5/4/75 SD @ LA

In games Dave Freisleben has started, the Padres have won 5-4, lost 6-4, won 2-1, lost 3-2 in 12 innings, and today was no exception, falling to the Dodgers 3-2.

San Diego struck first when Dave Winfield singled home Gene Locklear in the 3rd.  LA tied it up in the 5th when Davey Lopes’ single scored Rick Auerbach from second.

The Dodgers picked up two more in the 7th.  Steve Yeager singled to lead off the inning.  Auerbach flew out to center, but Ken McMullen, pinch hitting for starter Burt Hooton, doubled to put runners on second and third.  That ended the day for Freisleben, relieved by Alan Foster, making his first appearance of the year.  His nerves showed as he gave up a sacrifice fly to Lopes, walked Jimmy Wynn, and then gave up a single to Ron Cey, scoring McMullen.  He got himself off the hook by then picking Cey off first.

San Diego got a run back in the 8th when Winfield again singled home Locklear, but that’s as close as they would get.

The win moved the Dodgers back to .500 for the first time since April 9th, when they were 1-1.  They will host the Astros in a 3 game series starting tomorrow.  The Padres will travel tomorrow to the heartland, beginning with 3 games against the first place Big Red Machine.

5/4/75 NYY @ MIL

Rough day for the Yankees.  The start of the game was delayed by rain.  When things did finally get under way, Larry Gura didn’t have his good stuff.  In fact, I’m not sure if he had much of anything.  While he did manage to get through the first inning without any damage, that’s only because Bobby Bonds stole home runs from Charlie Moore & Sixto Lezcano in right.  Larry made it only 2-2/3 innings before being pulled with the bases loaded and down 5-0.

Things got better from there, though.  Dick Tidrow came in and threw 3-1/3 innings of 1-hit, scoreless relief.  During that stretch, the Yankee offense started to figure out Brewers starter Bill Travers, scoring one run in the 5th and two in the 6th, leaving New York down 5-3.

After Travers worked a 1-2-3 7th, Dave Pagan came on for New York.  After striking out George “Boomer” Scott, he walked Don “Don’t Call Me Eddie” Money.  Don then surprised everyone by stealing 2nd.  Bobby Mitchell followed this with a double to left center that scored Money and put the Brew Crew up 6-3.

The Yankees weren’t dead, though.  They quickly put the first two runners on thanks to a walk and a throwing error by Robin Yount.  This put runners on first & third with no one out.  Sandy Alomar’s ground out scored Nettles from 3rd and moved Rick Bladt to second.  He went to third on another ground out.  Fred Stanley then knocked a single into left, scoring Bladt and bringing New York within a run at 6-5.  This knocked Travers out of the game and brought in Ed Rodriguez, who got Roy White to ground out to end the threat.

Milwaukee was held scoreless in the bottom of the 8th.  Thurman Munson led off the top of the 9th by reaching on Yount’s second error of the game.  Elliott Maddox came in to pinch run, and promptly stole 2nd.  Bonds struck out.  At this point, I blew this though, as I should have had Maddox try to steal third.  I probably would have if a right-handed batter was up instead of the lefty Chris Chambliss.  If Maddox makes it, the infield has to come in, or he could score on a sac fly.  However, I hold him, and Chambliss grounds out, advancing Maddox to third, but now there’s two out.  Unfortunately, Nettles grounded out to end the game.

For Milwaukee, Bobby Mitchell went 3-4 with a double, run, and RBI.  Yount, despite the two errors, knocked in two runs in the 3rd inning with a bases loaded single.

The loss dropped the Yankees back into a first place tie with Baltimore.  Milwaukee climbed to 12-12, but still 4th in the AL East.  New York heads to Baltimore for a 3-game series, while Milwaukee gets an off-day prior to heading on a 2 week road trip beginning at lowly Detroit.

5/4/75 CC @ STL

In the final game of a three game series between traditional rivals Chicago & St. Louis, the Cardinals managed to avoid being swept at home, winning this one 4-3.

Reggie Smith got the scoring started with a double in the bottom of the third, scoring Lou Brock, who had singed and stolen second to start the inning.

In the 5th, St. Louis added two more.  Mike Tyson led off with a single, and pitcher John Curtis followed with a walk.  Sensing trouble, I pulled Geoff Zahn (who’d given up 7 hits in his 4+ innings of work, despite only 1 run so far) for Tom Dettore.  That didn’t help much, as Brock drove a single to left center, scoring Tyson and sending Curtis to third.  On the first pitch, Brock took off for second.  Cubs catcher Tim Hosley fired it down, but off line and into centerfield.  Curtis trotted home, but Rick Monday threw a strike to third to nail Brock.

Chicago tied it up in the top of the 6th.  Following a Bill Madlock fly out, Hosley tried to redeem himself a little with a home run to left.  Jerry Morales reached on an error by Keith Hernandez.  Pete LaCock then doubled, advancing Morales to third.  That ended Curtis’s afternoon, replaced by Jim Willoughby.  Don Kessinger greeted him with a single that scored Morales.  Manny Trillo drove home the tying run with a ground out to second.

The Cardinals retook the lead in the bottom of the 6th when Ken Reitz scored on Willoughby’s sac fly.

Chicago threatened in the 9th.  Trillo led off with a double, and advanced to third when Dave Rosello (pinch hitting in the pitcher’s spot) grounded out.  At this point, hoping for a sacrifice fly, I send in Gene Hiser to run for Trillo.  Back at the top of the order, Jose Cardenal drew a walk.  So the tying run’s on third, and the go ahead run is on first, with 1 out.

Here’s where the gamble didn’t pay off.  Despite what I figure is about an 80% chance of making it, Cardenal is thrown out stealing at second.  With two outs now, Rick Monday (now hitting all of .211) hits a little comebacker to Al Hrabosky to end the game.

Hrabosky picked up his 6th save, leading the NL while helping to end the Cards’ 5 game losing streak.  The Cubs head to Montreal for a 3 game series, while the Cardinals hope to build on the win as they host the Phillies for 4 game.

5/4/75 BAL @ CLE

Nothing like a good pitching performance from someone where it’s not expected.  That’s what the Indians got in this one.  Don Hood threw a 2-hitter, walking 4, but striking out 7 to beat Baltimore 2-0 in the first game of a double header.

Cleveland only managed 8 hits themselves off Mike Torrez, who took his first loss of the season after a 4 game winning streak.  Boog Powell knocked home Rick Manning in the bottom of the first for the first run.  Little-used Jack Brohamer had an RBI single of his own in the 4th for the other run.

Baltimore’s defense kept them in this one.  Cleveland had two runners thrown out at the plate, and another at third.  Don Baylor was the guy they were trying to run on in left, but he managed to pick up two assists.  However, the second assist came after he booted a ball hit by Rico Carty in the left field corner.  George Hendrick, who was on first, took third on the error, but got greedy and was thrown out trying to score.  Carty ended up on second.

Cleveland has taken 2 out of 3 so far in the series.  They’re hoping to take the nightcap behind rookie sensation Dennis Eckersley, who’ll be making his second start, but has an ERA of 1.08.  Baltimore has failed to score more than 3 runs in any of their last 8 games, but are 4-4 in that stretch.

5/4/75 PITT @ PHIL

Ah, finally a win.  Thanks to Jerry Reuss, who went the distance, Pittsburgh beat the Phillies 7-3.  He didn’t dominate, but he did scatter 7 hits and 4 walks, keeping Philly from ever mounting a serious threat.

Three home runs (Dave Parker, Willie Stargell, and Richie Hebner) helped the cause.  Parker & Stargell hit theirs back-to-back in the 2nd inning, while Hebner’s pretty much finished the afternoon for Tom Underwood.

Errors by Tom Taylor (filling in for the recently traded Willie Montanez), Larry Bowa, and Mike Schmidt also hurt, but resulted in only 1 unearned run.  Mike Schueler and Gene Garber each threw 2 innings of scoreless relief.  Lowering their ERA to 1.23 and 1.06 respectively.