August 9th. Chicago 5 Detroit 4
WHITAKER LOSES GAMBLE ON BASE PATHS AS TIGERS LOSE TO WHITE SOX, 5-4
Harold Baines gunned down Lou Whitaker in the bottom of the ninth, when the Tiger second sacker tried to score the tying run on a Larry Parrish single, with two out.
The wild ending should never have occured, however star reliever, Aurelio Lopez, was rocked in the top of the eighth, surrendering a three run homer to Greg Luzinski, then a solo bomb to Gary Walker, two batters later. Those two long balls gave Chicago a 5-3 lead after starter, Glenn Abbott had held the White Sox in check for much of the game.
Abbott retired the first seven batters he faced before walking Scott Fletcher in the third. He didn’t allow a basehit until Greg Walker singled in the fifth, but staked to a 3-0 lead, Abbott looked to be in command.
However, Walker wasn’t done. He followed up his single with a triple in the top of the seventh and Vance Law’s sac fly gave the White Sox their first run. Abbott got out of the seventh, but after getting the first out in the eighth, gave up back to back singles to Carlton Fisk and Baines.
That led to the decision to go to Lopez(8-4), who imploded.
With Chicago up, 5-3, Wayne Krenchicki flied out to center to begin the Tiger ninth. Rick Leach singled, and Whitaker doubled, Leach having to pull up at third. Alan Trammell lined out off reliver Salome Barojas, but Kirk Gibson walked, loading the bases with two out. Parrish hit a single to short right field. Leach scored easily, but Whitaker was thrown out on a perfect peg to the plate by Baines.
One bright spot: Whitaker hit his 13th homerun in the second inning.
Fortunately, the slumping Orioles dropped their fourth game in a row, leaving Detroit a game and a half out of first place.
Other scores: Cleveland 4 Baltimore 3; Boston 6 Texas 5; Kansas City 8 Milwaukee 2; Toronto 8 New York 0
Standings: Team/GM#/Won/Lost/Pct/GB
Baltimore 108 63 45 .583 –
Detroit 111 63 48 .568 1.5
Milwaukee 110 62 48 .564 2
New York 109 61 48 .560 2.5
Toronto 111 59 52 .532 5.5
Boston 110 58 52 .527 6
Cleveland 112 49 63 .438 16
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