4/24: Three stars of the day, AL edition

 Thought I'd try something new to liven up the daily summaries. Borrowing from hockey, here are your three stars of the day, AL style!

1. Johnny Jeter, Chicago White Sox Trust me, he's no Derek, but he had his own flair for the dramatic in the 4/24 matchup vs. the Yankees in the Bronx. After striking out swinging to open the game, he came alive with singles in the 3rd, 5th and 7th innings. Then in the 9th, he slugged a lead-off homer off Sparky Lyle to tie the game at 4 and eventually force extra innings. Jeter appeared one final time in the 11th, but was caught looking at a Lyle pitch for strike three. Then in the bottom half, Graig Nettles homered off Steve Stone, spoiling Jeter's career day. 

2. Ken Holtzman, Oakland A's The veteran lefty was a bright spot in an otherwise ugly matchup against the Tribe, outdueling Gaylord Perry for a 6-hit shutout. Holtzman struck out 5, walked 2 and weathered a late Cleveland rally to earn the victory in an otherwise ragged game. Perry also struck out 5 and allowed 6 hits, but 4 walks, a wild pitch and a shoddy Tribe defense that committed 2 errors in the 8th sealed Perry's doom and gave the defending champs a hard-earned win at the Coliseum. 

3. Baltimore Orioles. They are the best team in the AL and proved why against a struggling Angel team at the Big "A." They scored 6 runs, banged out 12 hits and scored 3 times in the 2nd and 2 in the 5th to jump out to a 5-0 lead. Boog Powell supplied the big blows with a 2-run single in the 2nd and a solo homer off Clyde Wright in the 5th to stake the Birds to that lead. The Angels rallied off Doyle Alexander in the 5th, getting a 2-run homer by Vada Pinson, then loading the bases with 1 out. Billy Grabarkewitz's RBI slow roller to Powell got 1 run in, then Rudy Meoli's groundout to some guy named "The Vacuum Cleaner" killed the rally and in turn, killed the Angels as Alexander retired the last 14 Halos to secure the win. Merv Rettenmund's homer leading off the 6th made the final score 6 to 3. 

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