1982 Atlanta Braves Retrospective

[selmaborntidefan]

June 12, 1982
Atlanta Braves 10 (Niekro, 5-2; SV: Hrabosky, 2)
San Francisco Giants 5 (L: Gale, 2-5)
35-21
1st place
2 games ahead

BRAVES WIN 5TH IN A ROW WITH 10-5 ROMP OVER SF;
CUBS LOSE 12TH IN A ROW;
RIPKEN'S HR CARRIES O'S TO WIN OVER YANKS

Glenn Hubbard drove home four runs and Bob Horner had five hits to power the Atlanta Braves over the Giants, 10-5, in San Francisco to give the Braves their fifth consecutive win. The Braves continue to dominate the NL West, lifting their overall record to 17-3 against the division that includes a 13-0 record in road games. Phil Niekro pitched five shutout innings for his fifth win of 1982, but it was his replacement, Larry McWilliams, who let the Giants back into the game by failing to retire any of the four batters he faced entering the sixth, all of whom scored to narrow the 7-0 score to 7-4. McWilliams saw his season ERA climb to 6.47.

Chris Welsh blanked the Astros on four hits, and Luis Salazar's two-run homer keyed a four-run inning in San Diego's 4-0 win over Houston. The Padres are 9-2 in their last 11. Manny Sarmiento, making only his second start since 1979, scattered six hits and singled home two runs in the Pirates' 9-2 thumping of Mike Krukow and the Phillies. Al Oliver's two-run RBI double highlighted a three-run inning that lifted the Expos to a 7-5 win over the Cubs, the 12th straight defeat for Chicago. Mike Jorgensen and Ron Hodges both homered and Craig Swan had his best outing in two years as the Mets beat the Cardinals, 6-2. Dusty Baker socked a two-run homer and Steve Garvey added a solo shot that was just enough to carry the Dodgers to a 4-3 win over the Reds.

Cal Ripken Jr's bottom of the 8th two-run home run was the difference in Baltimore's 5-3 win over the Yankees. It was the rookie's second homer in two games. Larry Herndon homered and Tom Brookens added a two-run shot to support the nine-hit pitching of starter Milt Wilcox in Detroit's 7-3 triumph over the Brewers. Designated hitter Lamar Johnson's two-out single in the 8th scored Doug Flynn and lifted the Rangers to a 4-3 win over the Twins. Rick Sweet's sacrifice fly scored the game winner and gave Gene Nelson his fourth win in the last five starts as Seattle toppled Kansas City, 3-2. Ken Forsch tossed a 3-hitter and Doug DeCinces drove home two as the California Angels beat the White Sox, 3-0, before the largest crowd to attend a game this season so far at Comiskey Park. Rickey Henderson and Jeff Newman homered while Rick Langford scattered four hits and went the distance in Oakland's 8-1 win over Toronto. Carl Yastrzemski's second run-scoring single broke a 3-3 tie and ignited a Boston rally that lifted the Red Sox to a 6-4 win over the Indians.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

June 13, 1982
Game One:
San Francico Giants 2 (W: Martin, 2-3; SV: Minton, 10)
Atlanta Braves 1 (L: Dayley, 2-3)

Game Two:
Atlanta Braves 5 (W: Camp, 4-3; SV: Garber 11)
San Francisco Giants 1 (L: Hammaker, 3-4)

36-22
1st place
1.5 games ahead

BRAVES GIVE UP 3 RUNS, SPLIT DOUBLEHEADER;
CUBS LOSE 13TH STRAIGHT ON 10TH INNING HR;
BREWERS SMASH 5 HRS IN ROUT OF TIGERS

If you had told the Atlanta Braves this morning that they'd hold the San Francisco Giants to 3 runs in 18 innings across two games, the Braves likely would have thought this meant they had won a sweep of the scheduled doubleheader and extended their winning streak to seven games as well as their road record versus NL West teams to 15-0. But the Giants got a better performance in the opener as Renie Martin went 8.1 innings and scattered 7 hits in San Francisco's 2-1 win. Ken Dayley gave up only 3 hits in 7 innings for the Braves, but combined with his 5 walks it was enough to saddle him with the loss. Each starter made one bad pitch and both were sent flying into the seats on solo shots from Bob Horner and Jack Clark. Clark's proved to be the game winner. The Giants dodged a bullet in the 9th, however, as the Braves found themselves with Dale Murphy at third on a double by Horner and only one out. But Murphy was thrown out at home, and the Giants then faced Claudell Washington with the bases loaded and two outs. The rail thin outfielder flied out to center to end the game and earn Greg Minton his 10th save. Perhaps frustrated by his failure at the end of the first game, Murphy gave spot starter Rick Camp all he would need in the nightcap when he socked a two-run bomb off Giants' starter Atlee Hammaker, which turned out to be enough to win the game. Although the Braves only scored one run with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth, Camp needed little on this day, as he scattered nine hits and got his fourth win of the year.

Tim Wallach homered off Willie Hernandez with two outs in the tenth to lift Montreal to a 5-3 win over Chicago, the 13th straight defeat for the Cubs. Alan Wiggins singled in the tying run in the seventh and then wound up scoring the winning run courtesy of a stolen base and two throwing errors as San Diego closed to with 1 1/2 games of Atlanta in a 5-4 win over Houston. Bruce Berenyi and Tom Hume combined on a six hitter while Alex Trevino drove in two runs and Larry Biittner and Ron Oester drove in one each to earn the Reds a split in the finale of their four-game series with the Dodgers, 4-2. The scheduled games between the Cardinals-Mets and Phillies-Pirates were both rained out and will be made up at a later date. The same happened with the scheduled Orioles-Yankees game in the AL.

Trailing 3-2 after seven innings, the California Angels rallied with five late runs, keyed by Don Baylor's RBI double that was part of a four-run Angels 8th that defeated the Chicago White Sox, 7-4. Geoff Zahn won his 7th decision while Reggie Jackson socked his 10th homer of the year for the Angels. The Milwaukee Brewers socked five home runs, including two off the bat of Gorman Thomas, en route to a 13-5 pounding of the Detroit Tigers. Don Money, Robin Yount, and Ben Oglivie also homered for the Brewers. A two-run seventh inning shot by Tony Armas was the difference as the Athletics topped the Blue Jays, 7-5. Rickey Henderson stole four bases to lift his record-setting pace to 62. Oakland stole six overall, and Toronto Manager Bobby Cox mused after the game, "He's not a base stealer, he's a thief!" The Mariners overcame the shock of a line drive off the head of starting pitcher Floyd Bannister, who recovered and scattered five hits in seven innings to help Seattle beat Kansas City, 7-1. The shot to Bannister came off the bat of Willie Wilson, but the lanky pitcher recovered enough to throw out the speedster at first. The Texas Rangers chased seven runs across the plate in the first inning and took a quick 8-0 lead in a 10-4 home laugher against the hapless Twins. It was Jack O'Connor's second major league start. Thus far in his starts, O'Connor has pitched 5 2/3 innings with a 12.91 ERA.

Randy Bobb, who had a ten-game major league career with the Cubs on 1968-69, was killed in an auto accident today in Carnelian Bay, California. Bobb struck out 3 times in 10 plate appearances and singled off Atlanta starter Ron Reed for his only major league hit.