[BoilerRocketScientist]

Seattle Holds Back Cardinals in 9th for Game 4 Victory

The Game 4 matchup features Floyd Bannister from Seattle pitching against Rick Wise from St. Louis in a repeat matchup from Game 1.

After trading goose-eggs for 3 innings, the Mariners got on the board first with a pair in the 4th to take a 2-0 lead. A Ruppert Jones double scored Dave Stapleton who reached base on an error by Johnny Wockenfuss. Jones later scored on a ground out off the bat of Bill Buckner.

Floyd Bannister got out of a jam in the 6th after putting men on 1st & 2nd with only 1 out. But, a ground out by Keith Hernandez followed by and a fly out by Billy Sample ended St. Louis’ first threat of the game, leaving the score 2-0, Seattle, after 6 innings. After a 1-2-3 7th, Bannister was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the 8th. Bannister went 7 shutout innings giving up only 3 hits and striking out 1 batter.

Steve Foucault pitched the 8th and got the first out in the 9th before giving way to closer Tom Gorman. Keith Hernandez met Gorman with a single bringing up the tying run to the plate. The next batter, Billy Sample kept hope alive when he beat out the relay from second avoiding a game-ending double play. An error by Tim Wallach and a walk to Jerry Hairston loaded the bases with 2 outs. On a 1-0 pitch, Garry Templeton lifted a fly ball to short center which Ruppert Jones tracked down for the final out giving Seattle a 3-1 lead in the series.

Floyd Bannister (W, 2-0) earned the Game MVP with hit 7 innings of 3-hit, shutout pitching. He also had one of the 5 hits by Seattle as well as a sacrifice in his 2 at-bats. Tom Gorman got out of a jam of his own making to earn his 3rd save of the post-season. For St. Louis, Rick Wise pitched a wonderful game giving up only 5 hits and 2 walks in a complete game. The only 2 runs were unearned after a Johnny Wockenfuss error in the 4th inning. Unfortunately, he only earned a loss for his efforts leaving him 0-4 for the playoffs.