Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Game of the Day (6/16/84)

Expos 3, Pirates 2 (11). Pittsburgh's Rick Rhoden took on Montreal's Bill Gullickson, both of them solid right-handers who would end up with highly similar career records (they finished within 35 innings of each other, and the difference in their win-loss records was 11-11, with Gullickson having the extra 22 decisions).

The Pirates picked up a run in the top of the first on singles by Lee Mazzilli, Bill Madlock, and Johnny Ray. Tim Raines reached on an error and stole second in the bottom of the inning, then moved to third on a groundout before being left there. And that was effectively all of the offense in the first four innings; there were no further baserunners until Bryan Little singled to start the bottom of the fourth, and Andre Dawson's double play grounder rendered the first hit in three innings moot.

Gullickson threw his fourth straight perfect inning in the fifth, and the Expos finally scored for him in the bottom of the inning. Mike Stenhouse led off with a double, and Jim Wohlford walked one out later. Doug Flynn then doubled Stenhouse home to tie the game, and a wild pitch with Gullickson at the plate scored Wohlford with the go-ahead run. Pittsburgh mounted a quick response in the top of the sixth when singles by Marvell Wynne and Mazzilli put runners at the corners and Madlock hit into a force to score Wynne and retie the game.

The starters resumed their strong work from there, as Rhoden was perfect in the bottom of the sixth. Both pitchers faced the minimum in the seventh despite allowing singles - Dale Berra hit into a double play after Doug Frobel's hit, and Tim Wallach singled and was caught stealing. Gullickson singled in the eighth, and that made him the last man to reach safely in regulation.

Gullickson remained on the mound for the top of the tenth, and Tony Pena led off the inning with a double. Frobel grounded out, moving Pena to third, and Berra was intentionally walked. Milt May then hit for Rhoden, and promptly grounded into an inning-ending double play. Kent Tekulve relieved in the bottom of the tenth and gave up a one-out single to Wohlford; Derrel Thomas hit for Flynn and became the second pinch hitter to hit into a double play in the inning.

Jeff Reardon relieved in the eleventh; Wynne greeted him with a single and made it to third on a pair of outs before being left there. Miguel Dilone led off the bottom of the inning with a triple; Tekulve issued a pair of intentional walks to load the bases, and Dawson then singled to score the winning run.

The victorious Expos had eight hits, one each from eight different players. That included seven members of the starting lineup - most notably the starting pitcher - along with reserve Miguel Dilone.

The two Montreal starters who didn't have hits? Why, those would be the two best players on the team, Gary Carter and Tim Raines. But who needs those guys when you have potent bats like Doug Flynn and Bryan Little and Mike Stenhouse?

The lesson? Probably that it's a bad idea to try to find lessons in single games of baseball.

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