April 25 Highlights

Nolan Ryan, New York Mets, threw a complete game, three-hit shutout of the Los Angels Dodgers for his first win of the season, Ryan struck out eight and walked four.

The Montreal Expos rallied for four runs in the top of the ninth to tie their game against the San Francisco Giants, but Giants catcher Dick Dietz led off the  home half of the inning with a game winning home run off the first pitch from Expos relief pitcher Claude Raymond.

Henry Aaron, Atlanta, went three-for four with a home run in the Braves 6-5 win over the Pirates at Pittsburgh Forbes Field.

The Cardinals Lou Brock had four hits including a double, and scored three runs in St. Louis 5-3 win over the visiting Cincinnati Reds. The win snapped a ten-game losing streak for the Cards.

Jim Bunning, Philadelphia Philles, threw a complete game and the phillies rallied with six runs in the seventh inning to beat the Padres 7-3. The win was Bunning’s third of the season against no defeats.

The Milwaukee Brewers swept their day-night doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox with a pair of late-inning rallies. The Brewers scored four in the ninth in the opener for a 6-3 win, then scored three in the eighth inning of the night cap for a 5-3 win over the home team. The Brewers have now won nine of their last ten games to pull within two games of the division leading Minnesota.

Earl Wilson, Detroit Tigers, threw a complete game shutout against the Minnesota Twins today at Metropolitan Stadium. Wilson struck out nine and allowed seven hits. Twins batters stranded eleven baserunners.

April 24 Highlights

Game of the Day: Atlanta Braves @ Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates jumped out to an early 2-0 lead off the Atlanta Braves and their starting pitcher Jim Nash, in a large part to some control issues for Nash and an error from shortstop Sonny Jackson. With one out Nash hit both  Richie Hebner and Roberto Clemente with pitches, and Jackson’s error on a potential double-play ball off the bat of Willie Stargell loaded up the sacks with Bucs. Al Oliver popped up for the second out, but catcher Manny Sanguillen came through with a base hit to right center to drive in a pair of runs.  Nash would settle down after the rocky start, and the Braves tied the score in the third off a two-base hit off the bat of Rico Carty that scored Jackson and Henry Aaron. The Bucs starter, twenty-two year old Bob Moose (making hist first start of the season after being activated from the disabled list) pitched shut-out ball the rest of the way as the two teams went into the bottom of the ninth still tied at two. Oliver led off the Pirates half of the ninth with a ball that split the outfielders for a two-base hit. Nash then walked Sanguillen intentionally, and the veteran Bill Mazeroski‘s ground out to second put the runners in scoring position with only one out. Nash managed to get the Bucs youngster Freddie Patek to strike out on three straight pitches, which brought up the pitchers spot in the batting order. Manager Danny Murtaugh went with the righty Bob Robertson to pinch-hit for Moose, and Bob jumped on the first pitch from Nash, driving it between right side of the infield, driving in Oliver with the winning run.

Tony Perez, Cincinnati Reds, drove in five runs, going 3-for-5 with a double and his eleventh home run of the season in the Reds 7-4 win over the Cardinals in St. Louis.

Vada Pinson, Cleveland Indians, went 4-for-5, with two doubles and a home run in the Indians 12-6 loss to the White Sox.

Harmon Killebrew, Minnesota Twins, had a pair of home runs in the Twins 9-3 rout of the visiting Detroit Tigers.

Transactions:

Houston: Activated pitcher Don Wilson from disabled list. Optioned pitcher Don Omiski to AAA.

Pittsburgh: Activated pitcher Bob Moose off the disabled list. Optioned pitcher Gener Garber to AAA.

April 23 Highlights

Washington’s firstbaseman Mike Epstein went 4-for-6 with a double and a pair of home runs, knocking in five in the Senators 14-7 win over the Yankees. The Senators took the last three of their four game series with the visiting New Yorkers.

April 22 Highlights

Game of the Day: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Montreal Expos

Aided by shoddy Dodgers pitching, the Expos rallied from a 9-3 deficit against the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the seventh and then held on for a 10-9 win. Bobby Wine started off the inning by drawing a walk off the Dodgers starting pitcher, Don Sutton. Gary Sutherland pinch-hit for John Strohmayer, who had come in relief of the Expos starter Bill Stoneman, who had pitched the first four inning giving up five runs, only one of which was earned.  Sutton walked Sutherland and Mack Jones to load the bases. Marv Staehle singled back through the box to score Wine and knock Sutton out of the game. Fred Norman was brought in from the Dodgers bullpen to face Rusty Staub, and promptly hit Staub with a pitch to force in Sutherland from third. Ron Fairley then walked on a full count to force in another Expo run. Norman managed to get Coco Laboy to ground out back to the mound to force the runner at the plate for the first out of the inning. Jim Fairey  flew out to the Dodger centerfielder Willie Davis to score Staub from third. Norman then walked Jack Hiatt to load up the bases once again with two out. Norman then committed a balk to force in the run, cutting the Dodger lead to one. Wine, coming up for the second time in the inning, singled back through the middle, scoring the tying and eventual winning run for Montreal.  Claude Raymond shut down the Dodgers in the final two innings to earn his first save of the season. Strohmayer earned the win, his first of the year, and Norman ended up taking the loss. An outstanding hitting effort by the Dodgers’ Billy Grabarkewitz was wasted; he had the first three-home run day in the majors this season, driving in six of the Dodgers runs for the day.

Willie McCovey, San Francisco, hit a Grand Slam home run to even the score in the eighth inning of the Giants game against Phillies At Connie Mack Stadium. The Giants went on to win 6-4 in ten innings.

Ken Boswell, New York Mets, had two home runs and five runs-batted-in in the Mets 13-1 rout of the San Diego Padres.

Baltimore’s Frank Robinson had three hits and scored three runs, and Brooks Robinson drove in a pair along with four hits in the Orioles come-from-behind win over the Boston Red Sox.

Al Downing, Oakland A’s, pitched a three-hit complete game shutout of the Kansas City Royals.

Harmon Killebrew, Minnesota, scored three and drove in three with a  home run in the Twins 12-5 win over the visiting Chicago White Sox.

Hank Allen, Washington, drove in seven runs, going four-for-six with two doubles and a homer in the Senators 17-7 rout off the New York Yankees. Curt Blefary had two home runs for New York.  Del Unser and Ken McCullen each added four hits apiece for the Senators.

TRANSACTIONS:

Chicago (N): Placed catcher Randy Hundley on disabled list. Promoted pitcher Larry Gura from AAA.

Milwaukee: Activated Mike Hershberger, OF, from disabled list. Optioned outfielder Sandy Valdespino to AAA.

Montreal: Claimed OF Jim Qualls off waivers. Released pitcherKen Johnson.

April 21 Highlights

Game of the Day: St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs

The Cubs rallied from two runs down in the ninth to beat the visiting Cardinals by a score of 6-5 in ten innings. The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the first inning after Lou Brock tripled to lead off the inning and scored on Jose Cardenal‘s ground out to the Cubs shortstop Don Kessinger. Leron Lee lead off the Cardinals half of the third with a base-hit and took third when Cubs rightfielder Johnny Callison misplayed a flyball off the bat of Julian Javier to put runners on second and third. Cardinals starting pitcher Bob Gibson scored Lee on a ground out to first. The Cubs got one back in the bottom of the inning when Ernie Banks bounced a base-hit between third and short with the bases loaded and two outs to score Billy Williams. Banks then put the Cubs ahead in the seventh when he homered with a runner on first to put the Cubs up 3-2. Carl Taylor put the Cards back on top in the eighth with a two-run home run, his first of the season. The Cards then added an insurance run for Gibson with three straight singles, the last off the bat of Joe Torre, driving in Cardenal. Even though Gibson had pitched eight strong innings, allowing the three runs on eight hits and striking out seven Cubs batter, manager Red Schoendienst brought in a fresh arm out of the bullpen to close out the game. Chuck Taylor got Banks to ground-out back to the mound to start the inning, then got Jim Hickman to fly out to Cardenal in center to get two quick outs in the ninth. But then Cards thirdbaseman Dick Allen booted the possible game ending out off the bat of pinch-hitter J.C. Martin. Pinch-hitter Willie Smith then singled to put runners on first and third, and Kessinger walked to load the bases. Rightfielder Lee then dropped what could have been the game ending play that allowed two Cubs to score and even up the score. The Cardinals threatened in the tenth with runners on second and third with two outs but couldn’t get the runners home, and venerable Ernie Banks singled hgome Callison with the game winning run in the bottom of the inning. Ted Abernathy pitched the tenth inning and got the win to bring his season record to 2-0; Tom Hilgendorf (0-1) took the loss in relief.

Cito Gaston, San Diego Padres, went 3-for-5 with a home run, two runs scored and five RBI in the Padres 12-3 win over the New York Mets at Shea Stadium.

Cleveland’s Graig Nettles went 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBI in the Indians 9-7 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

Bill Melton, thirdbaseman for the White Sox, drove in three with a home run in Chicago’s 7-5 win over the Twins at Metropolitan Stadium.

Washington’s catcher Johnny Roseboro was 5-for-5 with four doubles and two runs scored in the Senators’ 8-7 extra inning win over the Yankees. Mike Epstein hit two homeruns and Frank Howard added another, his fifth of the season.

TRANSACTIONS:

Pittsburgh Pirates sign pitcher Al McBean off waivers. Optioned reliever Lou Marone to AAA Indianapolis.

 

April 20 Highlights

The Pirates pounded out 21 hits in their 12-4 win over the visiting Houston Astros today at Forbes Field. Roberto Clemente went 4-for-6 with a double, and Gene Alley also collected four hits. Matty Alou and Willie Stargell each added three hits apiece, and even Pirate starter and eventual winning pitcher Dock Ellis added two hits, both doubles (one with the bases loaded). It was just one of those days for the Astros as they helped out the Pirates by contributing three errors, two hit batters, a wild pitch and a balk.

Frank Robinson, Baltimore Orioles had two homeruns, one that cleared the Green Monster, going 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs score in the Orioles 9-4 win today over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Sal Bando hit a three-run, pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the ninth to bring the Oakland A’s even with the visiting Kansas City Royals. Bob Johnson won the game with a two-run homer to win the game for Oakland in the tenth inning, sending the Royals to their fifth straight loss and lowering their record to 2-9, last in the A.L. West division.

Gene Brabender pitched a complete game, three-hit shutout against the California Angels in the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 win. He allowed only one walk and struck out two.

Frank Howard had two home runs, his third and fourth of the season, but the Senators lost to the visiting New York Yankees by an 8-6 score.

MESSERSMITH NO-HITS KC

Andy Messersmith made it look easy through the first eight innings, needing only 75 pitches to work his way through the first 25 batters he faced, allowing only one base-on-balls to the Royals Amos Otis in the fourth and striking out six. There wasn’t even a truly difficult play behind him either, as the closest call came with two out in the sixth when Royals rightfielder George Spriggs hit a slow roller to the right side of the infield that got past Messersmith. Secondbaseman Sandy Alomar made a clean pick-up of the ground-ball and threw Spriggs out by a good step at first. Kansas City’s starter, Dick Drago, kept the score even through four. The Angels finally broke through in the fifth; firstbaseman Roger Repoz hit a one-out double and he scored after Aurelio Rodriguez lined a Drago fastball down into the right field corner for a triple. The Angels pushed across two more runs in the seventh after Jay Johnstone and Bill Spencer, inserted as a defensive replacement for Repoz at first, led off the inning with back to back two-base hits. Messersmith knocked in the second run of the inning with a base hit to score Spencer from third.

Messersmith first faced Royals catcher Ellie Rodrigues leading off the ninth. Rodriguez popped up a 2-0 pitch that Jay Johnstone caught in shallow centerfield. Hawk Taylor, pinch-hitting for Drago, then walked on a 3-2 pitch that was just off the outside corner of the plate. Spriggs then worked the count full and Messersmith walked him on a pitch well above the strike zone. Ed Kirkpatrick then lifted the first pitch from Messersmith down the left-field line into shallow left on what should have been a fairly routine, if not easy catch for leftfielder Alex Johnson, but the ball hit off the heal of his glove and for a long moment the crowd of 11,643 held their collective breaths to see how the official scorer would rule on the play. But “E-7″ was soon flashed up on the scoreboard, and rightly so as the catch should have been made. Now the situation was made even tighter, as Taylor had scored on the error, and Spriggs was now on third and Kirkpatrick on second with the potential tying run and still only one out with the ever dangerous Amos Otis coming to the plate. Back on April 7th Otis had broken up a bid for a no-hitter by the A’s Blue Moon Odom with a two-out double in the seventh inning of that game. With the count 0-1, Messersmith jammed Otis with a fastball that he popped up to Alomar for the seond out.  Big Bob Oliver was the last chance for the Royals, and with the pop in his bat he was more than capable of not only breaking up Messersmith’s bid, but also potentially costing him the game.  Oliver hit a high pop foul down the first base line on a 1-1 count that was a few rows back and out of the reach of Spencer, but Messersmith nailed the game and the first no-hitter of the 1970 major league season with a breaking pitch that caught the outside corner of the plate for a called strike three.

April 19 Highlights

The Dodgers put together four singles and were aided by a wild pitch to score three runs in the top of the 11th for a 7-4 win against the Braves in Atlanta. Rico Carty‘s two-run blast in the fourth helped Atlanta pull out to a 3-1 lead, but the Dodgers scored three times in the seventh to take a 4-3 lead. Maury Wills was just able to beat out an two-out infield hit to third that extended the Dodgers inning, and Willie Davis singled in Wills with the go-ahead run. Mike Lum tied the game back up in the bottom of the seventh with a pinch-hit home run. The Braves had the bases loaded in the ninth with Rico Carty at the plate with two out, but Los Angeles reliever Jim Brewer got Carty to ground out to third to end the Braves threat.

For eight innings Wayne Simpson and the Cincinnati Reds had cruised through the San Francisco line-up. After surrendering a solo shot to the Giants rightfielder Ken Henderson in the first, Simpson didn’t allow another hit until the seventh. Giants starter Gaylord Perry was also dominate through six innings, but the Reds exploded for three runs in each of the seventh and eighth innings, helped in part by some wildness by the Giants pitchers and a Giants error. Meanwhile Simpson went into the ninth, and even though he showed signs of tiring, walking two and giving up a couple hits, he managed to get a ground out and struck out Hal Lanier to put the Reds within an out of putting the game away. But after Bob Burda sungled through the middle of the infield to score two runs, Reds manager Sparky Anderson decided to go to the bullpen and brought in right-hander Clay Carroll. After getting two strikes on Bob Heise, the Giants shortsop singled to load up the bases. Carroll then grooved a pitch which Ron Hunt took it deep over the leftfield wall for a Grand Slam home run that gave the Giants a 7-6 lead. Giants manager Clyde King then brought in Don McMahon in the bottom of the ninth to try and finish off the Reds, but Pete Rose met him with his second homerun of the season, a solo shot leading off the Reds half of the inning that tied the game and sent it into extra innings. In the twelfth Willie McCovey hit a two-run home run off the Reds fourth pitcher of the game, Ray Washburn, to put the Giants ahead. In the Reds half, Daryl Chaney, pinch hitting for Washburn, drove in a run to cut the Giants lead to one, and with two runners on base and two outs, King brought in lefty Ron Bryant, and his first pitch to the Reds Angel Bravo was grounded to McCovey at first to end the game and cap off an improbable comeback win for the Giants.

A fielding gaffe by Mets centerfielder Tommie Agee and rightfielder Ron Swoboda made the difference in the Phillies 8-7 win in the second game of their Sunday doubleheader in Shea Stadium. With a runner on second and one out in the top of the ninth with the score tied at seven, Phillies back-up catcher Mike Ryan, pinch-hitting for Tim McCarver, lifted a fly-ball to right center, which Agee and Swoboda allowed to fall between them, each expecting the other to make the play. The Mets sqaundered the lead three times in the game. After falling behind 2-0 in the first, the Mets scored three in the third to take the lead, only to have the Phillies tie the score in the top of the next inning on a solo home run by Byron Browne. The Mets again lead by a score of 6-3 going into the sixth, only to have the Phillies even the score once again. Ed Kranepool, pinch-hitting for Don Cardwell, led off the Mets half of the sixth with a home run to once again put the New Yorkers on top, but Browne hit his second home run of the game in the eighth to one again even the score.

Mike Cuellar of the Baltimore Orioles pickes up his second win of the season, pitching a five hit shutout against the visiting New York Yankees. Roy White was the only Yankee bat that seemed to mystify Cuellar, as he accounted for three of the Yankees hits.

Transactions:

Philadelphia Phillies activate catcher Mike Ryan off disabled list. Optioned catcher Mike Compton to AAA.

April 18 Highlights

Billy Williams went 4-for-4 with six runs scored, two RBIs, and his first home run of the season to spark a 16-6 win for the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field against the Montreal Expos. Catcher Randy Hundley added a Grand Slam home run.

Pittsburgh’s Luke Walker pitched 8.2 innings against the St. Louis Cardinals at Forbes Field, striking out eleven on his way to his second win of the season.

Danny Coombs, pitcher for the San Diego Padres, pitched a complete game against the Houston Astros today in the Astrodome, while only allowing five hits and one earned run to pick up his first win of the season.

Catcher Tim McCarver, catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, drove in four runs with a home run, and Larry Bowa went 4-for-4 as the Philadelphia Philles crushed the Mets in Shea Stadium by a score of 11-6.

Jim Northrup broke out of his slump with four hits, and Willie Horton drove in the winning run in the eleventh as the Detroit Tigers beat the visiting Boston Red Sox 6-5.

Reggie Jackson had two hits, including a home run, to lead the Oakland A’s to a 4-2 win over the visiting Minnesota Twins. Al Downing pitched a complete game, allowing on six hits (though he did walk seven) to hand the Twins their first loss of the season.

Matty Alou 1938-2011

Matty Alou, 1970

Associated Press (Nov. 3, 2011) - Matty Alou, once part of an all-Alou outfield for the Giants with brothers Felipe and Jesus, died Thursday in his native Dominican Republic. He was 72.

He died of diabetes complications, according to his former Dominican team, Leones del Escogido. The Giants also confirmed his death and said Alou had been sick for several years with a variety of health issues.

Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda said he knew his “great friend” had been ailing.

“We roomed together a few times with the Giants,” Cepeda said by phone. “Very funny guy, hell of a ballplayer. When Matty was playing with the Giants, he was a dead fastball hitter, he could pull anybody, I don’t care how hard they threw.”

A two-time All-Star, Alou became the 1966 National League batting champion with the Pirates when he hit .342. He spent his first six years with San Francisco from 1960-65 and also played for St. Louis, Oakland, the New York Yankees and San Diego.

“Although he played for six different teams, Matty remained a part of the Giants family as a longtime employee and will be forever linked with his brothers, Felipe and Jesus, as the first all-brother major league outfield,” the Giants said.

Alou — who worked for a time as an adviser in the Giants’ baseball operations department before his health problems persisted — was a career .307 hitter with 31 home runs, 427 RBIs, 1,777 hits and 236 doubles in 15 major league seasons.

The Alou brothers made history in 1963 when they appeared in the same outfield for several games.