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Candlestick Park.
The place where I had made my Major League debut.
This afternoon was different. This time, I would be starting.
I was 1-2 with a 3.10 ERA coming into the game. 58.0 IP. 24 BB. 38 K. 50 hits allowed. Two of those hits were home runs.
The Giants were 17-44 with the worst record in baseball.
We got a pair in the top of the first, so I came to the mound with a 2-0 lead.
Five pitches later, we were headed back to bat.
Chris Speier led off the top of the second with a double and then it was my turn to bat. I laid down the sacrfice bunt and moved Speier to third.
But he was stranded there.
Jack Clark got a single in the bottom of the second but that was all the Giants would get.
Kruk led off the top of the third with a homer and we were up 3-0.
Leading off the third, I walked John Rabb on four pitches. Their pitcher then bunted him to second. Brady Anderson then got one of those annoying infield singles and runners were at the corners with one out. I got ahead of Mike Aldrete 0-2 and then he was fooled on a low changeup. He made contact but it popped into shallow right and Gwynn made the catch and Rabb was held at third.
Two down.
A chance to get out of the jam.
Robby Thompson came up to bat.
I missed outside with a changeup. Well I thought I did.
Strike one.
I'll take it!
Thampson missed a low fastball.
Strike two.
A fastball did indeed miss inside to make it 1-2.
I then came back with another fastball, near shoulder high but down the middle and Thompson watched it go by.
Strike three!
And the inning was over.
I had indeed worked out of the jam and we still led 3-0.
I came to bat in the top of the fourth and flew out to center.
Then in the bottom of the fourth, I walked Clark on four pitches. Second straight inning that began with a four pitch walk.
I had to get control of my command!
This one proved costly as, one out later, Bob Brenly smashed a two run homer.
Just like that our lead was only 3-2.
I then fell behind Albert Hall 2-0 before drilling him right in the knee.
I shook my head and took a deep breath. I had no idea what was happening to me but I just could not find the strike zone all of a sudden.
Bennie gave the signal and I went into my windup.
And then whipped the ball to first!
Hall never saw it coming and Kruk made a brilliant catch and tag.
Picked off!
Two away!
Rabb then grounded to short to end the inning.
I was still irritated that I had been so wild in that inning.
I slammed my glove on the bench and glared out at the field. I was not pitching like I could and I knew it.
A thought crept into my mind that I had left some of my game back in Houston.
We went down in order in the fifth.
Their pitcher came up. I got ahead 0-2. Then Atlee Hammaker rolled a low curve down the third base line for an infield single.
That's when you know it's just not your day.
But the top of the order of the Giants went down in order with two fly outs and a groundout.
We still led 3-2.
I came to bat in the top of the sixth with a runner on second and two down.
I fouled off a couple of two strike pitches. If nothing else, I was going to make Hammaker work for the final out.
The count went full.
Hammaker then caught the outside edge with a fastball for strike three.
I fell behind in the count on ever batter in the bottom of the sixth but they still went down in order.
So, we still led 3-2.
On the third pitch of the seventh inning, Willie McGee changed that. A slider went right down the middle and McGee sent it into the left field bleachers.
4-2.
It would be the last pitch of the game for Hammaker.
Gwynn would hit a triple, setting up Ken Oberkfell to come through with a 2-run single with two out to make it 6-21
And we still weren't done.
Chris Speier made it 8-2 with a two-run triple bringing me up to bat. The ninth batter of the inning.
And I sent the first pitch to right field for the third out.
But I was headed to the mound with a six run lead.
I was still falling behind in the count but the Giants went down in order once again.
It's not good to badmouth an opponent but the fact is, it wasn't my pitching shutting the Giants down.
They were just showing why they were the worst team in baseball.
Thompson hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third to make it 8-3. I then walked Clark again on four pitches. Chris Brown then grounded an easy one right back to me to end the inning.
Our offense wasn't done. But I was. Terry Kennedy hit for me in the ninth and got an RBI single as we piled on three more runs.
Tim Belcher then finished off the ninth as we won 11-3.
In the end, 59 of my 99 pitches were counted as strikes. But, some of those were just Giants hitters swinging at really bad pitches.
But, we had won!
Baseball is so funny that way.
You can pitch fantastic, like I had in Houston, and lose.
You can pitch subpar, like I had today, and win.
I watched the camera crew set up and interview Ken Oberkfell. And why not. Ken had driven in four runs and the run support I had not gotten in Houston had been made up for in spades.
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