Sunday, April 6, 2014

Game of the Day (4/5/84)

Dodgers 5, Cardinals 2 (12). Rick Honeycutt, one year removed from an AL ERA title, went for the Dodgers. Bob Forsch, one year removed from an 85 ERA+, took the mound for the Cards. (Yes, we've had appearances from both Forsch brothers in Game of the Day within the first week of 1984.)

Both halves of the first inning played out similarly - a runner reached on something other than a hit, and was removed from the bases, enabling the starter to face the minimum. Lonnie Smith led off by reaching on an error by Dodger shortstop Dave Anderson, and was promptly eliminated on a Ken Oberkfell double play grounder. Terry Whitfield, meanwhile, drew a one-out walk and ended the inning by getting caught stealing.

The rally in the top of the second was more productive - George Hendrick led off with a walk, David Green doubled him to third, and Willie McGee and Darrell Porter followed with consecutive RBI singles to open the scoring for the Cards. (Hendrick left the game after this inning with a presumably moderate injury - he would also miss St. Louis's next three contests.) After that, the game returned to the first-inning pattern: LA's Greg Brock grounded into a double play in the second, and Tito Landrum, who replaced Hendrick, lined into one with two runners on in the third. Green singled and stole second in the fourth, but the eighth spot in the order came up with two outs, leading to an intentional walk to Ozzie Smith and a groundout from Forsch.

The starters went back to facing three hitters per inning after that - Forsch had actually worked a perfect third, and did the same in the fourth and fifth, while Honeycutt set the Cards down 1-2-3 in the fifth and allowed a leadoff hit to Landrum in the sixth, but saw him caught stealing and allowed no other baserunners.

LA finally got to Forsch in the bottom of the sixth. Anderson led off with a single, and Mike Scioscia drew a walk behind him and was lifted for pinch runner Rafael Landestoy. Honeycutt was (rather remarkably) allowed to hit for himself, and (even more remarkably) did not sacrifice, but (most remarkably of all) singled to load the bases with nobody out. With Steve Sax at the plate, Forsch uncorked a wild pitch to score Anderson, and Sax then grounded out to score Landestoy with the tying run. The go-ahead run was now at third with one out, but Whitfield's grounder failed to score Honeycutt, and Ken Landreaux grounded out as well to keep the score knotted at 2.

Honeycutt and Forsch combined to allow one single over the next inning and a half. Bruce Sutter came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth (with Andy Van Slyke taking over right field in a double switch, making him the third Cardinal to play the position on the day); Sutter retired the Dodgers in order, and since the third batter of the inning was pinch hitter Rick Monday, Honeycutt's game was over. Tom Niedenfuer relieved and threw a perfect ninth. The bottom of the inning started with a Sax single, and a sacrifice and a groundout moved the winning run to third before Pedro Guerrero fanned to leave it there.

Extra innings started just about the same way as regulation - Van Slyke singled and was caught stealing in the top of the tenth. Neil Allen relieved Sutter in the bottom of the inning (in another double switch, with Dane Iorg taking over left field from Smith) and worked a perfect frame. In the top of the eleventh, Oberkfell singled and moved up on a sacrifice, Iorg was intentionally walked, Green struck out, McGee singled to load the bases, and Porter struck out to end the game's biggest threat in five innings.

Allen was perfect again in the eleventh. Orel Hershiser relieved to start the twelfth and worked around an error to manage a scoreless inning (which would be more impressive if the error hadn't been committed by Hershiser himself). Jeff Lahti relieved in the bottom of the inning, and Whitfield greeted him with a single. Ken Landreaux bunted Whitfield to second, Guerrero was intentionally walked, and Mike Marshall made that look like a rather poor decision - he hit a three-run homer to walk off with a win.

This was a game that had a chance to be legitimately excellent if either team could have sustained a rally - but between the three runners getting caught stealing and four double plays, the scoring opportunities kept ending before they could start. (For crying out loud, the Dodgers only left two runners on base in twelve innings. Two!) What was left was... a twelve-inning game in which the winning run reached third in the bottom of the ninth and the bases were loaded in the top of the eleventh, before a walkoff homer finally decided things. And as a bonus, it earned Hershiser the first of his 204 career wins (and one of only three victories he would accrue as a reliever).

It won't be the best game of the year for long - but on the fourth day of the season, at least, it deservedly occupies the top spot.

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