May 1 Highlights

Tom Seaver of the Mets raised his season record to four wins without a loss by spinning a one-hit shutout of the San Diego Padres. “Tom Terrific” was simply that, only allowing a bloop single off the bat of Nate Colbert in the home half of the second inning, while striking out thirteen without giving up a walk. Seavernow leads the league with 53 strikeouts in only 46 innings of work.

Willie Smith‘s 3-run home run and Billy Williams‘ four hits in his 1000th consecutive game played, lead Chicago to a 5-4 Win over the Braves at Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium. Tony Gonzalez, Henry Aaron and Rico Carty accounted for ten of the Braves 16-hit attack in a losing effort.

Dock Ellis of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati’s Wayne Simpson both pitched masterfully but didn’t factor in the decision as the Reds took a 1-0 win in twelve innings. Reliever Dave Giutsi‘s wild pitch allowed Bernie Carbo to score the winning run for the Reds.

Bobby Bonds, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Jim Davenport and Hal Lanier all clobbered homeruns for the Giants in an 8-0 rout over the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. San Francisco Rich Robertson raised his record to 4-1 by scattered nine hits and striking out eight for his first complete game shutout this season.

Danny Cater singled in the winning run with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to cap a Yankees rally against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers had snapped a 3-3 tie in the top of the ninth, scoring twice to take the lead into the home half of the inning.

Rich Reese hit a two-run home run and Leo Cradenas added a solo shot as the visiting Twins took the first game of a series of early season division leaders 3-1 over the Baltimore Orioles.

Casey Cox of the Washington Senators only needed 95 pitches to spin a three-hit shutout of the visiting Oakland A’s. Mike Epstein added four hits, including a double and home run, to pace Washington’s attack in the 5-0 win.

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 San Francisco, 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 for 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  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 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 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.

April 16 Highlights

The Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers scratched and clawed their way through an 18-inning marathon today at Tiger Stadium, with the Indians prevailing in the end by a score of 8-6. The two teams were tied at two going into the home half of the seventh when Gates Brown, pinch-hitting for starting pitcher Earl Wilson, drove a Dean Chance fastball into the bleachers in left with two runners on to give Detroit a 5-2 lead. Vada Pinson got one back with a home run with one out in the top of the ninth, but after Tony Horton flew out to Mickey Stanley in center for the second out of the inning it looked like almost a sure thing for the home team. Tom Timmerman had replaced Wilson on the mound and had gotten through the eighth and two outs into the ninth, but after he hit Roy Foster with a pitch then gave up a base hit to Duke Sims to put the tying runs on base, Detroit manager Mayo Smith brought in lefty John Hiller to face the left handed batting Graig Nettles. Nettles walked on a full count to load the bases and Larry Brown squeezed a ground ball between the Tigers thirdbaseman and shortstop to drive in the tying runs. The score stayed knotted at 5 until the sixteenth inning, when Brown drove in Foster from third with a two-out single. With one out in the home half of the inning, Mickey Stanley was safe on an error by Nettles. Stanley stole second, went to third on a Freehand ground ball, and scored on a triple off the bat of Elliot Maddox. Jerry Robertson had given the Tigers two good innings but there was no one left in the Detroit bullpen so Mayo Smith had no choice but to send him out for a third inning and this time the Indians got to the tiring Robertson for two runs on three doubles by Foster, Nettles and Dick Ellsworth. Ellsworth (1-0) got the win, the last of five Indians pitchers on the day; Robertson (0-1) took the loss. He was the eighth pitcher of the game for the Tigers.

Carl Yastrzemski was 2-4 with three runs scored, 3 RBIs, a double and a home run the Red Sox 6-5 win over the Yankees at Fenway Park.

Baltimore’s Paul Blair had two home runs (his third and fourth of the season) and drove in five in the Orioles 10-2 pasting of the Washington Senators.

The Minnesota Twins kept their record perfect with a 3-1 win over the Angels in Anaheim. The Twins are now 5-0 and are the only team left in the majors this season that have yet to lose a game.

The Brewers’ thirdbaseman Tommy Harper hit two home runs today in the Brewers 6-4 win over the Kansas City Royals in Milwaukee, raising his season total to six. The Brewers now lead the American League with eighteen home runs as a team.

The Atlanta Braves white-washed the San Diego Padres today by a score of 4-0 for the teams’ fifth straight win and a one-game lead over the Cincinnati Reds in the National League West Division.

INJURIES

Tommy Dean, shortstop of the San Diego Padres, was placed on the disabled list for an injured left shoulder.

April 13 Highlights

San Diego laced three Cincinnati pitchers today at Crosley Field, collecting 20 hits in a 15-6 rout of the Reds. Five players had at least three hits apiece, Cito Gaston leading the way with four hits. Nate Colbert went 3-for-4 with a three run second inning home run off starter and loser Jim McGlothin (0-2). The win was the Padres second straight and moved them into a three-way tie on top of the N.L. West.

Ted Savage’s pinch-hit three-run homerun in the top of the eighth was the deciding blow in a 4-2 win for the Milwaukee Brewers in the opening game of their two-game series against the Oakland A’s. Until that point Catfish Hunter had been cruising along with a 2-1 lead. Tommy Harper had given the Brewers the lead with a lead-off home run in the third, but Oakland took the lead in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run homer by Don Mincher, off Milwaukee starter Marty “Bulldog” Pattin. John Gelnar relieved Pattin after seven and got the win, his first after two losses.

April 11 Highlights

Larry Bowa beat out a slow roller to Pirate secondbaseman Bill Mazeroski leading off the ninth to break up Luke Walker’s bid for the first no-hitter of the young season. Ron Stone hit into a 5-4-3 double play on the next pitch and Larry Hisle flied out to left to end the game and give Walker a one-hit shutout and a 4-0 win for the Pirates over the Philadelphia Phillies. This was the fifth game so far this season in which a pitcher has taken a no-hitter into the seventh inning or later.

If the inventors of baseball had set the length of the game to eight innings instead of nine then the Milwaukee Brewers would be undefeated and sitting on top of the American League Western Division. Instead, the lose their fourth straight game in the ninth after blowing an 11-8 lead today against the Chicago White Sox.

Rod Carew of the Minnesota Twins hit a walk-off home run leading off the bottom of the ninth to cap an 8-7 come-from-behind win against the Oakland A’s.

April 10 Highlights

Willie McCovey’s Grand Slam home run in the bottom of the eighth off Wayne Granger sparked a 9-6 come from behind win against the Cincinnati Reds. McCovey went 4-for-4 with six RBIs. It was the second blown save opportunity for Granger.

The Phillies’ Woodie Fryman pitched a complete game shut-out of the Pittsburgh Pirates, allowing only six hits while striking out ten and not giving up a single walk. Larry Bowa led the Phillies attack, going 4-for-5 and driving in two.

The Montreal Expos clubbed five home runs and scored twelve runs in the ninth inning today but unfortunately, not very many fans were left to winess this record setting performance because, going into the bottom of the ninth the Cubs had already put 25 runs on the board and the game had long been decided. For the game the Expos had a total of seven homers, while the Cubs tallied four, including two by thirdbaseman Ron Santo, both coming in the second inning that led an eight run outburst. Jimmie Hall and Johnny Callison had the other two Chicago homers, Hall’s was a Grand Slam that ended the Cub scoring for the day. Mack Jones and Bob Bailey each had two for Montreal, while Rusty Staub, Adolpho Phillips and the pitcher Carroll Sembera, who only came to bat because Gene Mauch had already used up everyone on the bench, each had one. Jones, Bailey and Phillips hit back-to-back-to-back homers in the ninth, and then following a walk to Hiatt, Sembera followed with his dinger. Final score, Chicago 25, Montreal 16.

Milwaukee lost a third straight game in the ninth as they continue to look for their first win since relocating from Seattle. Trailing 1-0 going into the ninth in Chicago, despite a great pitching performance by their starter Gene Brabender, catcher Jerry McNertney hit a two-run blast with two outs to give the Brewers the lead. But then John Gelnar, in relief for Brabender, surrendered a two-base hit by Carlos May that scored Walt Williams and Luis Aparicio with the tying and winning runs.

Joe Coleman of the Washington Senators didn’t give up a hit to the Red Sox until Tony Conigliaro’s single to center with one out in the eighth inning. Coleman ended with a complete game two-hit shutout, striking out seven, as the surprising Senators won their fourth game of the young season without a loss.

April 8 Highlights

Dodgers right-hander Bill Singer pitched a complete game, striking out ten and surrendering only four hits as Los Angeles handed Cincinnati their first loss of the season by a score of 2-1. Singer also singled in what would be the winning run in the second inning.

The Cardinals seemed to be well on their way to a win in Montreal, sitting on an 8-1 lead with ace Bob Gibson on the mound going into the bottom of the fifth. Gibby got the first two outs before Ron Brand singled. Marv Staehle then clubbed one deep to left, the Cards Lou Brock raced back to make the catch, but then he crashed into the wall and the ball popped loose and Staehle ended up on second as Brand crossed the plate. Rusty Staub beat out an infield single to score Staehle, and Ron Fairly followed with a home run to cut the Cards lead to three and knock Gibson out of the game. The Expos bullpen shut down the Cards the rest of the way, and the Expos tied the game in the seventh, Staehle led off with a double for Monreal, Staub follwed with his second double of the game. Bob Bailey tripled in Staub and Laboy drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly. The scoreremained even until the bottom of the eleventh, when Staub took a full count pitch over the wall in right for a game-winning home run. Le Grande Orange went 5-for-6 with 2 doubles, the home run, four runs scored and three RBIs.

Kansas City’s Lou Pinella, who came in as a pinch hitter in the eighth ande drove in the tying run, won the game in the twelfth with a two-out Grand Slam home run to beat Oakland 7-3.

Milwaukee failed for the second straight game to win their first game as the Brewers, as the Angels scored five runs in the top of the ninth for a come-from-behind 7-4 victory.

April 7 Highlights

The San Francisco Giants trailed 11-0 going into the bottom of the 6th, when they scored eight runs to cut into the Astros lead. Houston added three in the ninth to push their lead to 14-8, but the Giants rallied with six runs to tie the score. San Francisco went on to win the game in the eleventh inning on a walk-off double by Lanier. The Astros’ Wynn went 4-for-6 with 5 RBIs with a Grand Slam.

Paul Blair’s disputed three-run homer down the left field line gave the Orioles the lead in the seventh against the Indians. Cleveland leftfielder Vada Pinson argued that the ball was foul but the ruling stood. Baltimore went on to score six more runs in the eighth and ninth to make the matter moot. Blair added insult to injury with another home run, giving him six RBIs for the day.

Oakland’s Blue Moon Odom pitched 6-2/3 no hit ball until the Royals’ Amos Otis lined a double down the right field line to break it up. Odom finished with a two-hit shutout in the 3-0 A’s win over Kansas City.

A balk that scored the tying run and a costly error by the shortstop Kubiak led to the Angels scoring four runs in the top of the ninth for a come-from-behind 7-4 win to spoil the inagural game of the newly transplanted Seattle Pilots, now the Milwaukee Brewers. Tommy Harper scored the first run in the history for the Brewers with his sixth inning home run. Trailing 3-1 the Brewers scored three in the seventh to take the lead, but the miscues in the final California at bat would cost them a victory.