Blue Jays fans still lament the fact that they lost two of their best players – catcher Ernie Whitt and shortstop Tony Fernandez – to injury in the catastrophic (for them) final week of the 1987 season. And they have some grounds for doing so – particularly in the case of Fernandez, who was injured on a play against the Tigers, with whom they were battling for the division title, that might or might not have been dirty but was certainly very controversial at the time and remains so today. But what they fail to take into account is the fact that, up until that point, the club had been extremely lucky, with very little time missed due to injuries to significant players. This very much made them the outlier in the American League East. Baltimore had gone without Mike Young and Fred Lynn for weeks on end, Detroit played the first month of its season without Kirk Gibson, Milwaukee was hamstrung by the losses of Cecil Cooper, Jim Gantner, and especially Paul Molitor, and the Yankees seemed perpetually to have one, if not more, of their stars on what was then called the “disabled list.” On this first Saturday of the season, we see not one but two teams within that division lose their second-place hitter and sparkplug: centre fielder Brett Butler, in the case of Cleveland, and second baseman (and 1986 postseason hero) Marty Barrett, of Boston.
Barrett was off to a poor start in our replay, as are the Red Sox generally, but as a .293 hitter, an outstanding bunter and fine defensive infielder, and one of the only members of the team who’s especially good on the bases, his absence will be sure to hurt a ballclub that doesn’t need any more bad news just at the moment. They’ll try to get by with a combination of two veterans, Ed Romero and Glenn Hoffman, at the position till Barrett returns. Meanwhile, to fill his spot on the roster, they’ve promoted Dave Sax from Pawtucket, which seems like an odd choice but which actually might help your Gracie a bit, because Sax (the brother of the Dodgers’ Steve, and a former Dodger himself) is a catcher, and considering that neither Marc Sullivan nor Danny Scheaffer is hitting a lick, it will give me the option of pinch hitting for both of them in a tight game if need be, since Sax will be available to enter if they’ve both been lifted. (In the club’s April 10 loss to Toronto, I had no choice but to let Scheaffer bat in the ninth, and he made the game’s last out.)
The Spiders, meanwhile, were getting excellent production out of Butler, and his absence leaves a major hole in their lineup and their outfield defence, while limiting them on the basepaths as well. It’s likely that Joe Carter will move to centre field in his place, while Dave Gallagher gets the callup from Triple-A Buffalo to replace him on the roster.
But it isn’t just the AL East that’s suffering today. Jose Uribe, fine shortstop of the Giants (and one of the few players on that ballclub who was actually off to a good start) has gone to the injured list also; Matt Williams arrives from Triple-A to take his spot. Another shortstop down is Hubie Brooks of Montreal, one of the most prolific run producers in the National League over the past couple seasons; Luis Rivera will now try to fill in for him. And, to conclude this awful litany for lovers of strength up the middle, Saint Louis catcher Tony Pena, a mere three games into his Cardinal career, will be lost to an injury of his own for the next six weeks or so, and Tom Pagnozzi will replace him on the roster.
All that having been said, it’s probably just as well that there are no non-injury-related transactions today. Five significant additions to the injury list, in my book, constitutes upheaval enough for one day.
We do, however, have one alteration in the starting pitching assignments, brought on by a conflict between the rules of Strato and the actual pitching rotations. In such cases, I declared at the outset, I would consider myself bound by the rules of Strato if following them was at all possible, and in this case it is. This has to do with the Atlanta ballclub, which for much of the first part of the season used a good old-fashioned four-man starting rotation, comprising Rick Mahler, Zane Smith, David Palmer (not the same one who sang the lead vocal on “Dirty Work,” though he did have a few “filthy” pitches), and former Tiger Randy O’Neal. According to the rules of Strato, however (as calculated by starts and innings pitched over the course of a season), only Smith among the four is permitted to start on three days’ rest without being fatigued and thus subject to the penalty that comes with pitching fatigued. Now, ordinarily this wouldn’t be a problem, in any case, in the first week of the season – as it isn’t with the Mets, whom they’re playing today, and who also tried to make do with a four-man rotation to open the season – because there’s a built-in day off after Opening Day, and so a team’s top pitcher will get four days’ rest anyway: one while each of the other three pitchers starts, and one more for the built-in day off. But Braves manager Chuck Tanner was so determined to bring Mahler back on three days’ rest that he shuffled him ahead of the ballclub’s fourth starter, O’Neal, and started him on this date. (In the event, Mahler got shelled, so that might not have been the best idea.) I myself can’t do this, because Mahler is still fatigued from his nice long start on Tuesday against Philadelphia. Therefore, I’m keeping to the standard rotation, which this weekend simply means switching Mahler (to tomorrow) and O’Neal (to today).
(All in all, as good luck would have it, this won’t be the world’s most serious problem where the Braves are concerned, because Smith is the only lefty in the rotation – fifth starter Charlie Puleo is also a righty – as well as the one who can work on the fourth day, which means that he’ll always be able to keep his scheduled turn and no platoon-related alterations to the opposing lineup will be necessary. When it comes to the Mets, things won’t be so simple, because they have two lefties and two righties in their rotation, and it’s only one of the righties – Ron Darling – who’s allowed to start every fourth day in our replay. But, as a friend of mine used to say, we’ll burn that bridge when we get to it.)
*
Here, then, is today’s schedule, along with the starting pitchers. The top eight games listed (through California-Oakland) are afternoon games, while the remaining five will be played under the lights.
- San Diego (Show, 0-1, 9.53) at Cincinnati (Browning, 0-0, 1.50)
- Saint Louis (Forsch) at Pittsburgh (Kipper)
- Baltimore (Boddicker, 0-1, 3.00) at Cleveland (Candiotti, 0-0, 2.79)
- New York Yankees (Rasmussen, 0-0, 3.38) at Kansas City (D. Jackson, 0-0, 1.08)
- Toronto (Key, 0-0, 3.52) at Boston (Clemens)
- Atlanta (O’Neal) at New York Mets (Aguilera)
- San Francisco (Krukow, 1-0, 1.00) at Los Angeles (Hershiser, 0-1, 13.50)
- California (Lugo) at Oakland (Rijo)
- Chicago Cubs (Sutcliffe, 1-0, 4.91) at Philadelphia (Cowley)
- Montreal (Youmans, 0-0, 2.08) at Houston (Scott, 1-0, 3.00)
- Detroit (Morris, 0-0, 2.45) at Chicago White Sox (Dotson, 0-0, 11.57)
- Milwaukee (Higuera, 1-0, 1.13) at Texas (Hough, 1-0, 2.00)
- Minnesota (Straker) at Seattle (Trujillo)
*
Padres 6, Reds 2 – It’s getting a little ridiculous now. Tony Gwynn and Eric Davis were both hitless again in this game; Gwynn stands at a miserable .105, and Davis not much better at .125. The big blow in this one was struck in the very first inning, when catcher Benito Santiago crushed a two-out grand slam off Tom Browning; Browning was out by the second, having allowed four runs on five hits and three walks while retiring only four batters. The Reds established a major-league record (long since broken) in the actual 1987 campaign for appearances by their relievers, and you get the sense that they’re well on their way in our replay; in this one, they used four, and while they were able to keep things close, Eric Show was on point for San Diego, and it was too late. Show went all the way, allowing but one earned run (a solo homer by Kal Daniels, one of two Cincinnati hitters – Ron Oester being the other – who are hitting above .500 after five games) on seven hits and two walks. Santiago added the obligatory triple, and fellow rookies Stan Jefferson and Joey Cora also had two hits apiece for the Padres, who are 3-2 (even without help from Gwynn) and at this rate just might oblige Larry Bowa to think up an alternative title for his book.
Cardinals 8, Pirates 7 (10 innings) – In honour of the late Whitey Herzog, this was a nip-and-tuck, back-and-forth affair which saw Saint Louis, after blowing the lead twice (including in the bottom of the ninth), finally catch a couple breaks and pull it out in extra innings. The first major break came when Curt Ford, batting with two outs in the top of the tenth, rolled an “open triangle” reading which was a 1-2 single, 3-20 lineout, and not only drew what almost seemed to be the first single-digit split by a Cardinal hitter this year, but actually got a “2” to keep the inning alive for Terry Pendleton. Pendleton then singled off Barry Jones to drive home Willie McGee, who had singled ahead of Ford, with the go-ahead run. In the last of the tenth, the Cards caught another break when Barry Bonds (he had four hits and, ironically, fell shy of the cycle by only a home run) smashed a leadoff triple off Ricky Horton, only to have Horton pop out Andy Van Slyke, coax a grounder to Pendleton by Johnny Ray, and fly out Bobby Bonilla (he had three hits and two RBI) to strand Bonds at third and preserve the win. Starter Bob Forsch and closer Todd Worrell were both awful for the Cardinals, and Horton allowed two RBI singles with two outs in the ninth (by Junior Ortiz and R.J. Reynolds) that tied up the game, but southpaw Pat Perry pitched well in middle relief to give Saint Louis a chance. For Pittsburgh, no one pitched well; Bob Kipper, Bob Walk, Brian Fisher, Loren Easley, and Jones were all ineffective, and that was one of the things that made the difference. (Don Robinson was fatigued and thus couldn’t be used.) Two other keys to this game: Jack Clark broke out of an 0-for-ten slump with a two-run shot off Kipper, and Steve Lake, filling in for the injured Tony Pena, went four-for-five with two doubles, two RBI, and two runs scored, in a performance reminiscent of Tito Landrum’s in Game Four of the 1985 NLCS, when he stepped up in place of Vince Coleman. Jim Lindeman also homered for the Redbirds, McGee had three singles, and Forsch and Worrell each contributed a key hit (though I would much rather have seen them pitch effectively). Yet the bad luck continues in one significant area: not a single Saint Louis runner (including Coleman, who has a 56% chance of doing so, and who was on base three times) succeeded in getting a lead all game long, which meant that they didn’t steal even one base despite having eighteen hits; in the first four games of the season, they’ve managed to swipe only three.
Orioles 3, Spiders 2 – This was another exciting ballgame. It looked like the Cleveland club was going to even up the series as it took a 2-1 lead to the top of the ninth behind Tom Candiotti. But, as I had mentioned in the previous day’s capsules, even that razor-thin edge wasn’t as safe as it might have seemed, because Doug Jones, the Spiders’ one reliable bullpenner, was tired and thus ineligible to pitch. I chose to leave Candiotti in as long as I could, particularly since he goes against platoon type (he’s a righty who’s tougher on lefties), and the Birds would have three lefty batters – including Eddie Murray, a switch-hitter – out of their first four in the frame. Alas for the Spiders, the strategy didn’t pay off. Murray walked, John “T-Bone” Shelby pinch-hit for Fred Lynn and bunted Murray to second, Ray Knight singled him to third, and Terry Kennedy – who had cracked a three-run homer off lefty Scott Bailes in the previous game – singled to drive him in and tie the score. At this point, I went to Steve Carlton, who picked Kennedy off first and intentionally walked pinch-hitter Larry Sheets, necessitating yet another move by Baltimore, as Rick Burleson stepped up to pinch hit for Jim Dwyer. With only righties on the bench, I felt safe here turning to Ernie Camacho, Cleveland’s onetime ace reliever, whose card is simply wretched against lefties but who remains pretty tough against righthanded batters. Not tough enough, as it turned out, because Burleson doubled (off Camacho’s card), bringing in pinch-runner Jackie Gutierrez to give Baltimore the lead, and winning pitcher Dave Schmidt and closer Don Aase managed to hold that slim advantage in the bottom of the ninth. Joe Carter, who had another RBI (his eleventh) and three more hits (he now stands at .524), was on deck with a runner already at first when Aase got Julio Franco to fly out to Shelby in centre and end the game. Mel Hall had three hits and a homer for Cleveland – but unfortunately Alan Wiggins took a five-size collar for the Orioles and fell back to .350.
Yankees 9, Royals 6 (12 innings) – This looked like it would be a nifty bit of turnabout for Kansas City after their crushing loss the night before – but instead it ended up being yet another blowup by Dan Quisenberry and a second consecutive come-from-behind victory for the New Yorkers. Dennis Rasmussen took a one-hitter (though he had issued seven walks) and a 5-1 lead to the last of the eighth, only to see Kansas City load the bases, at which point I brought on the Yankees’ relief ace, Dave Righetti. Righetti, who had been great in his first two outings, was terrible in this one, not only letting in all three of the runners whom he had inherited, but allowing two additional runs of his own, as the Royals forged ahead 6-5 going into the top of the ninth. The culminating, and most dramatic, moment of the five-run rally came on a bases-loaded squeeze bunt by backup shortstop Angel Salazar, who also beat the throw to first to keep the bases loaded. But Righetti struck out Willie Wilson, and then Charles Hudson came on and got Kevin Seitzer to pop out – two occurrences which proved critical when the Yankees tied the score off Quisenberry in the ninth on a single by Dave Winfield (who had started Quiz’s troubles with a walk in the previous game), a sacrifice by Gary Ward (he went five for six in this contest, plus that critical bunt), and a pinch-hit single by Dan Pasqua which scored Winfield. The game remained tied till the top of the twelfth when Bud Black surrendered a walk to Rickey Henderson and a single to Don Mattingly; Rick Anderson then relieved him, and Winfield greeted Anderson with a three-run homer which provided the margin. Ron Kittle also homered for the Yankees, who outhit KC 17-7 in the absence of George Brett. Bob Shirley pitched two strong innings for the win, and the Yankees will try for the sweep behind Joe Niekro on Sunday. (Too bad Quisenberry won’t be eligible.)
Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 1 – This is getting brutal, and I honestly don’t know what to do right now, because these guys are dead in the water. They’re just not getting any decent rolls. How else to explain Clemens recording only two strikeouts over nine innings and surrendering a walk, a double, and a three-run homer (to George Bell, already his third of the season), all off his own card? All this talk about managing these like playoff games and the increased maneuverability I feel with the callup of an extra catcher is worth nothing when their bench comprises, besides Mike Greenwell (whom I’ve already been using aggressively – unrealistically so, as a matter of fact), the following luminaries: Pat Dodson, Glenn Hoffman, Danny Scheaffer, and Dave Sax. Things actually could have been worse in this one: righthanded hitter Ed Romero, despite having an utterly miserable card against lefties, still went two-for-three off southpaw Jimmy Key (who has a far better card against righties) in his first start of the season, replacing Marty Barrett. Boggs (.389), Buckner (.389), and Evans (.412) are all swinging the bats well. But they’re not doing anything in concert; meanwhile, Baylor, Henderson, Rice, Owen, and the catchers are all flailing pitifully, their collective average a disgusting .108, and the Beantowners have scored a grand total of eleven runs in their first five contests. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel, prior to the callup of Ellis Burks and the eventual insertion of Greenwell in the everyday lineup? I don’t know – the actual stats tell us these guys should start hitting soon. But in the meantime they’re getting buried, and Bob Stanley isn’t exactly the guy you would choose if you needed a “stopper.” Thanks to Clemens, the bullpen is rested – but what does that matter, when the bullpen is so heinous? Everyone knows I’m a Tigers fan; most everyone knows that I don’t like the Red Sox. But I want them to be in the chase, because it would make it that much more exciting, and right now things are looking very, very bleak indeed.
Braves 10, Mets 7 (12 innings) – Unbelievable. The Mets led 6-0 after four, but Atlanta came back with four runs against Rick Aguilera, two against Terry Leach (Gene Walter walked in the tying run, inherited from Leach, in the eighth), and one more against Doug Sisk in the top of the tenth (Ken Oberkfell singled it in off Jesse Orosco) to take a 7-6 lead with relief ace Gene Garber on the mound. Darryl Strawberry (he had two hits, including a homer, to break out of his hitless streak) and Barry Lyons started the ensuing half-inning with singles, and Al Pedrique bunted them both over. Rafael Santana’s single scored Strawberry to tie the game, and the Braves turned to their last available pitcher, former Met Charlie Puleo. Charlie walked Tim Teufel to load the bases with one out and Lenny Dykstra (sigh) coming to bat: a tough lefty hitter, against a guy with an ugly card, to say the least, versus lefties. Sure enough, the roll landed in Dykstra’s “best” column – but the result was a shallow fly to centre, on which the slow-footed Lyons couldn’t score with the outfield in. Mookie Wilson, another lefty, then popped out to end the threat. In the top of the twelfth, Orosco loaded the bases, necessitating his replacement with New York‘s last available pitcher, David Cone. Unfortunately for Cone, the first man he had to face was Dale Murphy, who had homered earlier in the game, and Murph didn’t miss; he cracked a double down the left-field line off Cone’s card that drove in all three runners and gave Atlanta its margin of victory. The Mets aren’t playing in exactly the same realm of bad luck as Boston right now – that would be practically impossible – but they missed every single ballpark chance offensively (and they had a ton of them) in this one, whether single or home run, as they dropped back to 1-3. After yesterday’s thirteen-inning affair, I had mentioned that both clubs were going to have to lean on their starters, and obviously that didn’t happen in this one; the Mets used five relievers for six total innings, the Braves four relievers for eight. Tomorrow, I’ll really have no choice – which may mean big offensive outbursts if I have to let New York’s Bob Ojeda and/or Atlanta’s Rick Mahler stay out there when they’re getting hit around.
Giants 2, Dodgers 1 – Mike “Cy” Krukow, with his too-good card for a guy with a 4.80 ERA, pitched his second consecutive complete-game gem in this one, and Orel Hershiser took a tough loss, having allowed a two-run single in the eighth to Mike Aldrete to break up a scoreless tie. I had thought about replacing Hershiser with a lefty and forcing the Giants to pinch-hit for the lefty Aldrete in a bases-loaded situation, but I decided I’d rather have Orel against Aldrete than either Matt Young or Rick Honeycutt against a righthanded batter. This strategy might have worked out had the roll ended up on the pitcher’s card, but it didn’t; Aldrete rolled a 2-6, which was a single with a two-base advancement for all runners. Franklin Stubbs homered with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, or Krukow would have had a shutout; as it was, he settled for a second straight one-run performance. Aldrete and Robby Thompson notched two hits apiece for the Giants, who improved to 3-3, and the Dodgers will have to lean on Fernando tomorrow to earn a split; if there’s one thing they can be thankful for, it’s that Krukow can’t start again!
Athletics 7, Angels 1 – It’s one thing to get shut down by Dave Stewart. And it wouldn’t be so shameful to have 1990-vintage Jose Rijo keep you mostly off the scoreboard. But the California offence, right now, is so lame that even 1987 Rijo, with his 5.90 ERA, is holding them to one run over eight and a third. The Angels had their chances; Rijo didn’t pitch a gem (he isn’t Mike Krukow, after all), giving them seven hits and five walks. But they went one for thirteen with men in scoring position, continue to show very little extra-base power, and can’t seem to get their speedier players on base with the consistency that would allow them to steal or play hit-and-run. Meanwhile, the A’s had two triples (Carney Lansford, whose hot streak continued, and Alfredo Griffin), a double (Reggie), and a homer (Mike Davis), plus Jose Canseco finally woke up a bit, with two hits, an RBI walk, and a stolen base. Urbano Lugo – a favourite of mine as a girl, because I liked his baseball card – was out by the second, and even though Willie Fraser was strong in long relief, the Angels right now just aren’t going to overcome too many multi-run deficits.
Cubs 4, Phillies 0 – I have to admit that this is the kind of micro thing that I’ve always allowed to annoy me unduly and spoil some of my joy in playing a season of Strato. Joe Cowley was a prize free-agent signing for the Phillies who totally fell apart and posted an ERA right around ten before being demoted in May. (Interesting fact: he pitched a no-hitter in 1986, with the White Sox, and then never won another major-league decision.) Here, of course – and on a day, no less, when Clemens gets hit around – Cowley was simply superb for four innings, allowing a hit and a walk, and then, when he did give up four runs in the fifth, they were all unearned, thanks to an error by Mike Easler. (It isn’t that I want Cowley to suck – he always seemed like a really nice, friendly, funny guy, the kind you root for – but I do want the game to be realistic.) Those were actually the only four runs in the game, and all scored after what should have been the third out, on a bases-loaded walk to Chico Walker and a three-run double by Ryne Sandberg. Rick Sutcliffe was somewhat Cowley-like for the Cubs, twirling a three-hit shutout while also issuing seven walks. (Easler had two of the three hits plus two of the seven walks, in addition to his critical error, and reminded everyone, once again, that he’s really a DH at heart.) He joined Magnificent Mike Krukow in our replay’s two-win club – but this was hardly the game of the day, to be honest.
Expos 5, Astros 2 – Well, naturally. You hardly expect Mike Scott to be Mike Krukow or Joe Cowley – or, for that matter, Floyd Youmans, who pitched his second consecutive outstanding game and shut down the National League’s hottest offence, allowing but three hits over eight innings (one a two-run single by Craig Reynolds, the other two by your Gracie’s beloved Jose Cruz) and striking out six. Scott fanned eight over seven innings, but it was easy to tell from the first that it wasn’t going to be his day, and Montreal led 3-0 after two, thanks to RBIs by Tim Wallach, Herm Winningham, and the torrid Casey Candaele, who had three hits, a stolen base and two runs scored in his first start of the season and is now batting .600 over the first four games. Vance Law stole a base and notched two singles, Andres Galarraga added two hits and an RBI, Mitch Webster homered, and Tom Foley, filling in for Hubie Brooks at shortstop, continued the day’s trend of productive substitutes with two hits and a run scored. The game also continued our trend of defending division champs losing (the Astros’ defeat made it four for four) and knocked one of our three remaining undefeated clubs off its perch, putting 4-0 Atlanta in first place alone in the National League West. (Interestingly, Montreal’s victory also completed another clean sweep, as all six NL contests on this day were won by the visiting team. So much for “home-field advantage”!)
White Sox 2, Tigers 1 (12 innings) – Another absolutely maddening loss for the Tigers. Twice they had the bases loaded, twice a runner on third with less than two out, and they couldn’t cash in. The top three – Lou Whitaker, Pat Sheridan, and Matt Nokes – are all hitting well, but no one else is right now, and they’ll have to try to stave off a sweep Sunday behind fifth starter Jeff Robinson. Jack Morris pitched eleven strong innings for the second consecutive game, and for the second consecutive game he wasn’t rewarded. Once again, the bullpen botched things up, as Eric King came on in relief in the last of the twelfth and immediately gave up a game-losing home run to Daryl Boston, the very first batter he faced. Richard Dotson, who got shelled by the Royals on Opening Day, cruised through ten fine innings of his own, but it was Bobby Thigpen who got the win – and with some justice, since it was he who had coaxed a bases-loaded double-play grounder out of Tom Brookens in the top half of the eleventh to preserve the tie.
Brewers 6, Rangers 4 – Would you believe that, going into the last of the eighth, this was one of the greatest pitcher’s duels I’ve ever had? Milwaukee, at that point, held a 1-0 lead on a solo homer in the third by rookie catcher B.J. Surhoff: one of only three hits off Texas knuckleballer Charlie Hough, who had walked two and struck out eleven, and who seemed to be playing the role of Floyd Youmans against the AL’s hottest offence. Unfortunately for the Rangers, southpaw Ted Higuera of Milwaukee had been even better, allowing but one hit and no walks, while striking out thirteen. That is, until Pete Incaviglia led off the frame with a double, Larry Parrish singled pinch-runner Oddibe McDowell to third, and Tom Paciorek (remember that surname) singled home McDowell to tie the game. Dan Plesac, Milwaukee’s relief ace, came on and struck out Don Slaught – but then Steve Buechele singled through the drawn-in infield (I agonised over whether to play all-in or just corners-in with the go-ahead run at third; if I had chosen the latter, Steve would have bounced into an inning-ending double play) to put Texas in front. Three batters (and a run-scoring wild pitch) later, Mark Clear, who had relieved an ineffective Plesac, walked Scott Fletcher with the bases loaded to force in the inning’s fourth run, and Texas went to the ninth with a 4-1 lead behind the magnificent Hough. But, like so many extrastatistical qualities seem to in Strato, the ’87 Brewers’ flair for the dramatic comeback showed itself in the top of the ninth, as a double and two walks spelled the end of Hough, a bases-loaded walk to Juan Castillo (by Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams) forced in a run, and a three-run, pinch-hit double by Jim Paciorek, Tom’s brother, off Greg Harris put Milwaukee, stunningly, back in the lead; an insurance run came in on Surhoff’s subsequent double, and Chris Bosio weathered a ninth-inning triple by Larry Parrish(!) to secure the Brewers’ fifth straight win. A reminder that, in Strato, as in real baseball, anything can happen so long as the game is still on.
Twins 8, Mariners 4 – This was somewhat the inverse of the previous game, as the first couple innings saw five homers hit out of the Kingdome, but things settled down thereafter. Unfortunately for Seattle, whereas their two round-trippers off Les Straker (hit by Donell Nixon and Jim Presley) came with no one on base, the visiting Minnesotans got a three-run homer from Kirby Puckett (three batters into the game) and a two-run shot from Tom Brunansky off Mike Trujillo (he lasted only a third of an inning), followed by another two-run homer by Brunansky off Steve Shields in the second, and it was 8-2 Twins after two. Mark Huismann – another guy whose card is too good for his numbers, and whose May trade to Cleveland I predict I’ll void – pitched five and a third innings of scoreless relief, allowing only one hit and striking out five, and Jerry Reed followed and pitched two additional scoreless frames, but by then it was too late. Straker was no great shakes – Mike Kingery later hit a third home run off him – but he lasted into the eighth, and while Joe Klink was shaky at best (and narrowly missed surrendering a three-run shot to Kingery in the ninth), he was able to wrap up the game for the Twins, who now stand 4-1.
*
Our first Saturday of the year is complete, and those whose hopes of a Braves-Brewers World Series were dashed in 1982 (the year Atlanta won its first thirteen games, incidentally) will be glad to know that they’re the two remaining undefeated teams in our 1987 replay, and thus on course (isn’t this the way it works?) to represent their respective leagues in our Fall Classic. Only Boston is winless, and even Hurst and Clemens couldn’t change that status in their starts, which might be a harbinger of worse trouble to come. The NL is batting .263 with 52 home runs, and its pitchers’ ERA now stands at 4.28. The AL bats .258, but with 78 homers, which means its pitchers fare slightly worse, with a 4.32 earned-run average. In sixty-two total games, there are 41 triples and eighty-eight errors, including a remarkable eleven in six contests by the Dodgers, who are bad in every facet of the game right now, with a .218 batting mark, an average of 2.7 runs a game, and a staff ERA of 5.82.
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STANDINGS OF THE CLUBS
After games of April 11, 1987
| American League East | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Milwaukee | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | – |
| Baltimore | 3 | 2 | .600 | 2 |
| New York | 3 | 2 | .600 | 2 |
| Toronto | 3 | 2 | .600 | 2 |
| Cleveland | 2 | 3 | .400 | 3 |
| Detroit | 2 | 3 | .400 | 3 |
| Boston | 0 | 5 | .000 | 5 |
| American League West | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Minnesota | 4 | 1 | .800 | – |
| Chicago | 3 | 2 | .600 | 1 |
| Oakland | 3 | 2 | .600 | 1 |
| Kansas City | 2 | 3 | .400 | 2 |
| Seattle | 2 | 3 | .400 | 2 |
| Texas | 2 | 3 | .400 | 2 |
| California | 1 | 4 | .200 | 3 |
| National League East | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Chicago | 3 | 1 | .750 | – |
| Montreal | 2 | 2 | .500 | 1 |
| Pittsburgh | 2 | 2 | .500 | 1 |
| New York | 1 | 3 | .250 | 2 |
| Philadelphia | 1 | 3 | .250 | 2 |
| Saint Louis | 1 | 3 | .250 | 2 |
| National League West | W | L | Pct. | GB |
| Atlanta | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | – |
| Houston | 4 | 1 | .800 | 1/2 |
| San Diego | 3 | 2 | .600 | 1 1/2 |
| Cincinnati | 2 | 2 | .500 | 2 |
| San Francisco | 3 | 3 | .500 | 2 |
| Los Angeles | 1 | 5 | .167 | 4 |
G'night Gracie 
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