#Baltimore Black Sox
Ned Garvin shut out
Philadelphia on 3 hits, walking 1 and striking out 4, improving his record to 2-1 in easily his best performance of the year.
A pinch-hit grand slam from
Frank Robinson helped power the Black Sox past the Stars in the second game.
Dennis Martinez had another strong outing, improving to 3-1 and Ken Singleton also went deep.
#Chicago American Giants
Frank Thomas hit 2 homeruns, leading Chicago past the
New York Black Yankees, 8-4.
Ben Sheets moved to 4-1 on the year with a strong effort, and
Carlton Fisk and
Joe Jackson also went deep.
In game two of the series, down 4-2 in the top of the 7th, the American Giants responded with 6 runs, shocking the Black Yankees and providing the final score in the 8-4 victory. The inning started with hits from
Luke Appling and
Dave Nilsson, chasing New York's starter,
Jake Scott, from the game. He was relieved by
A.J. Burnett, who allowed a run to score on a wild pitch, then surrendered a single toJackson to tie the game ... and then things got rough, with
Dick Allen hitting a 2 run homerun and
Mike Fiore scoring on a fielders' choice. Thomas went 3-for-5, and both
Adrian Gonzalez and
Duffy Lewis hit homers as well. The win went to
Ed Walsh, who struggled through 126 pitches over 7 innings, allowing 4 runs.
Akinori Otsuka and
A.J. Minter combined for 2 scoreless innings in relief.
#Houston Colt 45's
Stubby Overmire got a spot start and made the most of it, allowing only 2 runs in 7 innings against
Brooklyn in a game Houston eventually won in the bottom of the 9th, with the victory going to
Andrew Chafin, who evened his record at 1-1.
Jeff Bagwell went deep twice--perhaps an indication he's finding his swing at last--to lead Houston to a 6-2 victory in the 2nd game, with
Tony Gwynn adding 3 RBI's as well.
Trevor Hoffman moved to 3-0 on the year, after a decent effort from
Stephen Strasburg.
#Ottawa Mounties
Jamie Moyer's WBL debut was a thing of beauty: 7.2 innings, 6 hits, 4 strikeouts, and a single earned run.
Tom Henke's total meltdown was not--4 runs on three hits in the 9th inning, turning a 2-1 lead into a 5-2 defeat to
Indianapolis.
The question of what it would take for Ottawa to give up on
Randy Johnson--at least for a while--was answered: 1-4 with an ERA approaching 9 and a WHIP over 2. It's unclear what the long term plans are in Ottawa: for now,
Monk Dubiel gets a start and a likely quick hook, with
Greg Holland called up to the bullpen.
Holland did well: 3.1 innings in relief of Dubiel (who gave up 4 runs in 3 innings), allowing only 1 run. It was enough, as Ottawa took advantage of a total implosion by
Rob Murphy that included 2 bases-loaded walks and a grand slam by the suddenly red-hot
Freddy Parent. It all added up to an 8-5 victory for the Mounties.