Series preview here.
#Game 1: Jack Taylor @ Dennis Martinez
Pete Browning‘s return from the DL began with a single to left off Dennis Martinez in the first inning, sending George Stone to second base. But Martinez was able to get out of the inning without giving up a run.
The Black Sox took the lead in the bottom of the 3rd on a 3-run shot by Frank Robinson.
An RBI single by Stone got one back for the House of David in the top of the 4th.
In the top of the 5th, with Martinez struggling, Baby Doll Jacobson made a mark on his WBL debut by throwing out Elrod Hendricks at home. Martinez would give up only the 1 run in his 5 innings, despite surrendering 8 hits.
And that was it: Bob Welch, Sean Marshall, and Gregg Olson shut down the House of David the rest of the way, and the Black Sox took the opening game of the series.
HOD 1 (Taylor 4-6) @ BAL 3 (Martinez 8-2; Olson 1 Sv; Welch 1 H; Marshall 4 H)
HRs: BAL – Robinson (15)
Box Score
#Game 2: Wade Miley @ Jim Palmer
Elrod Hendricks took Jim Palmer deep in the top of the first, giving the House of David a 3-0 lead. Dan McGann got one back for Baltimore, taking Wade Miley down the left field line for his 9th homerun of the season.
The long balls kept coming: George Stone hit a solo shot in the top of the 2nd and Baby Doll Jacobson, making his first start after his recent recall from AAA, launched a 2 run shot in the bottom of the frame for his first WBL hit.
Dan Ford–who has cemented himself as the House of David’s regular RFer–went deep in the top of the 5th, making the score 5-3.
Miley couldn’t complete the 5th, leaving after back-to-back 2-out walks in favor of Dick Tidrow, who fanned Frank Robinson to preserve the lead and strand the two baserunners. Palmer lasted a little longer, surrendering to Mike Mussina when he gave up a walk to open the 6th inning.
Mussina finally ran out of gas in the top of the 9th, giving up hits to Ryne Sandberg and Mark McGwire before giving way to Buddy Groom, who allowed an RBI single to pinch-hitter Ron Santo. Groom struck out Stone, but the ball got away from Curt Blefary, and his throw to first sailed into the outfield, scoring another run.
That made it 7-3, House of David, heading to the bottom of the 9th. Larry Gardner led off with a single, but Rollie Fingers induced a double play from Bobby Wallace. A single from McGann chased Fingers, bringing in Bruce Sutter to face Robinson, who singled. Sutter got Ken Singleton to ground out to end the game, evening the series at a game apiece.
HOD 7 (Tidrow 3-4; Smith 1 H; Fingers 3 H) @ BAL 3 (Palmer 4-6)
HRs: HoD – Hendricks (12), Stone (13), Ford (3); BAL – McGann (9), Jacobson (1)
Box Score
#Game 3: Frank Sullivan @ Bill Byrd
Baltimore would turn to Bill Byrd to try to change their fortunes in game three.
Byrd would give up a leadoff triple to George Stone, who scored on a groundout from Dan Ford. Baltimore would get the first singles from their first two batters, but were unable to score, and we ended the first inning with the House of David ahead, 1-0.
Byrd would give up a solo shot to Elrod Hendricks in the top of the 4th, doubling the lead to 2-0 in favor of the House of David.
Frank Sullivan was sailing along until the bottom of the 5th, when Bryce Harper led off with a walk and Cal Ripkin, Jr. followed with a double to straight away CF. Paul Blair brought home Harper with a sacrifice fly, but that was all Baltimore could manage, and the 5th inning ended with the score 2-1.
Harper tied the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the 6th.
Baltimore’s Sean Marshall worked in and out of trouble in the top of the 8th, putting two runners on base, but inducing a double-play and a soft popout to maintain the tie.
A scoreless ninth ensued, and we were heading to extra innings.
Ryne Sandberg triple with one out in the top of the 10th, and scored on a single by Richie Hebner. Stone would follow with his 2nd three-bagger of the day, scoring Hebner and making it 4-2 in favor of the House of David.
Bruce Sutter gave up a walk, but worked around it to seal the victory, putting the House of David up, two games to one.
Hendricks ended the day with four hits.
HOD 4 (Sutter 2-0) @ BAL 2 (Bessent 1-3) [10 Innings]
HRs: HOD – Hendricks (13)
Box Score
#Game 4: @ Johnny Sain @ CC Sabathia
Two of the coldest arms in the WBL face-off in game four. Baltimore’s Johnny Sain sits at 5-4 with an ERA well over 5.00 while the House of David’s CC Sabathia is 5-5 with an ERA about a run lower. But neither have thrown well in a while.
The House of David’s best hitters generated their first run: Pete Browning singled, stole second, and scored on an RBI single by Elrod Hendricks.
The Black Sox tied the game in the bottom of the first on an RBI single from Frank Robinson, and took the lead when Richie Hebner made a throw that sailed over Mark Grace‘s head at first. Bryce Harper followed with a double into the right field corner, and when Sabathia finally got out of the inning, Baltimore was in front, 5-1.
Hendricks drove in Dan Ford with a single in the top of the third, but a great throw from Paul Blair nailed Browning at home to limit the damage.
Ramon Hernandez made it 7-2 with a homerun in the bottom of the frame.
Browning’s third hit of the game was a long shot to left-center, making the score 7-3 and generating activity in the Black Sox bullpen.
Both bullpens actually did well, and the game was scoreless across the final four frames. Hendricks ended with 4 hits for the House of David, while Harper had 3 for Baltimore.
HOD 3 (Sabathia 5-6) @ BAL 7 (Sain 6-4)
HRs: HOD – Browning (6); BAL – Hernandez (2)
Box Score
Series Overview
So, a split, a result that will disappoint Baltimore, and give the House of David some hope.
For the House of David, Elrod Hendricks was on fire, going 11-for-15 in the four games with 2 homeruns and 6 RBIs. The problem was nobody else did much of note.
The hitting star for Baltimore was Bryce Harper, who went 7-for-13, raising his average nearly 20 points. Again, though, it was pretty much a one man show.
