Three teams could clinch today: Detroit, New York, and Baltimore all lead their series 3-0. A victory by Chicago over Portland, however, would even that series at 2 games apiece.
#Portland Sea Dogs v Chicago American Giants, Game 4
Portland leads, 2-1.
The choice for the Sea Dogs comes down to either Pascual Pérez (1-2, 4.92) or Mike Cuellar (13-8, 4.56). Cuellar has been more comfortable coming out of the pen all season, making only 6 starts, which is probably the reason for Pérez getting the nod. There is little controversy for Chicago, where Dick Rudolph takes his scheduled turn.
Adrián Beltré gets the nod at 3B for Portland over Buddy Bell while Rocky Colavito gets the start in LF for Chicago.
The choice of Pérez proved immediately controversial: Eddie Collins took his 4th pitch into the right field stands for a 1-0 Chicago lead. But Pérez quickly settled down, lasting all the way until the 7th, when Dick Allen doubled with one out and Mike Fiore walked. Cuellar was called on, and got the second out of the inning, but Colavito doubled, increasing the lead to 3-0.
Rudolph was even better, not giving up a hit until a Gavvy Cravath single in the top of the 5th inning, then nothing thereafter. The one-hit shutout was still intact after 8, and with Rudolph on only 88 pitches, he headed back out to the mound.
He got the first two outs, but Joe Mauer singled. After a visit to the mound, Rudolph fanned Kent Hrbek, and we had a series tied at 2 games each!
Obviously, this one was all about Rudolph: 2 hits and 5 strikeouts in a complete game, 99 pitch gem.
POR 0 (Pérez 0-1) @ CAG 3 (Rudolph 1-0)
HRs: POR – none; CAG – Collins (2).
Box Score
And now we move to the win or go home games.
#Detroit Wolverines v Birmingham Black Barons, Game 4
With no need to push things, Detroit will turn to the red hot Hank Aguirre (9-10, 4.34) while Birmingham counters with Vic Willis (4-6, 3.57), but today, and for any future games, all of Birmingham’s staff is down in the pen, ready to go. The Black Barons make 2 tweaks to their lineup, starting Al Schweitzer in CF over the struggling Curtis Granderson, and giving Jim Pagliaroni a day off behind the plate in favor of Gene Tenace.
Schweitzer repaid the faith immediately, singling in the bottom of the first and coming around to score on a hit from Eddie Mathews. Not to be outdone, Tenace doubled to lead off the home second, but was stranded at third.
Willis was sailing until the 4th, when he gave up homeruns to Bob Bailey, Hank Greenberg, and Chili Davis, putting Detroit up 4-1, and ending his afternoon. Andy Pettitte was summoned from the bullpen, hoping to make up for his subpar start in game one of the series.
Aguirre struggled a bit through his five plus innings, giving up 6 hits and a walk, but he surrendered only the single run.
Johnny Marcum relieved Aguirre and got into some trouble in the bottom of the 7th: Tenace walked, and Granderson pinch-ran and promptly stole second. Then, Adrián González, pinch-hitting for Herman Long, was granted first on catcher’s interference. After an out, Marcum walked Bob Nieman to load the bases. That fetched Buddy Napier from the Wolverines’ bullpen to face Schweitzer, who lifted a fly to shallow center. Chili Davis made the catch and nailed the runner at home to end the inning.
And so we made our way to the bottom of the 9th with Birmingham trailing 4-1 and the Wolverines’ closer, Mike Henneman, on the mound. Three up, three down, and Detroit were through to the next round!
Yeah, Willis gave up the three homers, but Birmingham knew it would need to tally more than a single run to have a chance. At the end of the day, the fault has to be laid at the feet of their offense, who managed only a single homerun in the 4 games. Mention should be made of Pettitte’s effort as well: 3.2 scoreless innings and, clearly tiring, getting Ty Cobb to end the 7th with his final pitch.
DET 4 (Aguirre 1-0; Henneman 1 Sv; Marcum 1 H; Napier 1 H) @ BBB 1 (Willis 0-1)
HRs: DET – B. Bailey (1), Greenberg (2), C. Davis (1); BBB – None.
Box Score
Hank Greenberg was declared the MVP of the series, hitting .438 with 2 homeruns and 7 RBIs.
#Cleveland Spiders v New York Gothams, Game 4
This one surprised quite a few people, but the Gothams are just a solid team. The Spiders will turn to Stan Coveleski in what could be their final game of the season, while New York has the luxury of giving the mercurial Rube Waddell a game.
Lance Berkman gets the start at first for Cleveland, with John Ellis sliding behind the plate in place of the slumping Louis Santop.
The Spiders would clearly not go quietly: Kenny Lofton beat out an infield hit to start the game, moved to second on a walk to Tris Speaker, and scored on a soft single to right by Jake Stahl. A 2-out double by Chuck Knoblauch plated them both, giving the Spiders an early 3-0 lead.
Benny Kauff continues to impress: after a leadoff double from Willie Mays, Kauff took a pitch from Coveleski off the wall in centerfield, putting the Gothams on the board. Without another hard hit ball, New York loaded the bases and scored on a soft topper by Jimmy Sheckard that didn’t make it past the mound. Another infield hit–this one by Pete Runnels–tied it up.
Both pitchers recovered, but were beginning to tire. Coveleski didn’t make it out of the 5th: a walk to Buster Posey and a single from Mays chased him. Cleveland turned to Ron Reed, looking to prove he was worth his mid-season acquisition: the jury is out, as Reed walked Kauff and surrendered a bases-clearing double to Will Clark for a 6-3 lead for the Gothams.
That took the wind out of Cleveland’s sails, and when New York added 2 more on a double from Runnels and sacrifice hit from Mays.
New York rode its bullpen, like it’s done all year, right into the next round.
Nobody hit for Cleveland, other than Lofton. But Ron Blomberg‘s 1-for-16 performance jumps off the page–that ain’t no MVP performance, that’s for sure.
CLE 3 (Coveleski 0-1) @ NYG 8 (Waddell 1-0)
HRs: None.
Box Score
Willie Mays won the MVP hitting .438 for the series, but Will Clark rediscovering his stroke and the contributions of Benny Kauff deserve some recognition as well. And if you could, the MVP award really could go to the entire Gothams bullpen, who allowed 4 runs in 11 effective innings.
#Baltimore Black Sox v Wandering House of David
Baltimore leads, 3-0.
Can any of the teams with their backs against the wall gain any breathing room? The House of David will turn to CC Sabathia (13-13, 4.83), with a full bullpen behind him, while Baltimore will counter with Mike Mussina (7-4, 4.08).
Jim Edmonds slides over to 1B, with George Gore taking over in CF for the House of David.
A sacrifice fly from Edmonds scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second, and Richie Hebner and George Stone took Mussina deep with back to back jacks in the next inning. That made it 3-0, but Dan McGann hit his second homerun of the series with a man on to close the score to 3-2.
Mussina gave up another shot to Stone in the 5th, and was relieved by Jim Palmer, who let in another run. The House of David had hope, a 5-2 lead, and a cruising Sabathia. He was replaced by Ed Bauta in the 7th, then Lee Smith in the 8th, and Bruce Sutter in the 9th.
Each team added runs, but the outcome was secured: we will have a game 5!
Stone and Gore had 3 hits each for the House of David, and Elrod Hendricks even had his first hit of the series–a weak single to right, but still, a hit.
Things just got worse for Baltimore: Larry Gardner was forced out of the game in the bottom of the 7th with an apparent rib injury.
BAL 3 (Mussina 0-1) @ HOD 8 (Sabathia 1-0)
HRs: BAL – McGann (2); HOD – Stone 2 (2), Hebner (1), Gore (1).
Box Score
News on Gardner was better than feared: he’ll be day-to-day for about a week, so Baltimore will hold off on roster moves for now.
