By the time Vikings starter
Nick Hornburg left this week's game against the Falcons with an injury in the second inning the Vikings already had an 8-0 lead. They'd go on for a 15-2 rout of the Falcons to remain undefeated, and announced after the game that Hornburg is not expected to miss his next start.
Terry Larkin came out of the pen to pick up the win with 4 1/3 innings of relief.
Tom Priest was 2-4 on the night for the Vikings, homered, and drove in 4 runs. The Vikings will continue their quest for an unbeaten season next week at home against the 5-5 Lions. They'll then hit the road to take on the Bears (6-4) and Patriots (3-7). There final three games will be at home against the Dolphins (3-7), on the road against the Seahawks (5-5), and at home against the 49'ers (2-8).
In the NBC East the Eagles fell 4-3 in extra innings to the Buccaneers. While
Hardie Henderson allowed just 1 earned run in 10 innings, the Eagles defense failed him with 5 errors, including 3 by shortstop
Gid Gardner, who also went 0-5 at the plate and is now hitting .125 for the season.
Sloppy defense was also the downfall of another 1 loss team as the Saints committed 9 errors in their 6-5 loss to the Colts. Every Saints starter but second baseman
George Strief committed an error in the game.
The ABC North features a three way tie between the Ravens, Steelers, and Bengals with each team winning this week. The Steelers will be coming to Baltimore next week for their second meeting of the year. The Steelers won 7-1 earlier this year in their game in Pittsburgh.
It was also monthly award time as both league's announced their awards:
Monthly Awards
Batter of the Month:
ABC - Fred Lewis, Chargers - 458, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 4 R
NBC - Bobby Hanson, Eagles - .333, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 8 R
Pitcher of the Month:
ABC - George Derby, Chargers - 3-1, 0.79 ERA, 45.2 IP, 19 K
NBC - Larry Corcoran, Panthers - 4-1, 1.47 ERA, 49 IP, 27 K
Rookie of the Month:
ABC - Bert Dorr, Chiefs - 3-2, 0.72 ERA, 37.1 IP, 18 K
NBC - Hardie Henderson, Eagles - 3-1, 1.72 ERA, 36.2 IP, 19 K
Then finally some of the top college performances this month:
Justin Duke, Illinois - .476, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 4 R
Harry Fuller, Notre Dame - .409, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 6 R
DJ Bash, Boston College - 3-0, 1.40 ERA, 25.2 IP, 25 K
Jimmy Kiser, Kentucky - 4-0, 1.31 ERA, 41.1 IP, 16 K