A's edge the Angels in AL West battle

Game 1 
Oakland 3  California 2  (11 innings)
WP: J Jones (2-0)  LP: Forsch (3-1)
HR: Cal - Grich (5)  Oak - None

A's had to come from behind twice in this game and were able      
to escape with the extra-inning victory. Steve McCatty pitched
a great game for Oakland as did Ken Forsch.  Mike Patterson
had 4 hits for the A's.



Game 2
Oakland 6  California 4                                                                                   WP: Kingman (2-1)  LP: Renko (0-1)  S: McLaughlin (1)
HR: Cal - Baylor (6)  Oak - Gross 2 (4)  Page (4)

Wayne Gross homered twice and drove in 4 runs, leading the
way as the A's beat the Angels to inch closer to first.  Brian      
Kingman continued the A's wave of strong pitching
performances, going 7 innings for the victory.



Game 3
California 10  Oakland 3                                                                                       
WP: Zahn (5-0)  LP: Norris (2-3)
HR: Cal - Carew (1)  Grich (6)  Oak - Armas (10)

The Angels pounded out 16 hits, lead by Rod Carew who                            
went 3 for 5 including his first homer of the season.
A's starter Mike Norris struggled again while most of
his A's counterparts have got off to fast starts.
Geoff Zahn pitched great for California, moving his
record to 5-0 on this young season.  The Angels
continue to lead the AL West with a 16-4 record,
while the A's are just 1.5 games back at 15-6.

Reds drop two of three to Pods

April 28, 1981:  Joe Lefebvre drives in four runs as San Diego defeats Cincinnati 9-1.  The Padres blew open a two run game with six runs in the top of the ninth.  Rick Wise (3-1) threw seven innings of one run ball to pick up the win.  Tom Seaver (2-3) was pinned with the setback.

April 29,1981:  Frank Pastore goes the distance as the Reds down San Diego 8-2 to even the series.  George Foster collected three hits including two home runs and drove in three to pace the Cincinnati offense.   Dave Concepcion added four hits in five atbats.  Pastore (1-0)  allowed two runs on ten hits during the complete game effort.  John Curtis (0-3) was the losing pitcher.

April 30, 1981:  Trailing 4-2, San Diego comes up with two runs in the eighth to tie it and win it with two more in the tenth.  Gary Lucas (1-0) picked up the win while Paul Moskau (0-2) suffered the defeat.  Danny Boone picked up his first save of the season.  Luis Salazar led the Padres attack going 3 for 5 with three RBI including two in the tenth that proved to be the difference.  Joe Nolan went 2 for 4 for the Reds with two RBI.

Reds and Braves split a pair

April 21, 1981:  Danny Driessen singled with two out in the ninth plating Ken Griffey to give Cincinnati a 3-2 win.  Mario Soto went eight strong innings allowing two unearned runs but did not figure in the decision.  Tommy Hume (1-0) threw a scoreless ninth to pick up the win.  Rick Camp (0-1) suffered the setback.

April 22, 1981:  Eddie Miller went 2 for 4 with a triple and two RBI to lead the Braves past the Reds 5-2.  Ageless Gaylord Perry (2-0) went eight and two-thirds innings to pick up the win.  Rick Camp picked up the save retiring the final batter.  Perry also went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI.  Mike LaCoss (0-2) was the losing pitcher.

ChiSox Remain Hot; Take Two from O's

April 21, 1981
CHICAGO -- Britt Burns (1-0) and Dennis Lamp (2) out-dueled Jim Palmer (0-1) and Tippy Martinez for a 3-2 White Sox win in the series opener.

April 23, 1981 (Game #1)
CHICAGO -- Scott McGregor (1-0) defined efficiency with this performance. He beat the ChiSox 3-0, allowing just 3 hits. He fanned 6, walked zero, while facing just 30 hitters with 110 pitches. Terry Crowley led the offense with 3 hits. Doug DeCinces (2) went yard.

April 23, 1981 (Game #2)
CHICAGO -- Wayne Nordhagen (2) and Chet Lemon (2) hit back-to-back Home runs in the 5th to power the South-Siders to a 6-4 win for the split in the double dip and to win the series. Lamar Johnson also drove in 3 with a pair of singles.

A's take 3 out of 4 from Mariners

April 17, 1981

Oakland 3  Seattle 1

WP - McCatty (2-0)  LP - Bannister (1-1)

HR - Seattle:None  Oakland: Murphy 2 (3), Johnson (2)                     

Dwayne Murphy launched 2 HR's and Steve McCatty dominated   

 the Mariners with a complete game as the A's sent the opening       

day crowd home happy, beating the M's 3-1.  Floyd Bannister 

pitched well in a losing effort, striking out 12 and pitching into

the 8th inning.  

April 18, 1981

Oakland 6  Seattle 2

WP - Kingman  (1-1)  LP - Clay (0-1)

HR - Seattle: Zisk (1)  Oakland: Revering (1), Gross (2)

The A's fell behind early but rallied behind the booming bats of

Dave Revering and Wayne Gross. They each homered and Brian

Kingman kept the A's string of complete games alive, winning

his first of the year in a 6-2 A's win over Seattle.

April 19, 1981  (Game 1 of DH)

Seattle 4  Oakland 0

WP - Abbott  (2-1)  LP - Norris (1-2)                                                      

HR - Seattle: None  Oakland: None

Glenn Abbott was the story here, blanking the A's 4 to 0.

Abbott scattered 7 hits, walked just 1 and whiffed 3 during 

his gem. 

April 19, 1981  (Game 2 of DH)

Oakland 4  Seattle 3

WP - Langford (2-1)  LP - Andersen (0-1)                                                      

HR - Seattle: None  Oakland: None                                             

The A's rallied from a 3-0 deficit late, pushing 4 runs across

in the bottom of the eighth to edge the Mariners 4-3.  

The A's did it with 6 singles against 3 pitchers that inning, 

Wayne Gross got the game winning RBI.

Rick Langford pitched another complete game to go

to 2-1 on this young season.

With the win the A's record moves to 8-4 on the season, 

while the Mariners fall to 3-7.

 

Brewers Split With Tribe

April 16, 1971 Milwaukee 6 Cleveland 4
WP Caldwell (1-1, 1.17 ERA)
LP  Garland (0-1, 8.53 ERA)

The Brewers generated 13 hits and sat comfortably with a 6-0 lead heading into the last frame of
game 1 with the Indians.  However, Cleveland showed some moxie as they put on their two out rally caps to give the Milwaukee bullpen some room for concern.  After a tiring Jim Caldwell was replaced by ace Rollie Fingers, the Cleveland bats finally came alive as they registered 3 of their total 5 hits and 4 runs before Fingers could put out the flames.  But it was too little too late for the Tribe as the Brewers closed out game one 6-4.  Milwaukee's Robin Yount and Jim Ganter both went 3 for 4 on the day.

April 18, 1971  Cleveland 1  Milwaukee 0
WP Blyleven (2-0, 3H, 8 K's, 0.00 ERA)
LP Slaton (0-1, 3.00 ERA)

Bert Blyleven was the story of the game today, as he totally handcuffed Milwaukee in 3 hit, complete
game shutout.  Milwaukee's Jim Slaton also contributed a nice outing allowing only 1 ER in 7.2 innings.  Cleveland's only run (and game winning) came in the 8th inning with 2 outs.  After a Rick Manning stolen base, and a Mike Hargrove intentional walk, Joe Charboneau would single to score Manning from second.  Cleveland's Bert Blyleven has yet to give up an earned run in two outings and picked up his second win of the season.

Milwaukee and Cleveland both sit at 2-4 in the AL East.

Saax Hitters Pound Sahx hurlers for 2-1 Series Win

April 17, 1981
CHICAGO -- Gary Allenson (1) unloaded a 3-run bomb off Ed Farmer in the T9 to allow the Red Sox to roar back to a 9-7 win. The White Sox had taken an early 7-0 lead. Bob Stanley (2-1) got the W in relief with Tom Burgmeier (1) notching the save.

April 18, 1981
CHICAGO -- Ed Farmer tried to give away another large ChiSox lead, but Dennis Lamp (1) came on and induced a 9th inning DP with the tying run on first. Chicago won 7-5 after barging out to a 7-1 advantage. Steve Trout (1-0) topped Tanana (0-1) as pitchers of record. Carlton Fisk drove in 2 more runs against his old mates.

April 19, 1981
CHICAGO -- Chet Lemon (1) and Wayne Nordhagen (1) homered as the Saax pound the Sahx pitching again and win the rubber game, 8-4. Ross Baumgarten (1-0) stopped Steve Crawford (0-1) on the bump. Lamarr Hoyt (1) recorded the popular 4-inning save.

Reds and Cardinals split a pair.....

April 17th, 1981 Riverfront Stadium:  Tony Scott led off the top of the seventh with a solo home run as the Cardinals edge the Reds 3-2.  Darrell Porter gave the Redbirds a 2-0 lead in the first with a two run shot off Reds starter Mike LaCoss.  Cincinnati scored single runs in the fourth and the sixth to tie it.  W: Sorensen (2-0)  L:  Moskau (0-1).


April 18th, 1981 Riverfront Stadium:  George Hendrick's three run homer in the top of the first off of Tom Seaver gives visiting St. Louis a 3-0 lead.  Reds answer with four in the bottom of the inning for a 4-3 lead.  Cincinnati adds a run in the second and a run in the seventh as Seaver settles in to pitch eight strong innings for the 6-3 win.  Ray Knight went 2 for 3 with a double and a triple and 2 RBI to lead the Reds offense.    W:  Seaver (2-1)  L:  Shirley (0-1)  S:  Hume (3).

Philadelphia takes two from Pittsburgh

Philadelphia pitching struggled and their hitters couldn't get untracked until late in both games.  In game 1, trailing 6-4 going into the bottom of the 8th, the Phillies put two on the board to tie the game.  They won it in the bottom of the 9th when with two outs Manny Trillo singled home Lonnie Smith.  Game 2 was much more dramatic as the Pirates pounded Phillie starter Bystrom as they garnered 8 hits, 3 walks and 6 runs putting Philadelphia in the hole  6-0 at the end of six.  The Pirates scored again on Proly in the top of the 7th. The Phils put two on the board in the bottom of the 7th to get within 5 runs, 7-2. With the Phillies manager thinking loss, he left Proly in until the 9th, when the Pirates added another tally to their total.  The surprise came in the bottom of the 9th when the sleeping Phillies scored 6 runs after two outs had been recorded. Score tied 8-8 after 9.  In the bottom of the 10th Trillo again singled home the winning run, Larry Bowa.

Break Up the Pale Hose

April 14, 1981 
CHICAGO -- Tony Bernazard's single in the B9 off Rollie Fingers (0-1) plated Chet Lemon, lifting the ChiSox to a 3-2 win. LaMarr Hoyt (3-0) remained perfect in relief. Greg Luzinski's (3) lead-off solo bomb in the 9th tied the game at 2-2 after Ben Oglivie's (1) blast in T9 briefly gave Milwaukee a 2-1 lead.

April 15, 1981
CHICAGO -- Harold Baines (1) hit a walk-off home run off Fingers (0-2) in the bottom of the 10th, blasting Chicago to a 4-3 win. The White Sox remain perfect at 4-0 for the young season.

Atlanta Braves Open Season On A High Note

The Atlanta Braves opened the 1981 season by taking two of three games from  the visiting Cincinnati Reds.

Game one saw the Braves scoring five runs in the first inning rolling to a 7-1 victory. Game two saw the Braves’ Gaylord Perry control Reds hitters while the Braves scored four runs on twelve hits to earn a 4-1 victory. Game three saw the Reds earn their first victory of the new season, downing the Braves 3-2 in ten innings.

Phils hold off Reds 6-4 in 81 opener.

Philadelphia scored four runs in the fourth to breakup a two all deadlock and down the Reds 6-4.  Rose went 2 for 5 with a triple and 2 RBI.  Trillo also had two hits including a first inning HR.  Carlton (1-0) went 6 innings for the win.  Reed picked up the save.  Seaver (0-1) suffered the loss.