through 8 innings against the St. Louis Wizards, finally earning his 10th win of the season, despite a 9th-inning push. Los Angeles jumped out early when Craig Biggio doubled in Tony Gwynn in a 3-run 1st inning. Two innings later, Biggio singled and stole 2nd. After a Willie Wells error, Todd Helton slugged a 3-run homer to put the Dynamos up 6-1. Turkey Stearnes added a 2-run single in the 6th. In the 9th, Mike Piazza led off with a solo homer to make it 8-2. Mike Schmidt doubled with 2 outs, and Johnny Mize hit a 3-run home run to make it 8-5 against a tiring Koufax. Koufax stuck it out to get the complete game victory. Biggio finished 4 for 4, scoring 3 runs and stealing two bases. LA is now just one game behind Houston for the NL lead, with a 4-game series against the Hoots to close the season.

Dynamos @ Wizards – 5/26/23

Orel Hershiser allowed just one earned run on 6 hits in 6 innings, but the Chicago Docs needed two comebacks to top the Houston Hoots to win it 6-4, keeping the race in the National League close. Keith Hernandez hit an RBI single off Phil Niekro to give Chicago an early lead, but an error by Albert Pujols led to three unearned runs in the bottom of the inning to put Houston on top 3-1. Sammy Sosa hit an RBI double in the 6th, and scored on Pete Rose’s 2-out single to tie the game. Paul Waner gave the Hoots the lead back with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the inning. But things fell apart for Niekro in the 7th. Albert Pujols hit an RBI double to tie the game back up, and two batters later Jim Edmonds hit a 2-run single to give the Docs a 6-4 lead. Kevin Brown gave Chicago two scoreless innings of relief, and Tug McGraw pitched a scoreless 9th for his 8th save. Houston’s lead in the National League is back to 1 1/2 games. So far, Los Angeles hasn’t been able to take advantage. LA will face St. Louis later today.

Docs @ Hoots – 5/26/23

Ken Griffey Jr. went 3 for 4, hitting 2 home runs and driving in 4 runs to lead the Oakland Jacks over the Detroit Rockets to take the series 3-1. Detroit loaded the bases with no outs in the 1st against Nolan Ryan, scoring twice to take an early lead. Robin Yount tripled and scored in the 3rd against Kevin Appier to tie the game. After Hank Greenberg singled, Griffey hit his 1st homer to give Oakland a 4-2 lead. He hit another 2-run shot in the 5th to extend the lead. An Edgar Martínez error in the 7th led to an unearned run before Ryan walked three straight, walking in another run and cutting Oakland’s lead to 6-4. Oakland would get one back when Rafael Palmeiro misplayed a grounder, allowing a run to score. Mariano Rivera closed things out for the 7-4 win and his 6th save. Oakland is now within a game of getting out of last place in the American League.

Rockets @ Jacks – 5/26/23