Can't call 'em Chokeland!

Game 1 - Oak Col

E.Wilson vs Blue

Tigers 5, A's 1

Detroit exploded for 4 runs in the 5th to shockingly rock Vida Blue's world.  Gibby led off the inning with a rare lefty vs lefty HR.  RBI singles by Pat Sheridan and Alan Trammell sandwiched an RBI double by Sweet Lou Whitaker.  Earl Wilson went the distance for the "W".

GAME 2

Podres vs Hunter

A's 7, Tigers 1

Catfish Hunter weaseled in and out of trouble until he

found a problem he couldn't over come...bad umpiring.  With one out in the 8th a 3-1 offering to Gibby was called ball 4.  Everyone in the house thought it was a strike, including Gibby who didn't even bother to stroll to first.  When the ball 4 signal was given Hunter approached the plate and began ripping into home plate ump Frank Umont, who was in his 19th season in blue.  Hunter said the magic word and Umont showed him to the shower.  Rollie Fingers had to come in without warmups and did just fine getting the final 5 outs in a non save situation.  Utility man Lance Blankenship was a perfect 3 for 3 from the plate with a homer.  DH Harold Baines was also perfect (3-3).  Baines added 2 runs and 2 RBI's to the ledger.

GAME 3 - Tiger Stad.

Dobson vs McLain

A's 7, Tigers 5

The rubber match of the series turned out to be the only toss up game of the 3.  If you like action, this was the type of game you crave with the lead changing hands 4 times.  After both teams exchanged solo runs in the first the hometown Tigers got a 2 out 3 run blast from Gibby to take a 4-1 lead.  Oakland cut the lead to 4-2 on a Big Mac homer in the 4th.  Back to back jacks by Canseco and Baines in the 5th tied the game at 4.  A leadoff blast by Tram in the home half of the 5th put Motown back up by 1.  That lead was short lived as RBI singles from Rickey Henderson and Mike Bordick put Oakland up by 1.  The A's would add a solo run in the 9th on a ground out by Dave Henderson.  Darold, "Don't call me Beyonce" Knowles and Bob Locker combined to get the final 10 outs in relief of a barely effective Dobson.  Locker wound up with the save.  Oakland moved to 5-6, while the Tigers dropped to 8-3.

Halos take 2 of 3 from Bombers.

We were still having connection issues, and Dovid told me to go ahead and play against his MAN file. He shouldn’t have worried – it was a decent series, but he definitely came out on top as the Yankees sink further and further beneath the waves.

Some notes on the games:

Game 1 was tight.

In Game 2, Clyde Wright gave up six earned runs but still outlasted Yankee starter David Wells by an inning – and when Wells left the game he was on a shutout! The pen would preserve it for a lopsided 9-0 win for New York to break a four-game skid.

But in Game 3, David Cone had the worst day I have ever seen David Cone had. In four and a third innings, the Yankees secondary ace game up six earned runs on seven hits (including two home runs). Worse, third baseman Mike Pagliarulo was injured on the base paths and catcher Bruce Wynegar exited the game after twisting his ankle making an out.  It wasn;t until the ninth that the Yankees could put anything on the board, and by then it was too big a hill to climb as the Angels ended up winning 6-3.

Pag’s injury will take him into next week, and I’m upset at his performance at the plate, so I’ve sent him down for a week. Dale Berra gets up to the big club and will hopefully show me what he can do.

Cards and Braves battle in 3 game exciting set.

After Bob Gibson struck out 9 in 7 innings of work to earn his first win of the season, a 3-1 victory over Tim Hudson and Atlanta in the series opener, it took a 4-run ninth in game two for the Braves to stave off what would have been a Redbird sweep.

The Cardinals looked to be flying high with the game one win, and a 5-2 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth of game 2. But the Braves put together 5 hits and a walk to pull off the stunning comeback win. Ozzie Guillen’s two-out double off Al Jackson plated the winning run.

Game three was a wild affair in St. Louis, in which the Braves kept their offense going against Cardinal starter Tracy Stallard, building a 6-2 in the top of the fourth. But the Cardinals battled back with 3 in the bottom half, and eventually taking an 8-6 lead after 6. But Keith Lockhart re-tied the game with a two-run 7^th inning homer after Walt Weiss walked to lead off the inning.

To the relief of the home crowd, Eric Davis returned the favor in the bottom of the ninth, after Jim Edmonds lead off the inning off Craig Kimbrel with a double. The 10-8 final featured a combined 25 hits, and 4 home runs. The winning two-run blast was Davis’ fourth hit of the game, and he drove in 4 as well.

Bike Mike