Comet Beaned, Cards Respond in 12-3 Melee

After last week’s series-ending brawl between the Cardinals and Braves in St Louis, everyone was waiting for the simmering anger to bubble over between these two teams in the follow-up series at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. It didn’t happen in the opening game on Friday, but in Saturday’s meeting, all hell broke loose when 15-year-old rookie Todd Benefiel was hit in the head by a pitch from reliever Dave Campbell, sparking a brawl that saw six players ejected from the game, in what would be an eventual 12-3 Cards victory.

Tensions were already on high when St Louis opened the game with three quick runs off Atlanta starter Eddie Solomon (4-10), thanks to singles from Benefiel and Garry Templeton, and a three-run blast over the wall in right by Keith Hernandez, his tenth home run of the season. The Braves would counter with a run in the second, when Gary Matthews tripled home Jeff Burroughs with one out; Matthews would be left stranded at third, however, as Cards right-hander Silvio Martinez (9-11) retired the next two batters on easy infield outs to end the threat.

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Pole Leads M’s Past Floundering Bosox 3-0

For Seattle pitcher Dick Pole, it was a chance to prove to his former team that his current numbers—a 4-10 won-lost record and a 4.52 ERA—were a fluke, and that his starting performance from a few weeks earlier—a 5-1 complete game win over the Twins—was more indicative of what he could accomplish if given the chance.

The Red Sox, however had other ideas…and none of them were good, as Pole pitched a remarkable 3-0 shutout over the struggling Bosox, allowing just seven hits and striking out seven batters on his way to his fifth win. Not bad for a PB 2-5 pitcher whose last—and up to now, only—shutout came in 1975, when he played for his pennant-winning opponents.

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Caldwell Earns 20th as Brewers Topple Tribe 9-1

Milwaukee Brewers ace Mike Caldwell became the first pitcher of the SP78 Replay season to reach the 20-win mark, allowing just one run on eight hits and going the distance in a convincing 9-1 victory over the Indians, in the first game of a ‘Ladies Night’ doubleheader at Milwaukee.

Caldwell (20-4) found himself involved in a pitching duel early on with Tribe starter Sid Monge (0-5), with Monge allowing just two hits to Caldwell’s four over the first four innings. But while Caldwell stayed strong into the eighth, Monge fell apart in the fifth, coughing up four earned runs thanks to Gorman Thomas’ 22nd home run of the season, a grand slam that just cleared the short County Stadium wall in left. It was his first slam of the SP78 season, and the third of his five-year career.

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Cards Top Reds 6-2 to Take SP78’s 40th

Cardinals first baseman Keith Hernandez snapped a 2-2 tie in the ninth inning with an RBI single, scoring Ted Simmons from second, and pinch-hitter Dane Iorg added some insurance with a two-run triple, as St Louis humbled Cincinnati 6-2 in the SP78 40th Anniversary Game at Riverfront Stadium.

The Reds jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second, courtesy of a Johnny Bench RBI single off starter John Denny. But the Cards bounced back, notching two in the fourth on a Hernandez RBI double and a run-scoring base hit by Jerry Mumphrey, both off Reds starter Tom Seaver. Cincinnati then tied it in the bottom of the inning, thanks to the arm of St Louis catcher Ted Simmons, whose errant throw to third on a steal attempt by Dan Driessen allowed the Reds first baseman to score.

After the Cardinals’ big 4-run ninth, Mark Littell came on to close out the frame, shutting down the Reds—save for the two walks he surrendered to make things interesting—to make a winner of middle reliever Buddy Schultz, who evened his SP78 record at 5-5 with the victory. Meanwhile, losing pitcher Dave Tomlin saw his record drop to 0-2; after working a perfect eighth, he pitched to just one batter in the ninth, Simmons, who reached base and scored on the HBP. Hernandez was the game’s hits leader, going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, while shortstop Dave Concepcion led the Reds with two singles.