S-O-M 1961

  Boston 7-13-0, Minnesota 3-10-1 WP-Pattin LP-Kaat/Campbell Blown Save Orlando Cepeda 2-run single with 2 outs in top of 9th. Oakland 4-8-2, Cleveland 3-7-2 WP-Hunter LP-G. Perry SV-Fingers Reggie Jackson 3-run homer for A's in top of 3rd.  Baltimore 6-12-1, California 5-15-0 WP-McNally LP-May SV-Jackson Orioles 5 straight singles in bottom of 1st. Chicago 4-8-1, New York 0-5-0 WP-Bahnsen LP-Stottlemyre Bahnsen CG 5-hitter. Milwaukee 5-8-1, Kansas City 4-7-3 WP-Slaton LP-Busby SV-Ed. Rodriguez Joe Lahoud 2-4, 3-run homer, RBI single. Detroit 6-11-0 Texas 2-5-1 WP-J. Perry LP-Bosman SV-Hiller Horton, Reese home runs for Tigers.  WEB GEM: Joe Rudi threw out Cleveland's George Hendrick at home in the bottom of the 7th on a D-20 roll of 20 to save Oakland's 4-3 win. 

  Orioles-Angels, 5-4-73 went something like this in real life: CAL 1-8-0 BAL 0-2-0 Here's how it really went, thanks to the S-O-M C&D: BAL 6-12-1 CAL 5-15-0 A pitcher's duel between Rudy May and Dave McNally turned into a slugfest, thanks to one dice roll on May's RH card: 6-7 SINGLE(cf) Here's the weird part, in the bottom of the 1st inning, that roll turned up FOUR times in a row to the first 4 hitters: Merv Rettenmund/Bobby Grich/Tommy Davis/Earl Williams, resulting in 3 runs. Oh, the batter after Williams, Don Baylor rolled a 6-8 2b-x, a single off the 2 chart with 2 as the D-20 roll. Now for the pitching lines of May and McNally: May 5.2 IP 6ER, 11 hits, 4 walks, 1 strikeout, 1 HBP. McNally 7.2 IP 5 runs, 2 of which were earned thanks to a Rettenmund error, 1 strikeout, 1 walk.  McNally got the win with help from Grant Jackson, while May did not fully recover from that 1st-inning catastrophe. So next time, if your Strat roll is too repetitive, especially in th...

Editor's Note: There were no AL games on this date. San Francisco 8-9-0  Pittsburgh 5-14-0 WP-McDowell LP-Briles SV-Moffitt HR-Speier, Briles. Giants score 5 in 7th.  Cincinnati 4-8-0 New York 3-5-0 WP-McGlothlin LP-Matlack SV-Borbon HR-Concepion, Dyer. St. Louis 6-10-0 San Diego 0-3-1 WP-Cleveland LP-Greif Cleveland CG Shutout, Simmons 3-5, 3 RBI Chicago 4-5-1 Los Angeles 2-6-0 WP-Reuschel LP-Messersmith Reuschel 7 strikeouts.  Stars of the Night: Reggie Cleveland and Jim McGlothlin produced shutdown pitching for their respective teams on 5/3, with Cleveland retiring 18 in a row in a dominant shutout against San Diego and McGlothlin retiring 17 Metropolitans in a row and allowing 1 hit in 6 innings en route to a 4-3 victory at Shea. 

  1. Tom Seaver, New York Mets. While Brent Strom was pitching a near no-no in Bloomington and Nolan Ryan was walking the high wire in Detroit, Tom Seaver was up to his usual "terrific" self, striking out 12 Reds in a 3-hit gem at Shea Stadium.  2a. Willie Davis, Los Angeles Dodgers. Davis paced a 14-hit Dodger attack in a 15-6 pummeling of the Cubbies at Dodger Stadium, clubbing 3 singles and a triple, driving in 4 runs, while scoring 3. He wasn't the only big hitter on this night in LA... 2b. Bill Buckner, Los Angeles Dodgers. Buckner had 3 singles, scoring 4 runs.  3. Lee May, Houston Astros. While Johnny Edwards hit a lead-off 10th inning homer in Philly, it was May who provided the early offense for the stros' with a homer, single and double and 2 RBI. 

  New York 4-13-1, Cincinnati 1-3-0 WP-Seaver LP-Grimsley HR-Mays, Staub, Morgan Seaver 3-hitter, 12 strikeouts. Houston 3-4-0, Philadelphia 2-8-1 (10 innings) WP-Crawford LP-Brandon Johnny Edwards lead-off homer in top of 10th. Montreal 8-12-0, Atlanta 3-8-3 WP-McAnally LP-Dobson SV-Marshall Bob Bailey 3 hits, 3 RBI  San Diego 5-9-1 St. Louis 4-10-1 (10 innings) WP-Greif LP-Gibson HR-Colbert, Melendez Leron Lee walk-off triple in 10th Los Angeles 15-14-4 Chicago 6-6-3 WP-Sutton LP-Pappas Willie Davis 4 hits, triple, 4 RBI Bill Buckner 3 hits, 4 runs scored.  Pittsburgh 5-9-0, San Francisco 1-5-0 WP-Rooker LP-Barr SV-Giusti HR-Hebner, Fuentes, May

  Brent nearly did it... Cleveland 10-13-1 Minnesota 1-3-1 Brent Strom no-hitter for 7 innings. Strom 9 IP, 10 strikeouts, 3 walks, lost no hit bid on lead-off home run in the 8th by Minnesota's Danny Thompson. Indians scored 3 runs in the 2nd, 4 in the 5th, 3 in the 6th, Dave Duncan homered for Cleveland in the 3rd.  The fearless Nolan Ryan... California 4-10-0 Detroit 3-5-1 Nolan Ryan 9 IP, 14 strikeouts, 8 walks, 2 hit batters, bases loaded jams in the 8th and 9th. Struck out Willie Horton to end the thriller. Mickey Lolich took loss for Detroit. Billy Grabarkewitz homered for Angels. Chicago 5-9-1 Baltimore 4-9-0 (12 innings) Buddy Bradford PH single in bottom of the 12th won thriller for the Pale Hose. Bill Melton hit 3-run homer in 2nd off Jim Palmer for Sox, Tommy Davis slugged 3-run shot in 8th to cut Sox lead to 1 run. Brooks Robinson reached on 2-base error by Sox LF Carlos May in 9th and scored on Boog Powell single off Wilbur Wood to tie score in the 9th. WP-Acosta...

  Cleveland Indians pitcher Brent Strom pitched a no-hitter into the 8th inning against the Minnesota Twins. Twins SS Danny Thompson broke up the no-hit bid with a lead-off homer in the 8th. Strom ended up with a 3-hitter, striking out 10, walking 3 in a career performance. 5/2/1973

That a 5-0 lead is very safe. It can be, but somebody tell the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cards   that. The Braves took a 1-0 lead with a run in the 2nd, then added 4 more thanks to Darrell Evans and three of his teammates in the 3rd. Even with the GS, Le Expos rallied to score 3 in the 5th and one in the 7th. Henry Aaron's 680th in the bottom of the 7th built the lead back to 6-4, then late-inning disaster as Hal Breeden's PH 2-run triple tied it in the 9th and Mike Jorgensen's 2-run bomb in the 10th completed the comeback. As for the Cards, they got 3 in the 1st and 2 in the 3rd for their own 5-0 lead, only to have the pesky Padres rally back for 4 in the 4th and 1 in the 6th to tie things up. After a Cards run in the 7th and a Pads run in the 9th, the Cards regained the lead in the top of the 11th, only to sit back and watch Cito Gaston's 3-run homer in the bottom of the 11th soar over the fence giving the Pads their own comeback win.  The Pirates have killer long ...

  Houston 3-8-1 Philadelphia 2-9-0 WP-Reuss LP-Carlton HR-Robinson (2)  Montreal 8-10-0 Atlanta 6-10-1 (10 innings) WP-Walker LP-Niekro SV-Stoneman HR-Evans (GS), Aaron (680), Jorgensen (go-ahead 2 run homer in 10th) San Diego 9-14-2, St. Louis 7-11-1 (10 innings) WP-Troedson LP-Sprague HR-Gaston (walk-off 3 run homer in 10th) Los Angeles 7-14-0, Chicago 0-7-2 WP-John LP-Hooton  Pittsburgh 11-16-1 San Francisco 6-9-2 WP-Walker LP-Bryant HR-Stargell, Oliver, Bonds

  1. Mike Cuellar, Orioles The Oriole lefty prevented the usual fireworks show at Sox Park, limiting the Sox to 4 hits, striking out 6 Pale Hosers.  2. Ron Blomberg, Yankees The history-making 1st DH slugged a grand slam, starting the Bronx Bombers to a bombing of the Royals. His early heroics rubbed off on Matty Alou and Gene Michael, who each recorded 3 hits in the 13-0 drubbing.  3. Gene Tenace, A's It would be game, set and match as Gene Tenace's solo homer with 1 out in the top of the 9th led the World Champs to a 2-1 thriller at County Stadium. On the other hand... 1. Texas Rangers 4 errors, wasting 12 hits with 17 LOB, that's why the Rangers were well, the Rangers in a flop at Fenway. (Red Sox won, 8-1)  2. Bill Singer, Angels He pitched 8 innings, but the 2nd, he pitched just a little off-key. 5 runs allowed, 2 Halo errors, not to mention plunking Al Kaline and Norm Cash. He just merely hit a very bad note.

  Boston 8-13-2 Texas 1-12-4 WP-Lee LP-Hand HR-Cepeda Rangers strand 17 men on base. New York 13-15-0 Kansas City 0-4-1 WP-Kline LP-Wright HR-Blomberg GS in 1st Gene Michael 3 doubles. Detroit 6-5-0 California 1-6-2 WP-Fryman LP-Singer HR-Sims, Robinson Oakland 2-6-1 Milwaukee 1-6-0 WP-Fingers LP-Colborn HR-Gene Tenace go-ahead homer in 9th. Baltimore 3-6-0 Chicago 0-4-2 WP-Cuellar LP-Fisher HR-Robinson Cuellar CG 4-hitter, 6 strikeouts. 

  Pitching defined these 3 stars: 1. Fergie Jenkins, Chicago Cubs The right-hander scattered 4 hits, striking out 9 Padres en route to a series and homestand-ending sweep. 2. Rick Wise, St. Louis Cardinals The bespectacled righty made the Giants miss, striking out 8 while scattering 4 hits as the Redbirds averted a Giant sweep at Busch Stadium.  3. Andy Messersmith, LA Dodgers Messersmith went to Pittsburgh and struck out 8 Buccos en route to a game 1 win at Three Rivers. That same game however, yielded this honorable mention:  Bob Johnson, Pittsburgh Pirates After Messersmith's Dodger mates chased Steve Blass for 7 runs in 2/3 of an inning, the right-handed Johnson came out of the bullpen and produced this line: 8-1/3 innings, 9 strikeouts, 1 hit allowed. It came too little, too late, but Johnson did clean up another Blass mess quite nicely. 

Game 1: Los Angeles 7, Pittsburgh 2 WP-Messersmith LP-Blass Dodgers scored all 7 runs in 1st, Ron Cey hit 3-run homer, Bill Russell singled in 2. Game 2: Pittsburgh 6, Los Angeles 5 WP-R. Hernandez LP-Culver Manny Sanguillien walk-off single in 9th. Chicago 6, San Diego 2 WP-Jenkins LP-Arlin Cubs score 5 runs in 6th, Fergie Jenkins strikes out 9. St. Louis 3, San Francisco 2 WP-Wise LP-Marichal Jose Cruz solo homer, Rick Wise strikes out 8. Kingman, Bonds homer for Giants. Cincinnati 6, Philadelphia 3 WP-Billingham LP-Christensen SV-Hall Rose, Morgan, Bench 2 hits each, Morgan, Bench also drove in 2 runs.  New York 3, Atlanta 0 WP-Koosman LP-Morton Koosman complete game 4-hitter Montreal 3, Houston 2 (12) WP-Marshall LP-Ray Bob Bailey PH 2-run homer for Expos in 12th, Ken Singleton threw out PR Jimmy Stewart at home to end the game. Tommie Agee PH homer in Astro 11th after Expos took 1-0 lead in the top of the inning.