AL Roundup - Thu, Nov. 8

[bernieh]

[i:45718f4a5c]by Bill Janssen[/i:45718f4a5c]

On Thursday night, all 14 American League teams took to the field for the third and final game of their season-opening series.

<img src="http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/images/baseball/stratomatic/1986/story_photos/tom_seaver_1_150x212.jpg" align="left" border="1" width="150" height="212" style="margin-right: 10px;" /> 41-year-old White Sox hurler Tom Seaver pitched a solid 6.2 innings against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night, setting off a raucous celebration at the mound as he was pulled for a reliever in the 7th inning. The excitement was so contagious that Rudy Law, who was released by Chicago in the offseason and signed with the Kansas City Royals, was seen running onto the field to join the festivities as well. The White Sox edged the Brewers, 2-1, to complete the season-opening 3-game sweep of the Brewers.

The New York Yankees finished off their series with a home series sweep as well, manhandling the Kansas City Royals, as the Bronx Bombers outscored the reigning world series champions 24-6 in the series.

Four teams down 0-2 going into last night’s games won and prevented the sweep. Boston, Texas, Seattle, and Oakland all successfully passed their first 1986 challenge, winning the game and taking one step forward, despite having just taken two steps back earlier in the series.

Highlights from around the American League...

[url=http://www.sportingnews.com/baseball/1986/scores/boxscore.php?id=30][size=16:45718f4a5c][b:45718f4a5c][u:45718f4a5c]New York Yankees 7, Kansas City Royals 2[/u:45718f4a5c][/b:45718f4a5c][/size:45718f4a5c][/url]

Game Notes: Gary Roenicke (NYY) hit 2 HR’s in the game (both off of Charlie Liebrandt), contrasted with just 3 HR’s he actually hit ALL SEASON in 1986; Rickey Henderson finally got on base (2 walks), but was caught stealing once; The leadoff hitters for both teams went 0-22 combined in the three game series; George Brett (KC) hit .455 in the series, while Don Mattingly (NYY) hit .417.

[url=http://www.sportingnews.com/baseball/1986/scores/boxscore.php?id=31][size=16:45718f4a5c][b:45718f4a5c][u:45718f4a5c]Cleveland Indians 4, Baltimore Orioles 0[/u:45718f4a5c][/b:45718f4a5c][/size:45718f4a5c][/url]

Game Notes: Cleveland’s Brook Jacoby had as many hits (three) as the entire Baltimore lineup; The Orioles one thru six hitters went 0-20 with 2 strike outs; Otis Nixon (Clev) stole his first two bases of the season; Cleveland lost Mel Hall for one game due to injury.

[url=http://www.sportingnews.com/baseball/1986/scores/boxscore.php?id=32][size=16:45718f4a5c][b:45718f4a5c][u:45718f4a5c]Boston Red Sox 6, Detroit Tigers 1[/u:45718f4a5c][/b:45718f4a5c][/size:45718f4a5c][/url]

Game Notes: Boston’s Jim Rice had as many hits (three) as the entire Detroit lineup; Detroit’s one thru five hitters went 0-19 with 5 K’s; Bruce Hurst (1-0) pitched a complete game for Boston; Boston’s Jum Rice had 3 RBI’s and hit his 2nd HR of the season; Marty Barrett (Bos) had 2 doubles in the game.

[url=http://www.sportingnews.com/baseball/1986/scores/boxscore.php?id=33][size=16:45718f4a5c][b:45718f4a5c][u:45718f4a5c]Chicago White Sox 2, Milwaukee Brewers 1[/u:45718f4a5c][/b:45718f4a5c][/size:45718f4a5c][/url]

Game Notes: Milwaukee grounded into 5 double plays, Chicago lined into 2 double plays; Brewers leadoff hitter Robin Yount was hit by a pitch twice in the game (once by Tom Seaver, once by Dave Schmidt); Chicago suffered two injuries in the game (Cangelosi 2 games, Harold Baines 3 games); Bobby Thigpen (Chi) picked up his second save of the season.

[url=http://www.sportingnews.com/baseball/1986/scores/boxscore.php?id=34][size=16:45718f4a5c][b:45718f4a5c][u:45718f4a5c]Texas Rangers 7, Toronto Blue Jays 4[/u:45718f4a5c][/b:45718f4a5c][/size:45718f4a5c][/url]

Game Notes: Gary Ward (Tex), Ruben Sierra (Tex) and Lloyd Moseby (Tor) had three hits apiece in the game; Jesse Barfield (Tor) and Sierra (Tex) each had 3 RBI’s in the game; Jim Clancy (Tor) threw 125 pitches in only 5.2 inning; The nine inning game lasted long 3 hours, 15 minutes.

[url=http://www.sportingnews.com/baseball/1986/scores/boxscore.php?id=35][size=16:45718f4a5c][b:45718f4a5c][u:45718f4a5c]Oakland A’s 4, Minnesota Twins 2[/u:45718f4a5c][/b:45718f4a5c][/size:45718f4a5c][/url]

Game Notes: Oakland’s Carney Lansford hit his 2nd HR of the season; Oakland base runners stole four bases in the 8th inning off Minnesota catcher Mark Salas and reliever Pete Filson; the A’s bullpen (Bair, Mooneyham, Howell) combined for 4 scoreless innings.

[url=http://www.sportingnews.com/baseball/1986/scores/boxscore.php?id=36][size=16:45718f4a5c][b:45718f4a5c][u:45718f4a5c]Seattle Mariners 5, California Angels 3[/u:45718f4a5c][/b:45718f4a5c][/size:45718f4a5c][/url]

Game Notes: In the 6th inning, Reggie Jackson made a diving catch to prevent Ken Phelps (Sea) from getting the double he needed to hit for the cycle- Phelps would not come up again in the game; One night after throwing out 3 runners trying to steal, Seattle’s Bob Kearney allowed Gary Pettis to steal three times; Dave Henderson (Sea) struck out 3 times against Kirk McCaskill.

A brief look at the upcoming weekend of American League action:

Battle of the Soxes… With a 1-2 start despite high hopes entering the season, the Boston Red Sox and manager Curt Schilling fly into the Windy City in an attempt to derail the white hot Chicago White Sox, who are in first place after their first 3-0 start in several years.

Walking in a Winterland… The Detroit Tigers (2-1) and the Indians (2-1) battle in Cleveland as each team hopes to continue with the excellent pitching they demonstrated in their opening series (Cleveland allowed just 3 runs, Detroit allowed only 9). Game time temperatures are forecast in the mid 30’s and low 40’s for the upcoming weekend, with snow flurries expected on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

Lady & the Champ… The Ladies bring their 2-1 Toronto ballclub into western Missouri to face off against the winless Kansas City Royals, who are reeling in the early defense of their world series championship.

David and Goliath… The 3-0 New York Yankees travel to Wisconsin to take on the 0-3 Milwaukee Brewers in what has been called a battle of the early season favorites against the biggest underdogs in the AL East.

Birds Fly South… Hoping to heat up their offense after only scoring three runs in their first three games, the Baltimore Orioles (1-2) visit the Texas Rangers (1-2) in a cross-division series that each team desperately wants to win.

North vs. South… The California Angels (2-1) travel north to square off against the 1-2 Oakland A’s in the initial round of the American League version of the “Battle of California”. Many Californians expect an Angels sweep, but the pesky A’s are building some confidence coming off their first win of the season on Thursday night.

One if by Land… The Mariners (1-2) visit their division rivals the Minnesota Twins (2-1). Seattle hopes to move into the upper tier of the AL West division this season, and if they are to get there they have to be successful against their division rivals- they get another opportunity this weekend in their series against Minnesota.