The National League is on the road today, so we look to the American League, where the third game of the best-of-seven series is taking place. We have eight games to review, so let's get started.
Our first game of the day starts in Detroit, where the
1927 New York Yankees have traveled to face the
1909 Detroit Tigers. Waite Hoyt (18-7, 2.60) gets the start for the Yankees and will face Ed Killian (14-7, 4.48) of the Tigers. Ty Cobb (.377, 37 HR, 138 RBI) gets things started early for Detroit, hitting a homer to right with two outs in the bottom of the 1st inning. Babe Ruth answers for New York in the top of the 3rd with two outs when he hits an RBI single to score Mark Koenig and tie the game, 1-1. The lead wouldn't last long, as Donie Bush would double in the bottom of the 3rd, then score on Cobb's single. 2-1, Detroit. But the lead would change in the top of the 5th. With two outs and the bases loaded, Pat Collins (.244, 8 HR, 75 RBI) would hit a single past the third baseman to score two runs and give the Yankees the 3-2 advantage. New York would add to their lead in the top of the 6th, when Joe Dugan doubles and later scores on a Koenig single. 4-2, Yankees. The Tigers would close the gap in the 7th, when Bush would single home Matty McIntyre to make the score 4-3. The Yankees bring in Urban Shocker (18-8, 3.74) in the bottom of the 8th to hold the lead, but Shocker gives up a home run to Cobb, his second of the game!!! Shocker is shaken, with the game now tied at 4. George Moriarty singles and later scores on Jim Delahanty's single to give Detroit the 5-4 lead!! Dutch Ruether (8-6, 3.74) is brought in to stop the bleeding, but he gives up a single to Red Killefer, which scores Delahanty. The Yankees have no answer in the top of the 9th.
1909 Detroit Tigers 6 1927 New York Yankees 4 1909 Tigers lead series 2-1.
The second game of the day features the
1932 New York Yankees against the
1970 Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles are looking for a win at home, as they dropped the first two games in New York. Lefty Gomez (19-8, 2.99) goes to the mound for the Yankees, while Mike Cuellar (16-11, 4.04) gets the nod for the O's. Things don't look good for Baltimore early. Earle Combs hits a triple for the Yankees in the top of the 1st inning, then scores on Lou Gehrig's fly out to left. Yankees take the early 1-0 lead. New York adds to their lead in the next inning, when Tony Lazzeri singles and later scores on a Samuel Byrd fly out to center. 2-0, Yankees. The top of the 3rd sees more of the same, as Ben Chapman singles, steals second and later scores on a Gehrig single. Yankees lead 3-0. Baltimore turns the tide in the bottom of the 4th. Davey Johnson doubles and Boog Powell homers to right. Yankees still lead, 3-2. The Orioles would score again in the 5th inning. Mark Belanger singles, then scores on Paul Blair's double to tie the game, 3-3. But Lyn Lary commits an error at short, allowing Blair to score the go ahead run. 4-3, Orioles. Checking the 1932 stats, Lary committed 23 errors at shortstop in only 80 games.
Elrod Hendricks would hit a line drive, two run home run barely over the right field wall in the 6th inning to extend the Oriole's lead. Baltimore manages to hold on for the victory.
1970 Baltimore Orioles 6 1932 New York Yankees 3 '32 Yankees lead series 2-1
The third game of the day takes us to Boston, as the
1913 Philadelphia Athletics are looking for answers on how to defeat the
2007 Boston Red Sox, who lead the series 2-0. Philly sends Bullet Joe Bush (18-7, 2.86) to the hill, as knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (11-14, 5.25) gets the nod for Boston. The Athletics start the scoring in the top of the 1st, when Eddie Collins walks, steals second and later scores on Stuffy McInnis' single. 1-0, Athletics. Scoring for Philadelphia would continue in the 2nd inning. Wally Schang triples, then scores on Jack Barry's single. 2-0, Athletics. Jason Varitek (.216, 6 HR, 51 RBI) cuts into the A's lead in the bottom of the 2nd. Varitek would single, advance on a wild pitch, move to third on a groundout and then score on J.D. Drew's single. Philly would add to their 2-1 lead the very next inning. McInnis doubles, Home Run Baker doubles and Rube Oldring singles Baker home. 4-1, Athletics. David Ortiz would draw a walk in the bottom of the 3rd and later score on Manny Ramirez's single to cut the lead to 4-2. The score remains the same until the 6th inning, when the Athletics would bust out, scoring four runs on four hits and an error to take an 8-2 lead!!! The Red Sox won't go away though, doing what they can to climb back into the game. Mike Lowell (.268, 15 HR, 91 RBI) doubles in Kevin Youkilis in the 7th to make it 8-3. Coco Crisp (.239, 4 HR, 48 RBI) hits a two run double in the 8th inning to cut the lead to 8-5. Eyeing a comeback in the bottom of the 9th, Boston manages to get Lowell across the plate on Drew's sac fly, but it's all they can muster.
1913 Philadelphia Athletics 8 2007 Boston Red Sox 6 2007 Red Sox lead series 2-1
Game four of today's match-ups features the
1995 Cleveland Indians on the road to face the
1936 New York Yankees. The series is tied, 1-1. Orel Hershiser (14-12, 4.32) starts for the Tribe and the Yankees send Johnny Broaca (11-14, 4.93) to the mound. New York starts the scoring in the bottom of the 1st, when Ben Chapman doubles and later scores on a Lou Gehrig fly out to center. 1-0, Yankees. Cleveland answers in the top of the 2nd. Jim Thome (.311, 22 HR, 93 RBI) leads off the inning with a home run to right to tie the game, 1-1. Manny Ramirez then doubles and later scores on Carlos Baerga's fly out to right. Indians lead 2-1. The see saw battle continues in the bottom of the 3rd. Chapman walks and scores on Red Rolfe's two run shot to right. Bill Dickey then singles and would later score on George Selkirk's double. Yankees lead, 4-2. New York would pad their lead by adding a run in the 4th to make it 5-2. But the Indians don't give up. With two outs in the bottom of the 6th, Ramirez would single and then score when Paul Sorrento (.236, 40 HR, 112 RBI) homers over the right field wall. Yankees lead, 5-4. Two innings later, in the top of the 8th, Albert Belle (.262, 28 HR, 94 RBI) would hit an INSIDE THE PARK HOME RUN to tie the game 5-5!!! Cleveland brings in Jose Mesa (1-4, 2.15, 42 Saves) in the bottom of the 9th with the game still tied. Mesa was having control issues and with the bases loaded, walks Bill Dickey to give up the winning run.
1936 New York Yankees 6 1995 Cleveland Indians 5 '36 Yankees lead series 2-1
Our next game is in New York, regardless of which team is at home, as the
1941 New York Yankees facing off against the
1953 New York Yankees with the series tied, 1-1. Marv Breuer (14-11, 3.14) gets the start for the '41 team, while Jim McDonald (4-3, 2.48, 7 Saves) gets the nod for the '53 squad. McDonald hasn't started a game at all in this league, but was a part-time starter in real life 1953. Tommy Henrich gets things started in the top of the 1st with a two run double to give the '41 Yankees the lead. Gil MDougald would double home Joe Collins in the bottom of the 2nd inning to cut the lead down to 2-1. The '53 Yankees would tie the game in the bottom of the 3rd, when Gene Woodling scored on Mickey Mantle's (.287, 30 HR, 97 RBI) single. The score would remain 2-2 until the 5th inning. Charlie Keller (.289, 26 HR, 94 RBI) would give the '41 Yankees the 3-2 lead after hitting a home run 471 feet into left center. But in the bottom half of the inning, Yogi Berra would triple and score on Mantle's double. Game tied again, 3-3. The '41 Yankees would break the tie the following inning, as Joe Gordon would cross the plate on Red Rolfe's double to give them the 4-3 lead. Holding onto a one run lead, the '41 Yankees would bring in Atley Donald to pitch in the bottom of the 7th. Donald loads the bases, then gives up the GRAND SLAM to McDougald as the ball goes over the wall in left. '53 Yankees lead, 7-4. But the '41 Yankees don't go away, they get even, scoring three runs on four hits in the top of the 8th to make it all knotted up, 7-7. To extra innings we go. Norm Branch (4-6, 2.42, 32 Saves) is pitching for the '41 Yankees in the bottom of the 10th. Branch gives up two walks before recording an out, then gives up a single to McDougald, scoring Woodling and ending the game.
1953 New York Yankees 8 1941 New York Yankees 7 (10 Innings) '53 Yankees lead series 2-1
The next game is also a New York match-up, with the
1939 New York Yankees facing the
1921 New York Yankees. The series is tied, 1-1. Marius Russo (18-10, 4.27) goes to the hill for the '39 Yankees, while Jack Quinn (9-9, 3.61) gets the start for the '21 Yankees. Scoring starts in the 1st inning, as the '39 Yankees draw four walks in the frame to take a 1-0 lead. Home Run Baker evens things up in the bottom of the 2nd, when he doubles and later scores on Chick Fewster's single. The score would remain 1-1 until the 5th, when Frankie Crosetti would hit an RBI single to give the '39 Yankees a 2-1 lead. The lead would change, however, in the bottom of the 7th. Babe Ruth would walk, then advance to second on Baker's single. Ruth scores on a throwing error on the right fielder, Tommy Henrich. Aaron Ward and Wally Pipp each hit RBI singles and the '21 Yankees lead it, 4-2. In the top of the 9th with two outs, Charlie Keller scores on a bases loaded BALK with Bill Dickey at the plate. Dickey then flies out to center to end the game.
1921 New York Yankees 4 1939 New York Yankees 3 '21 Yankees lead series 2-1
On to Arlington, Texas we go, where the
1969 Baltimore Orioles look to add to their 2-0 series lead against the
2011 Texas Rangers. Dave McNally (23-3, 2.94) starts for the O's and Derek Holland (11-11, 4.79) goes to the mound for the Rangers. The theme of the day is to score in the 1st inning and that's just what the Orioles did. After Davey Johnson walks, Frank Robinson (.319, 41 HR, 119 RBI) strokes a two run homer over the left field wall to give Baltimore the early 2-0 lead. The Orioles would add to their lead in the top of the 4th, when Boog Powell and Paul Blair would hit back-to-back homers to make the score 4-0. With two outs in the bottom of the 4th, Texas would answer with David Murphy hitting a two run shot to right, cutting the lead in half. Orioles lead 4-2. Powell would hit another home run in the top of the 5th to make it 5-2, Baltimore. Texas attempts to rally in the bottom of the 9th, scoring one run on two hits, but Marcelino Lopez picks up his third save in three games.
1969 Baltimore Orioles 5 2011 Texas Rangers 3 '69 Orioles lead series 3-0.
The final game of the day takes us to Oakland, where the
1912 Boston Red Sox are struggling to figure out how to get out of their 2-0 series deficit against the
1989 Oakland A's. Boston sends Ray Collins (19-7, 2.76) to the mound to face off with Oakland's Bob Welch (13-11, 4.64). The A's strike in the bottom of the 1st with two outs. Jose Canseco (.215, 24 HR, 91 RBI) strikes out, but makes it to first on a passed ball!!! Mark McGwire (.281, 28 HR, 131 RBI) makes Boston pay for that mistake and drives the ball over the left field wall. Oakland leads 2-0. The Red Sox regroup and cut into the lead in the bottom of the 4th, when Heinie Wagner singles and later scores on Duffy Lewis' fly out. The score remains 2-1 Oakland in the bottom of the 9th. Dennis Eckersley is in the game for the A's. After striking out two, Eck gives up a single to Tris Speaker (.366, 24 HR, 95 RBI). Speaker, with 49 stolen bases against only 10 caughts, is looking to steal. Catcher Terry Steinbach sees Speaker's lead is too far and on the first pitch, fires the ball to first for the PICK OFF!!!! What a way to end the game!!!
1989 Oakland A's 2 1912 Boston Red Sox 1 '89 A's lead series 3-0
So, that's it for the day. Join us again next time for a full slate of games with both leagues playing. That's 16 games!! Can the '27 Yankees pull out of their funk? Will the '69 Orioles and '89 A's sweep their series?