Game 1
Outcome: W
Score: 7-1
Streak: W3
Record: 29-59
Rank: 7th
GB: 24.5
Game 2
Outcome: L
Score: 2-8
Streak: L1
Record: 29-60
Rank: 7th
GB: 24.5
The Orioles kicked off the post All Star break portion of the season with a twi-night double header against the Twins. One of these games was the makeup of the May 5th game that had been rained out. Since it was Thursday, it was "Three Buck Night" and since it was "Three Buck Night", I was at the ballpark this night. I was accompanied this evening by my friends Steve and Chris who had driven down from Delaware. Unlike the last "Three Buck Night" double header I went to, I got to the ballpark in time to see all of both games.
And of course since I was there that night Mike Boddicker was on the mound for the Birds in the first game - this was his eighth home start of the season and the sixth one I had attended. It would turn out to be the last time I saw him pitch for the Orioles but obviously I didn't know that yet.
Boddicker pitched a very good game that night although it started out a little shakey. Mark Davidson and Randy Bush had back-to-back singles to start the game and Kirby Puckett followed with an RBI groundout that brought Davidson in from third. But after a walk to Kent Hrbek Boddicker settled down and got out of the inning.
The Orioles got him off the hook in the bottom of the inning. Ken Gerhart singled to lead off and Fred Lynn followed with a two run home run off of Twins starter Bert Blyleven. Two batters later Eddie Murray teed off on Blyleven for a solo home run. 3-1 Orioles.
The Orioles added two more runs in the next two innings. Cal Ripken had a sacrifice fly in the second inning and Murray led off the third with his second home run of the game. Not to be outdone, Lynn hit his second home run of the game in the fourth inning - another two run shot that again brought in Gerhart. That made the score 7-1 in favor of the Birds.
And that's the way it finished. Boddicker allowed just four more hits the rest of the game along with four walks. The Twins made it interesting in the eighth inning when they loaded the bases with only one out and the top of the lineup coming up but Boddicker struck out Davidson and got Bush to fly out to end the threat. Boddicker ended up throwing a complete game for the victory, his first one at home all season.
The nightcap didn't go as well for the Birds. The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on an RBI double from Dan Gladden but the Orioles tied it up in their half of the inning on a Bill Ripken sacrifice fly. A solo home run by Mickey Tettleton put the O's up 2-1 in the fourth inning but that lead was short lived.
Al Newman led off the top of the fifth with a single and John Moses followed with a double. Greg Gagne flew out for the first out but Orioles starter Jay Tibbs hit Gladden with a pitch to load the bases. Tibbs got Hrbek to strike out but then gave up a bases clearing triple to Gene Larkin to put the Twins up 4-2. Bush was intentionally walked to set up a force play at second but Tibbs threw a wild pitch while pitching to Brian Harper which moved Bush to second (although Larkin remained at third). Harper then doubled to bring in both Larkin and Bush. Orioles manager Frank Robinson went to the bullpen and replaced Tibbs with John Habyan who promptly gave up another RBI double, this time to Steve Lombardozzi before getting Newman (who had started all this with a single) to ground out to end the inning. The Twins sent ten men to the plate and scored six runs on five hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch.
The Twins added another run in the seventh inning on a second RBI double for Harper. Meanwhile Allan Anderson was mowing down the Orioles, holding them to only two hits and a walk over his last four innings of work before giving way to Juan Berenguer who pitched a perfect ninth for the Twins. Final score was 8-2 and the Birds three game win streak (tied for their longest of the season so far) was over.
In other baseball news this day, the Red Sox fired manager John McNamara. The Red Sox had been expected to contend this season but entered today with a record of 43-42, tied for fourth with the Brewers nine games behind the front running Tigers in the AL East. McNamara had managed the Red Sox since 1985, taking them to World Series and one pitch away from a Championship in 1986. He was replaced on an interim basis by third base coach Joe Morgan, who is not the Joe Morgan that you're probably thinking of. The interim label didn't last long - the Red Sox won their first 12 games under Morgan and 19 of their first 20 under him to catapult into a first place tie with Tigers on August 3rd. It was dubbed "Morgan Magic" and earned him the "permanent" job.
There's one other thing about this night I want to mention. At some point during the game my friend Steve mentioned that he'd met a woman that he thought I should meet. Her name was Sabra and she was into a lot of the same music that I was into and knew her way around a baseball game. He promised to introduce us at some point.
Here's the game stories from the next day's Evening Sun. There's a lot of talk in the article about Frank Robinson's ailing back. I've been trying to determine if he missed any more games due to his back this season and I've not been able to confirm it so far.
Outcome: L
Score: 2-8
Streak: L1
Record: 29-60
Rank: 7th
GB: 24.5
The Orioles kicked off the post All Star break portion of the season with a twi-night double header against the Twins. One of these games was the makeup of the May 5th game that had been rained out. Since it was Thursday, it was "Three Buck Night" and since it was "Three Buck Night", I was at the ballpark this night. I was accompanied this evening by my friends Steve and Chris who had driven down from Delaware. Unlike the last "Three Buck Night" double header I went to, I got to the ballpark in time to see all of both games.
And of course since I was there that night Mike Boddicker was on the mound for the Birds in the first game - this was his eighth home start of the season and the sixth one I had attended. It would turn out to be the last time I saw him pitch for the Orioles but obviously I didn't know that yet.
Boddicker pitched a very good game that night although it started out a little shakey. Mark Davidson and Randy Bush had back-to-back singles to start the game and Kirby Puckett followed with an RBI groundout that brought Davidson in from third. But after a walk to Kent Hrbek Boddicker settled down and got out of the inning.
The Orioles got him off the hook in the bottom of the inning. Ken Gerhart singled to lead off and Fred Lynn followed with a two run home run off of Twins starter Bert Blyleven. Two batters later Eddie Murray teed off on Blyleven for a solo home run. 3-1 Orioles.
The Orioles added two more runs in the next two innings. Cal Ripken had a sacrifice fly in the second inning and Murray led off the third with his second home run of the game. Not to be outdone, Lynn hit his second home run of the game in the fourth inning - another two run shot that again brought in Gerhart. That made the score 7-1 in favor of the Birds.
And that's the way it finished. Boddicker allowed just four more hits the rest of the game along with four walks. The Twins made it interesting in the eighth inning when they loaded the bases with only one out and the top of the lineup coming up but Boddicker struck out Davidson and got Bush to fly out to end the threat. Boddicker ended up throwing a complete game for the victory, his first one at home all season.
The nightcap didn't go as well for the Birds. The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on an RBI double from Dan Gladden but the Orioles tied it up in their half of the inning on a Bill Ripken sacrifice fly. A solo home run by Mickey Tettleton put the O's up 2-1 in the fourth inning but that lead was short lived.
Al Newman led off the top of the fifth with a single and John Moses followed with a double. Greg Gagne flew out for the first out but Orioles starter Jay Tibbs hit Gladden with a pitch to load the bases. Tibbs got Hrbek to strike out but then gave up a bases clearing triple to Gene Larkin to put the Twins up 4-2. Bush was intentionally walked to set up a force play at second but Tibbs threw a wild pitch while pitching to Brian Harper which moved Bush to second (although Larkin remained at third). Harper then doubled to bring in both Larkin and Bush. Orioles manager Frank Robinson went to the bullpen and replaced Tibbs with John Habyan who promptly gave up another RBI double, this time to Steve Lombardozzi before getting Newman (who had started all this with a single) to ground out to end the inning. The Twins sent ten men to the plate and scored six runs on five hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch.
The Twins added another run in the seventh inning on a second RBI double for Harper. Meanwhile Allan Anderson was mowing down the Orioles, holding them to only two hits and a walk over his last four innings of work before giving way to Juan Berenguer who pitched a perfect ninth for the Twins. Final score was 8-2 and the Birds three game win streak (tied for their longest of the season so far) was over.
In other baseball news this day, the Red Sox fired manager John McNamara. The Red Sox had been expected to contend this season but entered today with a record of 43-42, tied for fourth with the Brewers nine games behind the front running Tigers in the AL East. McNamara had managed the Red Sox since 1985, taking them to World Series and one pitch away from a Championship in 1986. He was replaced on an interim basis by third base coach Joe Morgan, who is not the Joe Morgan that you're probably thinking of. The interim label didn't last long - the Red Sox won their first 12 games under Morgan and 19 of their first 20 under him to catapult into a first place tie with Tigers on August 3rd. It was dubbed "Morgan Magic" and earned him the "permanent" job.
There's one other thing about this night I want to mention. At some point during the game my friend Steve mentioned that he'd met a woman that he thought I should meet. Her name was Sabra and she was into a lot of the same music that I was into and knew her way around a baseball game. He promised to introduce us at some point.
Here's the game stories from the next day's Evening Sun. There's a lot of talk in the article about Frank Robinson's ailing back. I've been trying to determine if he missed any more games due to his back this season and I've not been able to confirm it so far.
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