Chicago Wins 2 of 3 Low Scoring Games In Detroit

June 1: Detroit 4, Chicago 3 (10 innings)

Talk about late dramatics. The lead changed in the bottom of the ninth, top of the 10th, and bottom of the 10th.

Red Faber has had a nightmare season so far, but finally put together a strong start in this one. He exited after seven innings with his White Sox clinging to a 2-1 lead. That was still the score with two outs in the bottom of the ninth when pinch-hitting Miguel Cabrera launched a game-tying solo shot off of Keith Foulke.

The White Sox responded nicely in the top of the 10th. Minnie Minoso took a HBP to lead off, Joe Jackson followed it with a walk, Frank Thomas grounded into a double play that moved Minoso to third, and Magglio Ordonez singled Jackson in.

In the bottom of the 10th, Hoyt Wilhelm walked the lead-off man, Charles Gehringer. Sam Crawford came off the bench to pinch run and successfully stole second. Wilhelm got the next two batters out while keeping Crawford stuck on second, but Harry Heilmann brought the house down with a walk-off rocket.

The Tigers are officially on a bit of a roll, having won nine of 10.

                    R  H BB
CHI 001 000 100 1 - 3 12  3
DET 000 001 001 2 - 4  8  1

HR: H. Heilmann (7), M. Cabrera (3)

starters       IP  R ER HR BB SO
R. Faber      7.0  1  0  0  0  0  
H. Newhouser  7.1  2  1  0  0  4 

CHI 23-29, DET 23-29

June 2: Chicago 3, Detroit 1

It was another well-pitched, tense affair the next day. Robin Ventura homered to give Chicago a 1-0 lead, a Minnie Minoso error aided the Tigers in tying the score in the fifth, and Chicago plated the winning run on a Joe Jackson double and Chet Lemon single in the eighth.

                  R H BB
CHI 010 000 011 - 3 6  5
DET 000 010 000 - 1 4  S

HR: R. Ventura (2)

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
J. Rigney   7.0  1  0  0  2  2  
T. Bridges  8.0  3  2  1  5  3 

CHI 24-29, DET 23-30

eddie-cicotte-flickr-library-of-congress-2 — Cicotte

June 3: Chicago 1, Detroit 0

There was great pitching all series, and none better than in the finale, in which Eddie Cicotte collected his first shutout. Bill Donovan was nearly as good for Detroit, but singles by Chet Lemon and Frank Thomas pushed across the one run of the game for Chicago.

Steady Eddie Cicotte is on an impressive run of eight straight starts pitching either eight or nine innings and allowing four or fewer runs. He’s moved up to having the fifth best ERA in the league at 2.86 while throwing the fourth most innings.

                  R H BB
CHI 000 000 010 - 1 9  4
DET 000 000 000 - 0 3  3

HR: none

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
E. Cicotte  9.0  0  0  0  3  1  
B. Donovan  7.2  1  1  0  4  1 

CHI 25-29, DET 23-31

KC Sweeps First-Place Texas

June 1: Kansas City 3, Texas 1

Jose Rosado was on fire. It was his first game of the year in which he walked none and first game in which he allowed no earned runs. George Brett, Mike Sweeney, and Darrell Porter each punched one single and one double.

                  R H BB
TEX 000 000 100 - 1 4  0
KC  201 000 00x - 3 9  2

HR: none

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
J. Matlack  7.1  3  3  0  2  3  
J. Rosado   8.0  1  0  0  0  2 

TEX 28-24, KC 24-29

June 2: Kansas City 4, Texas 2

Mark Gubicza had his impeccable command working too, and KC pitchers made it two straight games without allowing a walk. Only Alex Rodriguez ever made it past first base for Texas, knocking a double and a homer and scoring both Texas runs. Hal McRae swatted three singles and back-up catcher Salvador Perez picked up his first dinger.

                  R H BB
TEX 000 101 000 - 2 7  0
KC  001 021 00x - 4 8  3

HR: A. Rodriguez (13), S. Perez (1)

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
C. Hough    6.0  4  4  1  3  2  
M. Gubicza  6.0  2  2  1  0  4 

TEX 28-25, KC 25-29

June 3: Kansas City 7, Texas 5

Adrian Beltre finally drew a walk in Texas’s 71st plate appearance of the series, and Rafael Palmeiro followed it up with a two run shot to open up an early 3-0 lead for the Rangers. But the KC bats were all hot, knocking a combined 14 hits that included five doubles and two homers.

The game was tied at five in the bottom of the eighth before Frank White doubled, Alcides Escobar singled him home, and George Brett drove in Escobar for an insurance run. Wade Davis threw a perfect seventh, and Jeff Montgomery was perfect in the eighth and ninth to complete the sweep. KC jumped from fifth to third place.

The teams now head to Texas for the back end of a home-and-home series.

                  R  H BB
TEX 120 002 000 - 5  9  4
KC  020 012 02x - 7 14  2

HR: R. Palmeiro (12), J. Mayberry (8), H. McRae (4)

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
G. Perry    6.0  5  3  2  0  3  
D. Jackson  5.2  5  5  1  3  2 

TEX 28-26, KC 26-29

Baltimore Takes Close Series With NY

June 1: Baltimore 8, New York 7

Harry Howell faced just two over the minimum for the first five innings, and his Orioles built a 5-0 lead. But the Yanks fired up the singles train in the sixth inning, placing seven soft knocks where they weren’t to cut the score to 5-4 Baltimore.

Adam Jones widened the lead with a three-run shot in the bottom of the sixth, which was barely enough to hold the Yankees off as they scored two more in the eighth and another run in the ninth. Gregg Olson was a little shaky in the ninth but came through with a strikeout of Charlie Keller to end the game with Yanks stranded on first and second.

                  R  H BB
NY  000 004 021 - 7 16  1
BAL 300 023 00x - 8 11  5

HR: K. Williams (6), A. Jones (8)

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
L. Gomez    4.2  5  5  1  3  2  
H. Howell   7.1  6  6  0  0  3 

NY 29-23, BAL 32-20

June 2: Baltimore 6, New York 5

Similar story the next day, with Baltimore building a 6-0 lead two-thirds of the way through the game. The New York bats woke up late again and came up one run short. Lou Gehrig became the first batter to reach 15 homers with the only extra base hit of the game for either team.

                  R  H BB
NY  000 000 401 - 5 10  6
BAL 220 200 00x - 6 11  4

HR: L. Gehrig (15)

starters      IP  R ER HR BB SO
R. Caldwell  8.0  6  4  0  4  3  
J. Powell    6.1  4  4  1  6  3 

NY 29-24, BAL 33-20

clemens June 3: New York 1, Baltimore 0

With two of the top three offenses in the league, the O’s and Yanks surprised everyone with a 1-0 game. Neither team had been involved in a 1-0 game previously. Roger Clemens was nasty for seven innings, not getting in trouble very often, but he did have major trouble in the fifth when when two walks and an error loaded the bases with no outs. Clemens K’d Brooks Robinson, popped up Bobby Wallace, and K’d Matt Wieters to Houdini his way out of it.

The Yanks managed the one run against Urban Shocker on a Charlie Keller walk, Bernie Williams single, and Derek Jeter sac-fly.

                  R H BB
NY  000 001 000 - 1 7  3
BAL 000 000 000 - 0 5  3

HR: none

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
R. Clemens  7.0  0  0  0  3  6  
U. Shocker  7.0  1  1  0  3  6 

NY 30-24, BAL 33-21

Dingers A’Plenty In Toronto’s Victorious Series Over Houston

June 1: Toronto 10, Houston 1

Jimmy Key was stingy on the mound, and the big Toronto bats busted Roy Oswalt.

                   R  H BB
HOU 100 000 000 -  1  6  7
TOR 204 020 02x - 10 12  2

HR: C. Delgado (12), S. Green (10), E. Whitt (5)

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
R. Oswalt   4.1  8  4  2  1  4  
J. Key      8.0  1  1  0  7  3 

HOU 24-29, TOR 26-27

June 2: Toronto 6, Houston 3

Same story the next day as Juan Guzman tamed Houston and Nolan Ryan got beat up. Shawn Green and Tony Fernandez both swatted three hits.

                  R  H BB
HOU 100 001 010 - 3  7  2
TOR 002 130 00x - 6 12  4

HR: C. Cedeno (4), C. Delgado (13)

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
N. Ryan     5.0  6  6  1  3  8  
J. Guzman   7.0  2  2  1  2  4 

HOU 24-30, TOR 27-27

June 3: Houston 10, Toronto 9 (11 innings)

EIGHT different players homered in the game, four per squad.

Early season surprise sensation Doyle Alexander had his second straight rough start, and tumbled out of his familiar spot in the top 10 ERAs.

Billy Wagner blew Houston’s two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth. Roberto Alomar and Fred McGriff singled, then Wagner lost the strike zone. He walked Delgado to load the bases, then hit Shawn Green to drive in a run, and walked Tony Fernandez to force in the tying run. Brad Lidge relieved Wagner and managed to keep the game tied.

The Houston hitters scraped together the winning run in the top of the 11th on a Dickie Thon single, walks by Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, and an RBI ground-out by Moises Alou.

Carlos Delgado homered in all three games in the series to tie Lou Gehrig for most dingers in the league at 14.

                      R  H BB
HOU 302 000 130 01 - 10 11  4
TOR 300 011 112 00 -  9 13  5

HR: C. Biggio (5), L. Berkman (13), B. Watson (8), D. Thon (4),
J. Bautista (9), F. McGriff (12), C. Delgado (14), S. Green (11)

starters       IP  R ER HR BB SO
M. Scott      6.0  5  4  3  1  3  
D. Alexander  6.2  6  5  2  2  4 

HOU 25-30, TOR 27-28

Oakland Slide Gets Serious In Sweep By Boston

June 1: Boston 2, Oakland 1

Hits were hard to come by with Lefty Grove and Roger Clemens squaring off. Oakland managed just three singles versus the Rocket. Amazingly, those three singles came consecutively, by Al Simmons, Jimmie Foxx, and Home Run Baker in the fourth inning to plate Oakland’s only run of the day.

After Grove shut the Red Sox down for six innings, Boston suddenly put together four hits in the seventh inning to get their two only tallies.

                  R H BB
OAK 000 100 000 - 1 3  2
BOS 000 000 20x - 2 8  1

HR: none

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
L. Grove    6.1  2  2  0  1  4  
R. Clemens  8.0  1  1  0  2  4 

OAK 28-24, BOS 36-16

June 2: Boston 9, Oakland 3

Oakland did manage to take a 3-3 tie into the bottom of the eighth, but the wheels came off in that inning when Rollie Fingers and Justin Duchscherer couldn’t get anybody out. The Red Sox hit six consecutive singles in the inning. Carl Yastrzemski went 4-for-5 with a double.

                  R  H BB
OAK 000 111 000 - 3 10  1
BOS 000 101 16x - 9 16  3

HR: J. Foxx-OAK (9)

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
E. Rommel   5.0  2  2  0  2  1  
C. Young    9.0  3  3  1  1  5 

OAK 28-25, BOS 37-16

ted-williams June 3: Boston 7, Oakland 3

Oakland’s sudden slide hit seven consecutive losses, and 11 losses in their last 12. Ted Williams crushed A’s pitchers for four hits, including a triple. (Williams has unsurprisingly been one of the best hitters in the Rhubarb, but bizarrely is yet to hit a homer.)

Oakland was right in the mix at the top of the Original Division not too long ago, but now find themselves 10 games back of first-place Boston.

                  R  H BB
OAK 200 000 100 - 3  5  3
BOS 300 101 02x - 7 11  7

HR: N. Garciaparra (6)

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
C. Bender   7.0  5  5  0  7  5  
S. Wood     6.1  3  3  0  3  4 

OAK 28-26, BOS 38-16

Seattle Takes Set v. Anaheim

June 1: Seattle 5, Anaheim 3

Troy Glaus did all he could for Anaheim, drilling two homers and driving in all three Angels runs. The rest of the Halos lineup combined for one hit.

                  R H BB
ANA 000 020 100 - 3 3  7
SEA 200 002 01x - 5 7  6

HR: T. Glaus-2 (9), A. Rodriguez (9)

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
J. Lackey   6.0  4  3  1  4  4  
F. Garcia   6.0  2  2  1  5  8 

ANA 15-38, SEA 24-30

June 2: Seattle 5, Anaheim 0

Seattle’s rotation can’t throw a lot of innings, so sixth and seventh starters Mark Langston and Mike Moore are seeing plenty of action. Moore has been rather amazing in his last two spot starts, pitching all nine frames in both contests. In his previous start against Toronto, he allowed one earned run, and in this one against Anaheim he twirled a shutout and allowed no extra base hits to Anaheim.

Phil Bradley, Alvin Davis, Ichiro Suzuki, Kyle Seager, and Kenji Johjima all had two hits for Seattle.

                  R  H BB
ANA 000 000 000 - 0  7  4
SEA 020 300 00x - 5 13  1

HR: none

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
K. Escobar  8.0  5  5  0  1  6  
M. Moore    9.0  0  0  0  4  7 

ANA 15-39, SEA 25-30

June 3: Anaheim 4, Seattle 1

Wally Joyner jolted a little life into Anaheim with a three-run bomb in the fourth inning. Dean Chance held down the Mariners lineup for six innings, and Troy Percival and Francisco Rodriguez nailed down the final three innings. Seattle managed just four hits, none for extra bases.

                  R H BB
ANA 000 300 001 - 4 5  7
SEA 000 001 000 - 1 4  3

HR: V. Guerrero (8), W. Joyner (4)

starters      IP  R ER HR BB SO
D. Chance    6.0  1  1  0  3  5  
M. Langston  8.0  3  3  1  5  6 

ANA 16-39, SEA 25-31

Gehrig, Martinez Named May Players of the Month

gehrigmartinez

Lou Gehrig was in the running for this honor in April as well. He was a part of a bunched up group of the best hitters in the season’s first month, but Larrupin’ Lou left them all in his wake with another incredible month of May. He has created 10 more runs than anyone else in the league, his slugging percentage is .065 points higher than anyone else’s, and his wOBA is .031 points higher than anyone else’s. He reached safely 61 times in 27 games this month.

Lou Gehrig’s May:

 G  AB BB  H 2B 3B HR  AVG  OBP  SLG
27 109 18 43  7  4  6 .394 .480 .697

Pitcher of the month was a tougher call for the voters as no one pitcher truly dominated all month. Roger Clemens, Chris Sale, and Eddie Cicotte were all great, but Pedro Martinez emerged as the winner thanks to allowing zilch earned runs in four of his five starts during the month. He pitched a complete game shutout against a tough Oakland lineup to start his month. His second start was a rough one as the Baltimore offense rang him up for seven runs in just 4.2 innings pitched. But Pedro allowed just one unearned and zero earned in his final three starts of the month against Detroit, Seattle, and Texas. Boston won four of Pedro’s five starts.

Pedro Martinez’s May:

G   IP R ER HR BB SO  ERA  TRA  FIP
5 36.0 8  7  2  6 38 1.75 2.00 2.12

Minny Surprises By Out-Slugging NY and Taking Series

May 29: Minnesota 7, New York 5 (11 innings)

Minnesota came into this series having hit 16 homers all year, barely keeping pace with Lou Gehrig alone (at 14). The Yankees had 78 dingers in the ledger. So naturally, the Twins used the long ball to win the series in the Bronx.

Homers from Tony Oliva and Mickey Vernon aided the Twins taking a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth.

They almost threw it away when a Rod Carew error in the bottom of that inning helped the Yankees force extras, but smoking hot Sam Rice slammed his first round-tripper of the year in the 11th inning to take the game. Rice has recently replaced the struggling Kirby Puckett as the Twins starting center fielder, and is tearing up the league to the tune of a .464 wOBA (though he only has around half the needed plate appearances to qualify for rate stat leader-boards).

                    R  H BB
MN 012 110 000 02 - 7 13  1
NY 010 010 012 00 - 5  8  7

HR: T. Oliva (5), M. Vernon (5), S. Rice (1),
B. Ruth (13), C. Keller (9)

starters      IP  R ER HR BB SO
B. Blyleven  7.0  2  2  1  4  4  
R. Clemens   5.0  5  5  2  1  4 

MN 25-24, NY 28-21

May 30: Minnesota 13, New York 7

Mickey Vernon stayed unconscious and drilled five hits, including a triple and a lead-switching three-run homer in the seventh. The Twins held the lead the rest of the way. Sam Rice walked, singled, and tripled twice. Rod Carew slapped four singles and scored thrice.

                  R  H BB
MN 030 000 424 - 13 17  4
NY 003 101 002 -  7 10  6

HR: M. Vernon (6)

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
J. Shaw     7.0  5  5  0  3  5  
W. Hoyt     6.0  6  6  1  2  1 

MN 26-24, NY 28-22

May 31: New York 5, Minnesota 2

On paper, the Twins were in good shape to complete a sweep. Walter Johnson took a 2.36 ERA into the game opposite Bob Shawkey and his 7.04 ERA. So naturally, Shawkey out-dueled Johnson. It was the first start all year in which Shawkey allowed fewer than three earned, while five walks was a season-worst for Johnson. Three of those passes went to Lou Gehrig, who Johnson might have been pitching around.

Sam Rice added another single and triple to his insane series, in which he went 8-for-19 with a walk, one double, three triples, and a homer.

                 R  H BB
MN 000 000 020 - 2 10  2
NY 103 000 10x - 5  8  5

HR: none

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
W. Johnson  8.0  5  5  0  5  9  
B. Shawkey  8.0  2  2  0  2  1 

MN 26-25, NY 29-22

Detroit Shocks Oakland With Sweep And Crazy Game 3

May 29: Detroit 11, Oakland 2

Detroit starter Bill Donovan pitched his third straight dandy game. His early season was so bad that his ERA has only lowered to 5.05. He was wild, issuing nine walks, but pitched around those enough to allow one earned in nine innings. Sam Crawford led the way for the offense with a single, double, triple, and stolen base.

                   R  H BB
DET 300 402 020 - 11 13  5
OAK 010 000 010 -  2  8  9

HR: none

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
B. Donovan  9.0  2  1  0  9  4  
C. Bender   3.1  7  4  0  4  0 

DET 20-29, OAK 28-21

May 30: Detroit 6, Oakland 3

George Uhle is similarly righting the ship for Detroit as they try to put their season back together. Alan Trammell whalloped a three-run job in the fourth to knock out Barry Zito.

                  R  H BB
DET 110 400 000 - 6 12  4
OAK 000 000 111 - 3  9  3

HR: A. Trammell (6)

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
G. Uhle     7.0  2  2  0  2  2  
B. Zito     3.1  5  5  1  3  2 

DET 21-29, OAK 28-22

May 31: Detroit 7, Oakland 5 (11 innings)

This one was one of the most fun games of the season. Oakland was in excellent shape to salvage one game in the series as Rube Waddell was nails for eight innings and took a 3-1 lead into the top of the ninth. Hank Greenberg led the ninth off with a single and stole second base, but Al Kaline and Charles Gehringer followed that up with unproductive outs and Waddell was just one out away. But then Bill Freehan singled in Greenberg. No worries, still a 3-2 lead for Oakland with one out to go. But then Alan Trammell, who had a monster series, singled Freehan to third. Some worries.

Detroit sent up pinch-hitter Sam Crawford, and Dennis Eckersley relieved the fatigued Waddell. Crawford mashed Eck’s first pitch and tore around the bases for a two-run triple and all of a sudden Detroit led 4-3. Eck whiffed Ty Cobb to strand Crawford at third.

Mickey Cochrane led off the bottom of the frame with a single, pinch-hitting Mark McGwire followed with a single, and Rickey Henderson walked to load the bases with zero outs for Oakland. Eddie Collins then rolled into a double play, but it did score Cochrane to tie the game up at four. After a Jason Giambi strikeout, the game headed to the 10th.

Dennis Eckersley remained on the mound, and served up a lead-off mama-jama to Harry Heilmann to put the Tigers back in front 5-4. Eck retired the next three, and Al Simmons pulled the same trick with a lead-off jack against Mike Henneman in the bottom of the 10th to again tie the game. The frame ended with the score still even at five, and Justin Duchscherer took over mound duties for the A’s despite getting roughed up all year. Things stayed bad for Duchscherer as Charles Gehringer and Alan Trammell both doubled and Travis Fryman singled to give Detroit a two-run lead. Detroit had taken a lead in the ninth, another lead in the 10th, and now had taken another lead in the 11th.

Al Benton finally made a lead stick for Detroit as he got three ground-outs in the bottom of the 11th. And there was much rejoicing in Tigers-land.

                     R  H BB
DET 000 000 103 12 - 7 13  2
OAK 000 110 011 10 - 5 10  7

HR: H. Heilmann (6), A. Simmons (8)

starters       IP  R ER HR BB SO
J. Verlander  7.0  2  2  0  5  3  
R. Waddell    8.2  4  3  0  2  1 

DET 22-29, OAK 28-23

Toronto, Bautista Win Series Against Chicago With Late Dramatics in Game 3

May 29: Chicago 6, Toronto 1

Doyle Alexander’s dream season took a hit as Chicago put on a hit parade in the second inning. Every White Sox batter socked a hit in the game. After giving up six earned in six innings, Alexander fell to 11th in the league with a 3.18 ERA. Sox starter Eddie Cicotte improved to 12th in the league with a 3.20.

                  R  H BB
CHI 040 001 100 - 6 13  5
TOR 010 000 000 - 1  9  2

HR: none

starters       IP  R ER HR BB SO
E. Cicotte    9.0  1  1  0  2  1  
D. Alexander  6.0  6  6  0  4  3 

CHI 23-26, TOR 23-27

May 30: Toronto 5, Chicago 2

Tony Fernandez paced the birds with a 4-for-4 performance at the dish, and Doc Halladay pitched one of his best games in what has been a bad year so far. It was a frustrating day for Sox starter Chris Sale after four unearned runs crossed the plate against him on errors by Eddie Collins and Paul Konerko.

                  R H BB
CHI 000 200 000 - 2 7  1
TOR 110 003 00x - 5 9  4

HR: L. Appling (1)

starters      IP  R ER HR BB SO
C. Sale      5.2  5  1  0  4  4  
R. Halladay  9.0  2  2  1  1  4 

CHI 23-27, TOR 24-27

Toronto Blue Jays v Boston Red Sox May 31: Toronto 5, Chicago 4

It looked this series would follow the usual inter-divisional result of the Original Division team taking two of three, but the Blue Jays stormed back in the ninth against a shocked Keith Foulke. Rubber-armed Ed Walsh seemed to have things in control through eight innings pitched, but Sox manager Jimmy Dykes called on Foulke to start the ninth inning to protect Chicago’s 4-2 lead. The move was as much about getting Foulke some work as it was about bringing in a top reliever to save the game. Foulke did get a little work in, but the save, not so much.

Tony Fernandez began the bottom of the ninth by drawing a walk from Foulke, Lloyd Moseby struck out, pinch-hitter Shannon Stewart singled Fernandez to second, Roberto Alomar flew out, and Jose Bautista crushed a three-run walk off job into the upper deck.

Chicago has the worst inter-division record in the Original Division at 6-6 and Toronto has the best inter-division record in the Expansion Division at 6-6.

                  R  H BB
CHI 000 102 001 - 4 12  3
TOR 002 000 003 - 5  6  7

HR: J. Bautista (8)

starters     IP  R ER HR BB SO
E. Walsh    8.0  2  2  0  7 10  
D. Stieb    7.0  3  3  0  2  5 

CHI 23-28, TOR 25-27

The Rhubarb will be on vacation for the next week.

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