4/18/84: Soto's 11 K's, Milner's go-ahead homer pace Reds past Braves, 5-4

Eddie Milner's go-ahead homer in the 4th and a 11 K outing from Mario Soto paced the Reds to a 5-4 win over the Braves in a "Businessman's Special" at Riverfront.

It looked like the Reds would run away with this one early, jumping on Braves starter Len Barker for 4 runs in the 1st, Barker walking Eddie Milner and Dan Driessen and giving up an RBI single by Dave Parker. Nick Esasky made Barker "overbid" for his wildness by depositing a 3-run homer to left, making it a 4-run 1st. The Reds also ran in the 1st, getting steals from Milner and Parker.

The Braves would answer the Reds 4-spot with a 4-spot of their own in the 2nd, getting their runs before Soto could record an out as Chambliss walked, Bob Horner singled and Rafael Ramirez doubled in Chambliss to put the Braves on the board. Glenn Hubbard singled in Horner, making it 4-2, Bruce Benedict doubled home Ramirez, now 4-3 and with runners on 2nd and 3rd, Len Barker grounded one to Concepion at short which the usually reliable Concepion bobbled, tying the score at 4. Soto recovered and retired Claudell Washington, Albert Hall and Dale Murphy in order to end the Braves rally. 

The score remained at 4 until the bottom of the 4th when Milner hit a Barker curve into the RF bleachers, giving the Reds a 5-4 lead at that point. Save for a bases loaded, 2-out threat in the 3rd, Soto was unstoppable, retiring 10 Braves in a row at one point. Soto got a scare in the 8th, when with 2 outs, Glenn Hubbard slugged one to left, a near-certain home run. But Gary Redus timed his leap perfectly and robbed Hubbard of the game-tying blow. 

The Braves had one last chance in the 9th, Bruce Benedict leading off with a single. After pinch-hitter Gerald Perry struck out, Claudell Washington hit a deep fly to Parker in right, PR Jerry Royster tagging up, going to 2nd. For good measure, Soto struck out PH Alex Trevino to end the game, his 11th K securing a hard-earned win before a road trip opener out west.

WALKS: Len Barker walked 7 in 7-2/3, Mario Soto just 1 in 9.

CIN 5-8-1 ATL 4-10-0 WP-Soto LP-Barker HR-Esasky, Milner GWRBI-Milner CIN 4-8 ATL 6-6

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

4/20/84: Dave Stewart 2-hits Don Mattingly, no hits rest of Yankees, 2-0

The emergence of Don Mattingly continued at Yankee Stadium , as he picked up 2 hits against Texas righty Dave Stewart . Trouble was the rest of the Yankees couldn't get anything past Stewart, as the Rangers blanked the Yankees by a 2-0 count on Stewart's gem. Stewart pitched 6 no-hit innings against the Yankees before Mattingly broke up the no-no in the 7th with a perfectly clean lead-off single. That would be the only hit off Stewart until the bottom of the 9th, when Mattingly lined a 2-out single to 2nd. PH Roy Smalley would line out to Wayne Tolleson at 2nd to end the game and Stewart's nifty 2-hitter. Just as Stewart was brilliant, so was his left-handed counterpart Ron Guidry , who struck out 9 Rangers, but made 2 mistakes which were the difference in the game. In the 4th, George Wright singled, followed by walk to Buddy Bell , giving the Rangers 1st and 2nd with nobody out. After Guidry caught Larry Parrish looking, Pete O'Brien caught a look at a Guidry cur...
Read more

4/21/84: Tigers come out smelling like a Rozema against ChiSox, 2-0

Dave Rozema , save for last-out relief help by Aurelio Lopez and Willie Hernandez , struck out 6 in limiting the White Sox to 5 hits in a 2-0 shutout in front of an enthusiastic crowd at " The Corner ."  "Rozey" got all the runs he needed in the 6th when Darrell Evans reached on a 1-out single and scored on a 2-run blast to left by Lance Parrish . Sox starter LaMarr Hoyt dodged a bases-loaded threat in the 5th and a 1st/2nd one in the 8th but still got the hard-luck loss as the Sox got blanked for the 2nd game in a row. In the ChiSox 9th, Rozema retired Carlton Fisk on a deep drive to left but after a single from Harold Baines and a walk to Greg Luzinski , Sparky brought out the "Hook" and brought in Aurelio Lopez to face Greg Walker , who "Stood there like the house by the side of the road and watched that one go by." For right-handed pinch-hitter Ron Kittle , the "Hook" came for Willie Hernandez, who blew out Kittle with a swin...
Read more

4/22/84: Astros finish sweep of Braves, 4-2

The Astros erupted for 3 runs on 6 hits in the 6th and held off a late Braves rally to complete a sweep of the struggling Atlanta ballclub by a final of 4-2.  The Astros got RBI singles from Jerry Mumphrey , Phil Garner and Alan Ashby to take a 3-1 lead in the 6th, chasing Brave starter Pete Falcone in the process. The Braves crept closer when Rafael Ramirez doubled home Albert Hall, making the score 3-2 but the Braves promptly gave the run back in the 8th when Phil Garner greeted Terry Forster with a leadoff double, then scored on Ashby's 2nd RBI single. The Braves had a great chance in the 8th when Dale Murphy led off with a walk, advanced to 3rd on a single by Bob Horner, who then took 2nd on a bases-loading walk by Chris Chambliss. Frank DiPino took over for Joe Niekro and got Jerry Royster to line to Enos Cabell at 1st and for good measure, got Bruce "Eggs" Benedict to lay one himself, grounding into an 6-4-3 rally-killing DP . The Braves could only muster a 1-out...
Read more