The
New York Black Yankees opened their series in
Indianapolis with
Jack Scott taking the mound while the ABC's countered with
David Price.
Indianapolis took the lead in the bottom of the first, with doubles from
Joe Morgan,
Johnny Bench, and
Jake Stenzel (one run scored on Stenzel's double, the other on a double-play ball from
Oscar Charleston).
The 2-0 lead lasted until the top of the 3rd when
Babe Ruth launched his 26th homerun of the year, and
Mike Schmidt followed with a moon shot of his own. Both homers were 2-run jobs, moving New York ahead, 4-2.
Danny Hoffman scored on an unlikely event--a
Hal Morris triple--in the bottom of the 4th, closing the game to 4-3.
Both starting pitchers left after 5 innings, but Schmidt greeted Price's replacement,
Clay Carroll, with his 2nd homerun of the day (an inside-the-park job at that!), re-establishing a 2-run lead for the Black Yankees.
Scott would likely have stayed in the game, but rain began to fall, delaying the bottom of the 5th nearly 90 minutes. This is an issue for New York, as their bullpen has struggled all year.
Goose Gossage replaced Scott, giving up a homerun to
Joey Votto (the first of his career) in the bottom of the 7th.
Gary Lavelle--brought in specifically to help their bullpen--relieved Gossage and immediately got into trouble, walking 2 and giving up a single to Charleston to load the bases. Bench singled, driving in 2, giving Indianapolis their first lead and chasing Lavelle.
Willie Mitchell--stellar so far this season--shut down the Black Yankees while
Ralph Citarella didn't do much better than Gossage and Lavelle, giving up a 2-RBI double to
Edd Roush in the bottom of the 8th to push the score to 8-5.
Rob Dibble closed it out, making the game really a battle of the bullpens: New York's gave up 5 runs in 3 innings while Indianapolis' only 1 run on 2 hits in 4.
NYY 5 (Lavelle 0-1, 1 BSv; Gossage 5 H) @ IND 8 (Mitchell 4-2; Dibble 14 Sv)
HRs: NYY - Schmidt 2 (12), Ruth (26); IND - Votto (1).
Box Score
#Other Games of Note
In the second game of the series between
Portland and
Baltimore, the Sea Dogs scored 5 runs in the last 2 innings to grab a come-from-behind 7-4 victory.
Kent Hrbek hit 2 homeruns, giving him 25 for the season (2nd in the league), and
Bobby Murcer hit a 3-run pinch-hit HR in the 9th to fuel the comeback. Baltimore's
Baby Doll Jacobson is slowly adjusting to WBL pitching after dominated AAA, homering twice and driving in 4 in the game in the losing effort.
POR 7 (Cuellar 6-4; Santana 23 Sv) @ BAL 4 (Miller 2-1; Bessent 2 BSv; Marshall 6 H)
HRs: POR - Hrbek 2 (25), Murcer (14); BAL - Jacobson 2 (4).
Box Score
Gary Peters, recalled from AAA earlier in the day, gave
Ottawa 5 shutout innings in their series finale with
Detroit, leaving with the Mounties up 5-0 thanks to 3 homeruns in the 3rd inning (
Carlos Beltrán,
Larry Walker, and
Anthony Rendon). It didn't last, as Detroit scored 4 times in the 7th and twice in the bottom of the 9th to send the game into extra innings tied at 6. In the top of the 11th,
George Van Haltren (0-15 at that point), hit a game-winning homerun, and two starters--the much maligned
Randy Johnson and the surprisingly effective
Jim Clancy--closed it out in the bottom of the frame. Detroit's
Chili Davis tied a league record with 5 hits.
OTT 8 (Dempster 1-0, 1 B Sv; Clancy 1 Sv; Bowsfield 6 H; Johnson H 1) 8 @ DET 6 (Wilshere 6-6) [11 Innings]
HRs: Beltrán (1), Walker (7), Rendon (6), Van Haltren (1).
Box Score