1970 Great Eight League

Through Game #50.

Game Results:

Baltimore 13 Boston 9

WP- Dave McNally (5-1) LP- Gary Peters (9-2)

HR- Paul Blair 2 (8), Davey Johnsosn (6); Tony Conigliaro (11), Jerry Moses (2), John Kennedy (3)

The Orioles made a statement against the likely Pitcher of the Year, as they put up seven runs in the first inning against Gary Peters, in a 13 to 9, slugfest victory. Baltimore’s Jim Hardin had a horrible relief outing when he replaced starter, Dave McNally, allowing five Boston runs in the seventh, but it was too little, too late, for the Red Sox. Paul Blair belted a pair of homers and Don Buford and Davey Johnson each had three hits.

New York 0 Minnesota 5

WP- Tom Hall (1-2) LP- Mel Stottlemyer (2-6)

HR- Harmon Killebrew (8)

Four Twins pitchers combined to shutout the New York Yankees, 5 to 0. Starter, Jim Katt had to leave the game early when he injured his ankle running to first in his first at bat. Tom Hall came in and tossed four innings of shutout ball. Harmon Killebrew homered for Minnesota.

Oakland 4 Los Angeles 0

WP- Chuck Dobson (4-1) LP- Claude Osteen (1-4)

HR- Frank Fernandez (4)

Oakland’s Chuck Dobson spun his first shutout of the season by blanking the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4 to 0, on just four hits. Dobsonfanned five and walked two in the stellar outing. Back up catcher, Frank Fernandez bashed a two-run, home run, his first circuit clout as a starting player.

Pittsburgh 6 Cincinnati 4

WP- Steve Blass (2-6) LP- Tony Cloninger (1-2)

Steve Blass earned his second win as Pittsburgh held off Cincinnati, 6 to 4. The Pirates banged out four triples, two of them by Dave Cash. Roberto Clemente had three hits, including a pair of doubles.

Standings and Leaderboard courtesy of http://www.cardanddicebaseball.com

Game #50 Recap:

Baltimore’s dismantling of Boston means that their magic number is down to three, with six games to play. Losses by the Reds and Yankees mean that those teams have been eliminated from any pennant hopes.

We will likely see some different starters in upcoming games, for once a team is eliminated, they no longer have to stick with a set rotation.

Individually, Bobby Tolan struggled a bit, but he still leads in batting by .020 percentage points. Johnny Bench still leads by one over Don Mincher in the home run race. Gary Peters failed to record his tenth win. He will get one more start to try and reach that milestone. Though bench players will see more time for eliminated teams, any player leading, or close to leading an individual category will play.

Game #51 Schedule and Probable Starters

Los Angeles (Vance 0-0, 0.00) at Cincinnati (McGlothin 4-1, 3.64)

Minnesota (Blyleven 3-3, 3.36) at Boston (Siebert 4-4, 5.94)

New York (Kekich 0-0, 2.00) at Pittsburgh (Walker 1-1, 2.61)

Oakland (Blue 1-0, 1.00) at Baltimore (Cuellar 5-2, 3.21)