Seattle visits Toronto and gets swept

Seattle 3 Toronto 5
Bannister (L) vs Todd (W) 
Game MVP Otto Velez
Todd pitched a strong game until going out in the 6th injured. Barlow came in but ran into trouble in the 9th. Jackson came in for the save.

Seattle 0 Toronto 1
Clay vs Bomback
Game MVP Mark Bomback

A pitching duel. Both Clay and Bomback pitched 8 innings of shutout ball. Bomback allowed only 2 hits but was tired so McLaughlin came to the mound in the ninth. A lead off single in the bottom of the 9th by Wells of Wells ended the game for Clay. Domaso Garcia came on to pinch run. Whitt singles and Garcia advanced to 3rd. Moseby flew out to Burroughs in right, but having used Garcia as the pinch runner he was able to tag-up and beat the throw at home. McLaughlin with the win, Rawley the loss.

Seattle 1 Toronto 3
Clark (L) Steib (W)
Game MVP Dave Stieb

Stieb went the distance allowing 6 hits and 1 run but 0 earned as Garcia errored in the 3rd. Little used Fred Manrique started at short, scored a run, was 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs. Zisk was 2 for 3 for the Mariners. 

A's sweep Royals in 3 game set

9/11/81 - Oakland Coliseum
A's 3, Royals 1
Leonard vs Kingman
After getting battered around most of the season Brian Kingman was tapped to pitch on short rest (3 days).  The reason he was given that honor had less to do with his skill and more to do with the fact that Oakland's manager wanted to get the rest of his rotation back on track.  Kingman responded by bobbing and weaving in and out of trouble.  After 92 pitches and 7 hits during his 5 scoreless innings he handed the ball over to Jeff Jones, who pushed himself to the brink of exhaustion.  Jones went 2 2/3 innings in relief and gave up just 1 unearned run.  Beard and Ochinko split time in the 9th with the latter earning the save.  Oakland struck in the 2nd with two big two out hits.  Light hitting Fred "Chicken" Stanley knocked in Wayne Gross with a 2 run double.  Rickey Henderson followed up with an RBI single.  Cliff Johnson's solo blast off of hard luck starter Dennis Leonard made it 3-0.  KC got on the board with an RBI single from Willie Wilson in the 7th and had 2 runners on in the 8th when Owchinko got Amos Otis ground out to third.

9/12/81
A's 4, Royals 1
Jones vs Langford

No hitter for 6 inn

Mike Heath walked witht he bases loaded in the 3rd to make it a 1-0 game.  Tony Armas, who has been heating up as of late, hit a 3 run shot in the 5th.  Langford was cruising with 6 innings of no-hit ball until future HOF'er George Brett singled to lead off the 7th.  Langford would lose his shutout in the 9th when Aikens hit a 1 out solo shot.  Langford would get Brett to pop out to short for his second out and McRae would ground out weakly to short to end it.  Rick Langford notches the complete game victory allowing just 1 run on 3 hits.

9/13/81
A's 4, Royals 2

Norris vs Gura

Walk off 3 run blast

"You stick with your ace, no matter what", said Justin Ryan manager of the fading Royals.  Up 2-1 and heading into the bottom of the 9th Ryan put all of his trust and faith on the left arm of Lary Gura.  On a 3-2 payoff pitch Rickey Henderson lined a homer over the left field wall to tie the game at 2-2.  Gura got Shooty Babitt to ground out to short, but walked Dwayne Murphy on 6 pitches.  After Tony Armas lined out to U.L. Washington for the second out of the inning everyone turned toward the A's bullpen to see if there was any action going on, which there wasn't.  Oakland starter Mike Norris was getting set to start the 10th inning since it looked more than likely that there would be extra innings.  That likelihood ended with one mammoth swing of his 35 ounce bat.  Gura's fastball, which normally tops out around 90 came in around 88 and went out even faster.  Cliff Johnson's walk off homer saved Mike Norris (6-0, 1.94) from a 10th inning after he threw 126 pitches.  Oakland completes the 3 game sweep and gets back into the AL West race with a 20-14 record.  KC drops to 16-17, and in the words of Ryan, "KC is now dead".

Expos take 2 of 3 from Cubbies @ Wrigley

9/11/81 - Wrigley Field 

Expos 7, Cubs 6
Gullickson vs Kravec
Things can really change on a dime at Wrigley.  For 8 innings Bill Gullickson had a neat 4 hit shutout going, then in the 9th it almost all came crumbling down.  Chicago scored 6 unanswered runs to come within 1 run of tying it.  Jeff Reardon had to come in from the pen to put the fire out, which earned him his 6th save of the season.  Even though he wasn't charged with allowing a run Reardon threw a wild pitch to let 1 run score and gave up a hit to Jerry Morales which allowed the 6th run to score.  Ivan DeJesus flew out to center to end a game that contributed more gray hairs to Montreal's manager's head.  Completely lost in all of the late drama was the 4 for 5 day that "the Hawk", Andre Dawson had.  Dawson had 3 runs scored, 3 RBI's, a double and his 11th and 12th homers of the season.

9/12/81
Cubs 5, Expos 1
Sanderson vs Caudill
Wild Bill struck out 5, walked 1 and allowed just 1 run on 4 hits in 7 innings of work.  "Dirt" Tidrow finished up with 2 scoreless innings as the Cubbies scored solo runs in 5 straight innings to send the Expos home unhappy.  Montreal starter Scott Sanderson fanned 6 in 6 innings of work, but gave up 3 runs, including solo homers to Jody Davis and Billy Bucks.  Buckner hit his second homer of the game (6th on the season) off of reliever Elias Sosa in the 8th.  Buckner went 3 for 3 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI.  His "other" hit was a triple.  Montreal's lone run came via the bat of Andre Dawson who hit his 13th of the season.

9/13/81
Expos 10, Cubs 5
Rogers vs Griffin
Montreal scored early and quite often off of Cub starter Mike Griffin.  After 3 innings and 7 earned runs, Griffin was headed to the showers.  Dawson once again was unstoppable with the bat going 3 for 5.  His bases loaded clearing double in the 6th put the final nail in Chicago's coffin.  The Cubs mounted a late inning rally, but came up way short.  Steve Rogers left the game after 6 innings with a 10-1 lead.  Montreal's shaky bullpen supplied the Cubs with 2 runs in the 8th and the 9th respectively.  Stan Bahnsen continued to be horrific giving up 2 runs in 2 innings of relief.  His ERA now stands at an even 12.00.  Tim "Eli" Wallach went 3 for 3 with 2 runs scored to move his average up to .298.  Buckner went 2 for 5 to boost his average to .325.

Halos sweep DH vs A's in battle for 1st in AL West

9/10 - Anaheim Stadium
Angels 7, A's 0
Matt Keough vs Ken Forsch

Ken Forsch tossed a 3 hitter and didn't need much more than Butch Hobson's 3 run shot in the 2nd.  Matt Keough got roughed up again for Oakland and had to be replaced by Ed Figueroa.  Daryl Sconiers hit a double and triple to increase his season average to .429.

9/10 - Game 2 (DH)
Steve McCatty vs Angel Moreno
Angels 2, A's 1

The nightcap remained scoreless until the 6th when the normally sure handed Dwayne Murphy dropped a can of corn in center to allow Dan Ford to reach second safely, while Rod Carew strolled home to make it 1-0.  Oakland, was shut out by the Angels for 17 consecutive innings until the top of the 9th when the mounted a rally vs Don Aase.  Tony Armas led off with a double.  Keith Drumright walked with 1 out and Wayne Gross singled home Armas to tie the game.  Pinch hitter Cliff Johnson hit a tailing liner to right that Ford caught on the run.  Drumwright stumbled while tagging up and was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.  Baseball lore states, "the guy who makes a great defensive play usually leads off the inning".  This was true today as Ford led off and singled.  Campy Campaneris came up as a pinch hitter and bunted Ford over to third for pinch hitter John Harris who lined a game winning single to close out the double header sweep in a the battle for first that really wasn't much of a battle.

KOD 13 - Week 9 - BOS @ NYY

Yankees win 2 of 3 at home

 

9/11 - Yankee Stadium

 

Yankees 5, Red Sox 2

 

 

Guidry vs Torrez

 

Red Sox score first on Carney Lansford's solo HR in the 4th, but the Yankees put up 4 unearned in the bottom of the inning off Mike Torrez. Ron Guidry goes 7 solid innings to run his record to 5-0. MVP: Rick Cerone 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI

 

9/12 - Yankee Stadium

 

Yankees 5, Red Sox 4

 

 

Reuschel vs Tanana

 

Boston scores 3 in the first, highlighted by Dewey Evans 2 run homer.  The Yanks answer back in the bottom of the first when Dave Winfield goes deep on Tanana. The Yankees score single runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th for a 5-3 lead.  Boston gets one back but can't score again as Goose gets his 10th save.  MVP: Dave Winfield 3-4, HR, 2 RBI

 

9/13

 

Red Sox 3, Yankees 2

 

 

Ojeda vs Underwood

 

Bobby O goes  7 strong innings  for the win. Dwight Evans cracks two more homers and accounts for all the Red Sox runs.  Graig Nettles hit a 2 run homer of his own, but it wasn't enough. MVP: Dwight Evans 3-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI

 

New York heads to Milwaukee for a 3 game set, while Boston goes home to host Detroit.

Yanks take 2 of 3 from Brew Crew @ the Stadium

9/7 - Yankee Stadium

Yankees 6, Brewers 0

Rudy May vs Jim Slaton

Rudy May throws 7 scoreless innings for the win.  Reggie Jackson, Bobby Murcer and Graig Nettles all hit homers in support.  Game MVP: Rudy May 7IP, 4H, 3W, 4K

9/9 - Yankee Stadium

Brewers 14, Yankees 5

Randy Lerch vs Tommy John

The Brewers bust out for 12 runs in the first 4 innings as Tommy John is sent to the showers early. Robin Yount and Don Money each collect 4 hits and 3 RBI.  Money cracks his 3rd homer.  Barry Foote hits a solo home for the Yanks. MVP: Don Money 4-6, 2B, HR, 3RBI

9/9 - Yankee Stadium

Yankees 10, Brewers 2

Gene Nelson vs Mike Caldwell

Nelson allows 2 runs over 5 2/3 for his first win and Caldwell gives up 5 over 5 IP.  Reggie and Sweet Lou go deep, and Dave Winfield knocks in 4 runs with 2 doubles. MVP: Dave Winfield 3-4, 2 2B, 4RBI

The Yankees wait for the Red Sox to arrive for a weekend series, while the Brewers head home to host the White Sox in a makeup game before the Orioles arrive for an important series. --submitted by John Clingan--

Bucs take 3 of 4 from Amazin's

Game One - Omar Moreno and Tim Foli each have three of the Pirates' fourteen hits, and Odell Jones pitches seven two-ht innings as Pittsburgh beats the Mets 8-0. Jones walks three in his stint on the mound, and contributes two knocks at the bat in the first game of the twin-bill.

WP - O. Jones (1-2)        LP - Falcone (1-2)

Game Two - The Pirates complete the double-header sweep with a walk-off 3-2 win. Pinch-htter Willie Stargell leads off the bottom of the ninth with a double and pinch-runner Lee Clacy scores on Moreno's RBI single.

WP - Tekulve (2-0)        LP - M. Marshall (0-1)

Game Three - The Pirates explode for nine runs in the sixth inning, and Luis Tiant pitches a four-hit shuout as Pittsburgh extends their winning streak to nine with an 11-0 win over the Mets. Jason Thompson had four RBI for the Bucs and Tiant struck out seven Mets hitters (throwing 142 pitches) for the win.

WP - Tiant (4-0)            LP - Swan (0-2)

Game Four - The winning streak comes to an end as Randy Jones and three relievers limit the Pirates to four hits in the Mets 8-2 win. John Stearns has two hits and three RBI, while Rusty Staub pitches in with a pinch-hit homer.

WP - R. Jones (1-5)        LP - Perez (3-2)
--submitted by Chris Gotay--