In the opener the Dodgers called upon journeyman Shawn Hillegas to take the hill vs Detroit's Joe Sparma. In real life Hillegas was 3-4 with a 4.13 ERA. He was barely a 5th starter at best. His counterpart, Joe Sparma, was 10-10 witha 3.71 ERA in an era were a 3.20 was considered just average. Nobody expected this game to be a low scoring event. Both offenses were held in check all day. Hillegas looked like Hersheiser and scattered 4 hits enroute to 8 shutout innings. The game remained scoreless until the 8th when John Shelby hit a sac fly to score Steve Sax. Jay Howell came on to pitch a scoreless 9th to notch the save.
Game 2 was another 1 run event. In fact it took 11 innings to decide it. Orel Hersheiser went went the distance, which would be unheard of today, and outdueled 31 game winner Denny McLain. Tiger slugger Willie Horton knotted the game at 2 when he hit a solo homer in the top of the 9th to force extra frames. Veteran catcher Mike Sciocia won the game by doubling home Mike Marshall in the bottom of the 11th.The series switched to Tiger Stadium for the final 2 games. A change in venue helped the Motown team immeasurably. Game 3 saw their bats come alive as
Dodger starter Tim Belcher gave up 6 runs. Tiger starter Earl Wilson was nearly perfect as he tossed a 2 hit shutout. The finale saw 1968 World Series hero Mickey Lolich blank the Dodgers and Tim Leary, who only yielded 2 runs himself. The Tigers scored both runs in the first, all with 2 out, and never looked back. Al Kaline started the rally with a benign single. Bill Freehand and Wayne Northrup knocked in both runs.Detroit evened its record at 4-4, while LA stands at 2-6.
then saw Garvey single him in. LA now led 4-0 after 5. Goltz was cruising along for LA and held the Bombers scoreless while giving up only 5 hits during his 8 innings of work. Coates, who pitched a CG, settled down after the 5th and held LA down until the 9th inning – where Monday smacked a triple while pinching for Goltz to lead off. With Monday sitting on 3rd, Thomas hit a slap shot – but Kubek was unable to gun down Monday at Home. Could have been a bad call there. Baker and
pitching duel between NYY ace Ford and LA ace Valenzuela. Things were quiet early on
That was about as good as it gets for NY in this game. NY held their 2-0 lead until the 4th – where Cey (2) hit a solo shot. In the 5th, LA scored 2 on a double by Russell and a couple of singles from Landreaux and Baker. In the 7th, LA scored 4 more on a double by Baker and
of their own by getting doubles from Garvey and Russell. Both pitchers were hitting their marks and getting defensive help, as the game remained at 1-1 going into the 6th – where LA scraped together a run with 3
Dodgers sent ace right hander Don Drysdale to the mound sporting a 1-0 record. Baltimore went with 5th starter Jim Hardin. The O's jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first and Hardin looked to be cruising, until he came up lame with 1 out in the 3rd. Baltimore was then forced to go with a committee of relievers the rest of the way. LA's bats got hot and Drysdale notched his second victory of the year giving up 4 runs over 8 innings. LA's big blows
came with back to back 4 run innings in the 6th/7th. Tommy Davis went 3 for 5 for LA and Willie Davis had 3 RBI's.Game 2 saw Baltimore lefthander Dave McNally
the Dodgers. In a matchup reminiscent of Koufax's final game pitched in the majors (Game 2 1966 WS) a young Palmer got the best of the great Koufax. Palmer threw a 1 hitter (double by Frank Howard to lead off the 5th) and out dueled Sandy, who only gave up 3 runs (7k's). The big offensive blow came in the 6th when Paul Blair hit a solo shot to make the score 2-0. Frank Robinson also hit a solo shot in the 9th to make it 3-0 and add a valuable insurance run.The series finale saw Mike Cuellar
(BAL) face Stan Williams (LA). On the surface this looked to be pitching mismatch with Cuellar having such a dominant 1969 season. LA's bats awoke and torched Cuellar for 6 runs over 6 innings until he was finally lifted for a pinch hitter. Williams gave up 6 runs as well in 6 innings, but shoddy Dodger fielding made 3 of the unearned. The turning point of the game occurred in the top of the 7th with 2 out and 2 on. Baltimore lifted Cuellar for pinch hitter Chico Salmon who promptly delivered a 3 run shot to break the deadlock and put Baltimore up by 3 (9-6). LA was only able to manage 1 hit over the next 3 innings as Pete Richert and Dick Hall kept them in knots. Hall notched his first save of the year and Baltimore posted their 7th win in 8 tries.
