We continue our look at the National League West with the games of Sunday, April 9:
We begin in Atlanta, where the Braves are hosting the Astros in Game 1 of a doubleheader.
As part of a promotion, a computer was fed information about the teams and picked a lineup based on the information that it was fed. (The managers were still allowed to choose their starting pitchers.) The computer tallied a win for the Braves, as the handpicked lineup scored eight runs in the eighth to overcome a 5-3 deficit and rout the Stros 11-5. The Astros built a 5-0 lead in the third after Tommy Helms, in the midst of a three for four day with four RBIs for Houston, went deep off of George Stone. But the Braves scored three in the sixth on base hits by Dusty Baker and Marty Perez. Then, in the eighth, the dam broke. Astros reliever George Culver walked the bases loaded, and the Braves took the lead on a groundout by Mike Lum and base hits by Perez and Felix Millan. Then Jim Breazeale came up to bat for pitcher Cecil Upshaw and took Stros hurler Jim Ray's first pitch over the wall in right center field. Hank Aaron teed off later in the inning with one on, and the rout was complete. Extra credit goes to the Braves' bullpen, which held the Astros scoreless over the final six innings.
W- Upshaw (4-5)
L- Culver (6-3)
HR- ATL: Aaron (35), Breazeale (6)
HOU: Helms (6)
The same computer lineups were used for the second game as the first. The players were the same, and so was the score, as the Braves again beat the Astros 11-5. The Braves scored three in the first, then five more in the fifth to break things wide open. Every member of the Braves' starting lineup had at least one hit, and Hank Aaron led off the climactic fifth with a towering shot that landed ten rows back in center field. Earl Williams also homered in the eighth for Atlanta, while Tommy Helms went deep for the Astros. Ron Reed pitched a complete game for the Braves, giving up five runs but only seven hits.
The Astros have now fallen into third place in the West, a half game behind the Dodgers.
W- Reed (12-15)
L- Wilson (15-12)
HR- HOU: Helms (7)
ATL: Aaron (36), Williams (29)
Our next stop in the afternoon is Candlestick, where it was the Giants' turn for fireworks in Game 1. Using their computer-generated lineup, they piled up twelve runs on fourteen hits and blew out the Padres 12-4. Dave Kingman started the Giants off with a two-run blast in the bottom of the first, and also homered in the eighth. Jim Ray Hart added a pinch-hit dinger, and Willie McCovey also went deep for San Fran. Kingman totaled four RBIs for the game. Jerry Morales and Nate Colbert homered for the Pads.
W- Stone (7-8)
L- Norman (9-12)
HR- SD: Colbert (40), Morales (5)
SF: Kingman 2 (32), McCovey (16), Hart (6)
Like the Braves, the Giants got a doubleheader sweep from their lineup, scoring four in the bottom of the first en route to an 8-4 win over the Padres in Game 2. The four first inning runs come on a 450-foot bomb by Dave Kingman, his third total homer of the day. Bobby Bonds and Kingman went deep back-to-back in the fifth to nail down the sweep. Ron Bryant pitched eight and two-thirds innings to get the victory, while Don McMahon notched the save. Fred Kendall was two for four with two runs scored and another driven in for the Padres.
W- Bryant (16-7)
S- McMahon (6)
L- Arlin (10-22)
HR- SF: Kingman 2 (34), Bonds (27)
We end this report at Chavez Ravine, where the Dodgers, in a dogfight for second place with the Astros, played host to the division champion Reds.
The computer that chose the Reds' lineup put Bobby Tolan in left field and Pete Rose in center; manager Sparky Anderson tried to correct the mistake, but plate umpire Bruce Froemming ruled that players must stay in the positions that the computer assigned them for at least one batter. Anderson continued to protest until Rose assured him that he was fine in center. It turned out not to matter, as it was the Reds' pitching that had the trouble, giving up three runs and the lead in the sixth on the way to a 5-3 Dodgers' win. Lee Lacy doubled home the tying run as a pinch hitter, and Bill Russell singled home the go-ahead run off of Pedro Borbon. Interestingly, Lacy tried to score on Russell's hit, but was gunned down at the plate by a perfect throw from Tolan in left. Four different Dodgers' starters had two hits to pace their offensive attack. Pitcher Wayne Simpson was the offensive star for the Reds, singling home two runs in the fourth.
W- Richert (3-3)
S- Brewer (18)
L- Simpson (8-6)
Now let's move on to Tuesday, April 11:
Our first stop is Dodger Stadium, where the Dodgers are entertaining the Braves.
There was scoring in only one inning: the sixth. The Braves got one run on a Hank Aaron home run, but the Dodgers answered with two and took a 2-1 decision. Young catcher Joe Ferguson singled home rookie third baseman Ron Cey with the decider, and Don Sutton went all the way for the Dodgers, pitching a complete game on only two days' rest to gain his twentieth victory of the year. Starting pitcher Denny McLain had to leave after only three innings because of a stiff elbow for the Braves, so reliever Ron Schueler took the loss.
W- Sutton (20-10)
L- Schueler (5-9)
HR- ATL: Aaron (37)
We continue in Cincinnati, where the division champion Reds are hosting the Giants.
The Giants jumped to an early 3-0 lead off of Ross Grimsley in the first on base hits by catcher Dave Rader and center fielder Jim Howarth. Howarth drove in two more with a double in the third, and it looked like a San Francisco laugher. But the Reds got one in the fourth and three in the sixth to jump back into the thick of things at 5-4, and Denis Menke's double drove home Johnny Bench in the seventh to tie it. In the top of the ninth, Bobby Bonds went deep off of Ed Sprague to give the Giants a 6-5 lead, but in the bottom of the ninth, Tolan singled with one out, then stole second, which brought up Bench. The count is two balls and one strike as we join Reds play-by-play man Al Michaels:
"Giants 6, Reds 5, bottom of the ninth......... John looking to knock home Tolan and tie this baby up, although a home run would be better to save the pitchers, because you don't know how long this could last. Better to hit it out and we all go home. Moffitt gets the sign, Tolan not going, one-two to John..... Fly ball to left, Henderson going back, back, back, and.......... GONE! Johnny Bench has hit Number 43 on the year, and Riverfront Stadium goes crazy! And we are going home, victorious! Final score on Bench's dinger: Reds 7, Giants 6."
W- Sprague (4-3)
L- Moffitt (5-5)
HR- CIN: Bench (43)
SF: Bonds (28)
Finally we go to the Astrodome, where the Astros rolled over the visiting Padres 6-1.
Cesar Cedeno paced the Stros, going two for three including a two-run homer in the fifth. Bob Watson also went deep for the home squad, Jimmy Wynn provided the other two Houston RBIs with a third- inning two-run double, and Roger Metzger went one for four and scored a pair. Nate Colbert knocked in the only San Diego run, as Jerry Reuss and George Culver combined to hold the Friars to one run on five hits while fanning ten. Fred Norman took the loss for San Diego, pitching on just one day's rest due to widespread illness on the Padres' pitching staff.
W- Reuss (11-13)
S- Culver (17)
L- Norman (9-13)
HR- HOU: Cedeno (23), Watson (20)
The National League West standings to the moment:
Reds: 98-61 (clinched)
Dodgers: 88-72- 10.5 GB
Astros: 87-73- 11.5 GB
Giants: 83-77- 15.5 GB
Braves: 69-91- 29.5 GB
Padres: 55-104- 43 GB
Next: More NL West games.
Thoughts?