TUESDAY APRIL 16, 1974
I think I would rather be at Yankee Stadium watching a Red Sox-Yankees tilt, in Montreal to see Tom Seaver try for a third complete game shutout or at Riverfront where the Dodgers and Reds are meeting but our Hank Aaron watch continues as the woeful 1-9 Braves meet the 3-7 San Diego Padres. The Padres, riding a 3-game winning streak, send Steve Arlin to the mound. Arlin is 0-1 with a 5.11 era in his two starts. Atlanta counters with Ron Reed, who has pitched well but has yet to record a decision.
Aaron is not in the starting lineup for this game as 21 year old Rowland Office, who is batting .357 gets another opportunity in the outfield.
The Braves are trailing 6-2 entering the bottom of the seventh inning. Office and number 8 hitter Craig Robinson hit back to back singles to start the inning and Aaron is called upon to pinch-hit for Reed. He steps to the plate against Padres reliever Dave Freisleben. Aaron takes a fastball down low in the dirt for ball one and then fouls off the next pitch to even the count. The next pitch is a curveball and Aaron swings over top of it, sending a nubber down to third baseman Dave Roberts. Roberts goes to first to retire Aaron but both runners advance. Ralph Garr's ground out scores one run to make it 6-3 Padres but the inning ends with a Mike Lum strikeout.
That is as close as the Braves get. San Diego adds another run in the top of the 8th and claims a 7-3 victory. Aaron sees his average drop back to .094 on the year.
BOBBY TOLAN
The big feat in this game is Bobby Tolan hit for the cycle. The Padres outfielder doubled in the first inning, hit a 2-run homer in the fifth and tripled in the seventh. He finished it off with an 8th inning single. His efforts earned him the number one performance of the day. A 28 year old outfielder who came over from Cincinnati in the off-season, Tolan is now batting .405 with 6 rbi's and 8 runs scored in 9 games with the Padres.
Elsewhere in the National League, Joe Ferguson had a 4-hit, 3 rbi game to help Los Angeles pound Cincinnati 11-5. No shutout this time for Tom Seaver but he did improve to 3-0 as the Mets beat Montreal 5-2. Chicago scored 3 times in the bottom of the ninth to beat Pittsburgh 5-4. A bases loaded walk to Mike Anderson in the bottom of the 10th gave Philadelphia a 3-2 win over St Louis while Houston doubled San Francisco 6-3.
Nolan Ryan had 8 more strikeouts to run his major league leading total to 34 as the California Angels blasted Minnesota 10-1. Mel Stottlemyre outduelled Luis Tiant to help the Yankees beat Boston 3-2. Milwaukee handed Cleveland it's 10th straight loss by the same 3-2 score in a game that saw Robin Yount hit his first career major league homerun. Ken Anderson and Dick Allen each homered in Chicago's 7-1 win over Oakland. Finally Kansas City needed 17 innings to beat Texas 6-5.