Jim Palmer of Pasco was named player of the week in the A to Z League for the week ending July 17. Palmer pitched a no-hitter July 16 in an 8-0 win over Long Beach. In two starts for the week Palmer allowed just one earned run on nine hits over 15 innings, though he lost his first start of the week when Pasco was shut out by Ocean Shores 3-0. Others considered for the recognition include Joe Adcock, who batted .500, knocked four home runs, scored eight runs and drove in seven; Reggie Jackson, who hit .450 with three homers and nine RBI; Babe Ruth, who smacked four homers and drove in nine runs; and Hank Aaron, who had four round-trippers and eight RBI.
Jim Palmer
Some highlights for the week:
July 11
How often do two teams face off when both batteries share a surname? It might be more likely in the A to Z League, and it happened this day when Bob and Josh Gibson of Goldendale squared off against Walter and Charles Johnson at Jefferson County. The G's scored first in the top of the fourth, when Ken Griffey, Jr. hit a one-out double and was driven home on a two-out single by Nomar Garciaparra. The Jays got their first hit, and run, off Gibson in the bottom of the sixth, when Walter Johnson led off with a walk, moved to second on a groundout, and scored on a double by Wally Joyner. Goldendale went on top again when Griffey homered against Johnson in the top of the ninth. The lead secured, Goldendale manager Clark Griffith pulled Gibson, who had thrown 119 pitches through eight, in favor of closer Goose Gossage. Joyner nubbed a roller out in front of the plate but Josh Gibson muffed it for an error. Sam Jethroe ran for Joyner, and Reggie pulled a single to right, moving the potential tying run to third. Chipper Jones ripped a three-run homer to give Jefferson County a 4-2 win.
John Smoltz pitched seven solid innings and Mike Schmidt had a homer and three RBI as Snohomish bopped Aberdeen 7-2. Tony Fernandez hit an RBI double in the bottom of the eleventh that gave Forks a 2-1 win over Tumwater. Ted Williams hit a homer and drove in three runs and Larry Walker knocked in two as Wenatchee drubbed Hoquiam 8-3. Bob Lemon and two relievers combined on a three-hitter and Long Beach beat Kelso and Sandy Koufax 3-0. Claude Osteen returned from the injured list to pitch a seven-hitter and Bob O'Farrell drove in two as Ocean Shores blanked Pasco 3-0. Bartolo Colon pitched seven innings of two-hit ball and Cashmere snuck past Vancouver 2-1. Don Drysdale pitched a one-hitter, allowing just a homer by Kouji Yamamoto in the top of the fourth, and Davenport beat Yakima 6-1. Juan Marichal scatterd seven hits, fanned 10, and scored the game's only run on a third-inning single by Eddie Mathews as Moses Lake edged North Bend 1-0. Ruth got his first win, allowing just one earned run over seven innings, and Manny Ramirez and Frank Robinson homered as Renton beat Quincy 4-3.
July 12
Adcock and Dick Allen homered and Pete Alexander improved his record to 10-1 as Aberdeen beat Snoqualmie 8-3. Tumwater scored two in the top of the first, but that was all they got against Bob Friend, and Forks scored three unearned runs in the fifth and won 3-2. Solly Hemus smacked an RBI double, plating Gabby Hartnett in the bottom of the 13th, and Hoquiam edged Wenatchee 4-3. Garciaparra missed the cycle by a single; he had a double, triple, homer, and three RBI as Goldendale won at Jefferson County 6-5. Clayton Kershaw, Ellis Kinder, and Craig Kimbrel combined on a seven-hitter and Kelso blanked Long Beach 3-0. Ocean Shores hit six homers and Tony Oliva drove in three runs in an 11-4 drubbing of Pasco. Ellis Valentine hit a two-run homer to cap a three-run rally in the top of the tenth, and Vancouver hung on to beat Cashmere 8-6. Richie Zisk hit a two-run pinch homer in the top of the eighth and Yakima bested Davenport 2-1. Yutaka Enatsu pitched seven shutout innings and Luke Easter and Jim Edmonds homered as Ephrata blanked Bainbridge Island 5-0. Willie Mays and Eddie Mathews homered during Moses Lake's 4-3 win over North Bend. Mike Ivie homered and scored two runs, including one during a four-run eighth that gave Quincy a 7-3 win over Renton.
July 13
Bret Saberhagen pitched seven innings of five-hit ball and doubled home two runs in the third as Snoqualmie beat Aberdeen 3-2. Luis Tiant, Sr. pitched a five-hitter, allowing no earned runs, and Frank Thomas went 3-for-4 with a homer, double, and three RBI as Tumwater pasted Forks 9-1. Sadaharu Oh slugged a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh and Ocean Shores beat Pasco 3-1. Cal Ripken, Jr. hit two homers and drove in four runs, and Scott Rolen also went deep in Renton's 9-2 rout of Quincy.
July 14
Alan Trammell and Danny Tartabull had three hits each and Mike Trout homered as Tumwater spanked Aberdeen 10-5. Todd Frazier hit a grand slam in the bottom of the first and Forks went on to beat Wenatchee 7-5. Tom Glavine pitched a seven-hitter and Tony Gwynn and Josh Gibson both drove home three runs as Goldendale clobbered Hoquiam 10-2. Charlie Keller hit a two-run homer off Randy Johnson in the top of the ninth and Kelso bested Jefferson County 4-3. Greg Luzinski came in off the bench and hit two homers and drove home five runs as Long Beach topped Pasco 9-5. Joey Votto had three hits, including a homer and a double, and drove in four runs in Vancouver's 6-4 win at Ocean Shores. Roberto Clemente drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the bottom of the seventh, and Cashmere added an insurance run in the eighth and beat Yakima 4-2. Doug DeCinces and Ray Dandridge homered during a three-run seventh and Davenport beat Bainbridge Island 4-1. Hal Newhouser and two relievers held Ephrata to three hits and Bill Nicholson and Phil Nevin homered during North Bend's 4-1 victory. Mickey Mantle hit a couple of solo shots and Mathews also went deep as Moses Lake edged Renton 4-3. Tom Seaver allowed three hits and no earned runs over seven innings and Snoqualmie topped Quincy 5-1.
July 15
Aaron, Adcock, and Bobby Allison homered and Bad Henry had three RBI as Aberdeen outscored Tumwater 8-5. Wenatchee hammered out 13 hits--five different players had two each--and the W's beat Forks 7-5. Toby Harrah, Harry Heilmann, and Ron Hansen all homered behind Felix Hernandez and Hoquiam thumped Goldendale 9-2. Bob Johnson went 3-for-5 with a homer as Jefferson County topped Kelso 5-3. Andy VanSlyke had two doubles and a triple and drove in four runs to lead Vancouver past Ocean Shores 5-2. David Cone fanned 10 and allowed just five hits in 8 2/3 innings and Cashmere bombed Yakima 9-3. Yogi Berra went 4-for-6 with two homers, a double, four runs scored and three RBI to lead a 15-hit attack as Bainbridge Island doubled up Davenport 12-6. Darrell Evans and Del Ennis homered as Ephrata overcame an early deficit and beat North Bend 7-5. Rolen hit a two-run homer in the top of the 13th and Renton beat Moses Lake 6-4. Don Sutton scattered nine hits and Ron Santo and Tris Speaker homered as Snoqualmie blanked Quincy 5-0.
July 16
Palmer narrowly missed logging a perfect game during his no-hitter, allowing just one runner on a walk to Barry Larkin in the seventh, as Pasco blanked Long Beach 8-0. Aaron and Adcock continued to swing hot bats, both hitting home runs during Aberdeen's 4-2 win over Tumwater. Fernandez tripled with one out in the bottom of the ninth, and scored on Steve Finley's sacrifice fly as Forks took a wild one from Wenatchee 8-7. Hoquiam scored four in the bottom of the eighth, the final two on a single by Rickey Henderson, and came from behind to beat Goldendale 7-5. Walter Johnson pitched a two-hitter and Jefferson County shelled Koufax early in a 9-0 rout of Kelso. Valentine hit two doubles and a home run, scored three, and drove in two to lead Vancouver in a 6-5 win at Ocean Shores. Colon pitched a six-hitter and Cashmere won a pitcher's duel with Cy Young and Yakima 2-0. Davenport scored three in the bottom of the eighth with the help of a couple of Bainbridge Island errors and a two-run double by Chili Davis and won 4-2.The Bambino and Greg Maddux hooked up in quite a pitcher's duel at Moses Lake. The game was deadlocked until Renton drew first blood in the top of the seventh, going up 1-0 on an RBI single by Edd Roush. At that point Moses Lake manager Connie Mack decided that Maddux, having thrown 121 pitches, was spent, and brought in Jose Mesa to face Frank Robinson with a couple of guys on and two out. This seemed at least as questionable an idea as having Robbie Ray pitch to Yordan Alvarez in a key situation, but Mesa fanned Robinson to end the inning. Moses Lake then scored two off Ruth in the bottom of the seventh on a base hit by Dale Murphy and a sacrifice fly by Stan Musial. Tug McGraw pitched the final two innings to seal the M's 2-1 win. Del Unser homered and Quincy racked up 10 hits in a 4-2 win over Snoqualmie.
July 17
Aaron, Allen, and Bobby Abreu homered to lead Aberdeen to a 7-5 win over Tumwater. David Wright went 4-for-5 with a homer, double, and four RBI, and Lou Whitaker hit a three-run shot as Wenatchee routed Forks 12-3. Josh Gibson led off the top of the eleventh with a home run, and Gossage saved Goldendale's 4-3 win at Hoquiam. Nobody scored for ten innings, Kelso plated three in the top of the eleventh, but Jefferson County answered with four on homers by Reggie and Dave Johnson for the win. Camilo Pasqual pitched seven solid innings and scored the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh on an infield single by Albert Pujols and Pasco edged Long Beach 3-2. Votto reached on an error in the top of the ninth and scored the go-ahead run on a pinch single by Mo Vaughn as Vancouver edged Ocean Shores 3-2. Ross Youngs hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the tenth to plate Ryan Zimmerman with the go-ahead run and Yakima beat Cashmere 2-1. Carlos Delgado drove in four runs with a pair of homers and Andre Dawson also went deep as Davenport topped Bainbridge Island 6-2. North Bend scored three in the top of the first and Hideo Nomo and two relievers teamed up on a six-hitter as the N's blanked Ephrata 3-0. Edgar Martinez and Joe Morgan homered, but it was a bases-loaded walk by Johnny Mize in the bottom of the eleventh that gave Moses Lake a 6-5 win over Renton. Chase Utley went 3-for-4 with two homers and scored three runs in Quincy's 5-2 win over Snoqualmie.
Injuries
Randy Jones left his July 15 start with a blister on his pinky and is expected to miss a couple of starts. Larry Jackson was called up to take his spot in the Jefferson County rotation.