SATURDAY APRIL 13, 1974
The 1-7 Braves send Carl Morton (1-1, 5.06) to the mound against Cincinnati's Jack Billingham (1-1, 2.65) in a rematch of opening day. Hank Aaron is not in the starting lineup for this game.
Dusty Baker gets an rbi single in the bottom of the first and Morton holds the Reds in check for 6 innings. Unfortunately for Braves fans, of which there are less than 14,000 in attendance, everything falls apart in the 7th inning. The Reds send 12 men to the plate and score 6 runs in the frame. Joe Morgan hits a 3-run homer and Johnny Bench belts a 2-run shot in the onslaught that chases Morton.
Atlanta gets a run back in the bottom of the seventh thanks to an rbi double off the bat of Marty Perez. With Perez on second and one out, Hank Aaron is called on to pinch-hit for the pitcher. Aaron will face Billingham, against whom he was 0-for-4 in the season opener. He is quickly behind 0-2 after taking a strike and then fouling back the second offering. After another foul ball and a low pitch, Aaron turns on a fastball. He gives it a good ride but it is not quite deep enough as Pete Rose gathers it in shy of the warning track. Ralph Garr then grounds out to strand Perez at second.
The Braves do get 3 more runs in the 8th inning to make the final score respectable but it ends 6-4 and they suffer their 8th straight loss.
In other National League action Montreal and the Cubs split a twin bill at Wrigley with the Expos taking the first game 6-2 and Chicago winning the second by a 7-6 score. St Louis downed Pittsburgh 4-1 behind a Lynn McGlothen 3 hitter. Jimmy Wynn had a big day in Houston, homering twice and driving in all 3 runs to lead the Dodgers to a 3-2 win in 12 innings. Finally, San Diego got it's first win of the season as the Padres beat the Giants 7-3.
In the American League the Boston Red Sox beat Detroit 5-2 despite
Al Kaline hitting his second homer of the season and 388th of his MLB career. Kaline was 1-for-3 on the day and now has 2867 career hits. Lou Piniella's rbi double in the 12th inning lifted the New York Yankees past Cleveland 3-2. It was a tough no-decision for Indians starter Dick Tidrow, who pitched 10 innings allowing just 2 hits but one of them was a 2-run homer off the bat of Thurman Munson.
Elsewhere Tony Solita had a pair of hits and drove in 4 runs to help Kansas City past Minnesota 10-6. Baltimore beat Milwaukee 7-5 as Ross Grimsley improved to 2-0. Tom Grieve hit a pair of homers to help Texas thump Oakland 10-1 while in Anaheim, the California Angels beat the White Sox 3-1.