GOLDENDALE, WA. (GPS)--Lou Gehrig's triple in the bottom of the eleventh inning October 15 scored Ken Griffey, Jr. with the winning run as Goldendale beat Moses Lake 4-3 and took a two-games-to-one lead in their best-of-seven A to Z League playoff series.
Dwight Gooden, named game-three starter for Goldendale after an injury to Lefty Grove, pitched decently, allowing three runs on three hits in 6 1/3 innings. Control woes cost him in the seventh, when Moses Lake scored three to take a 3-1 lead. Johnny Mize led off with a single and Joe Mauer walked. Eddie Murray, pinch hitting for Rabbit Maranville, drilled a double to left center, scoring Mize to tie the game at 1-1 and moving Mauer to third. Moses Lake manager Connie Mack stuck with starting pitcher Mike Mussina, who hit a pop-up to shallow right for the first out. With Joe Morgan at the plate, Gooden uncorked a wild pitch that plated Mauer, putting the M's up 2-1, and then walked Morgan on a 3-0 pitch. With runners on the corners and the infield playing in, Willie Mays hit a slow grounder to short. Murray beat Nomar Garciaparra's throw home to make it 3-1 Moses Lake.
Lou Gehrig had the key
hits in Goldendale's tying
and winning rallies
against Moses Lake in
game three of their series.
Gehrig hit a solo homer in the second, and Goldendale scored a run in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Vladimir Guerrero.
Gehrig played a key role in the ninth-inning rally that forced the extra innings. Mussina delivered a 3-2 lead to the final frame. He allowed just two runs on five hits over eight, and was lifted for a pinch hitter in the top of the ninth. The M's didn't score and took the one-run edge into the bottom of the inning, with Randy Myers taking the hill with tough lefties Griffey and Gehrig coming up. Meyers struck out Junior and got Josh Gibson to ground out to second. But Gehrig cracked a high fly ball to deep center over the head of Mays, then took third when the Say Hey Kid fumbled to ball out on the warning track at Ekone Park. With Garciaparra due up, Mack called on righty Jeff Montgomery to take over on the mound. Montgomery got ahead in the count 1-2, but Nomar grounded a single to left and Gehrig scored easily with the tying run. Guerrero flied out to center to end the frame.
Moses Lake got a couple of runners on against Tom Gordon in the top of the tenth, but Gordon fanned Mauer to end the threat. Neither team scored in their next at-bats, setting up the decisive bottom of the eleventh.
Mike Marshall took the hill for Moses Lake, and issued a leadoff walk to Griffey on a 3-2 pitch. Gibson hit a routine fly ball to left, but Gehrig again boomed one over the head of Mays, high off the center field wall, and Griffey was able to score easily on what was ruled a triple, giving Goldendale a 4-3 win and a 2-1 lead in the series.
Both managers are weighing their options for starting pitchers for game four coming up October 16. Goldendale's Clark Griffith remains in a bit of a bind because of the injury to Grove. He could bring 16-game winner Tom Glavine back on two days of rest; Glavine was hit hard in game two but only threw 46 pitches, so could be ready to go. Bob Gibson could go on three days rest, but he threw 121 pitches in the opener. Lefty Gomez and Ron Guidry remain available, and Griffith may go with one of the port-siders. Goldendale may be without Goose Goslin tomorrow as well. He twisted an ankle while batting in the second inning and came out of the game. He's listed as day to day. Down by a game in the series, Mack is considering bringing back game-one starter Greg Maddux on short rest; he didn't pitch very well in the opener, but threw only 73 pitches. Mack also has Juan Marichal, Jack Morris, and Dennis Martinez available.
Game three box score, October 15
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E LOB DP
Moses Lake 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 5 1 10 0
Goldendale 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 4 9 2 6 0
M's AB R H BI AVG G's AB R H BI AVG
Morgan,J 2b 3 0 0 0 .111 Gehringer 2b 5 0 2 0 .167
Mays,W cf 5 0 0 1 .214 GwynnSr,T rf 5 0 0 0 .077
Musial lf 3 0 1 0 .200 GriffeyJr cf 4 1 0 0 .091
Mantle rf 5 0 0 0 .214 Gibson,J c 5 1 1 0 .364
Mathews,E 3b 5 0 1 0 .250 Gehrig 1b 5 2 3 2 .400
Mize 1b 5 1 1 0 .250 Garciaparra ss 4 0 2 1 .222
Mauer c 4 1 0 0 .250 Goslin lf 1 0 0 0 .125
Maranville ss 2 0 0 0 .250 Guerrero,V rf 2 0 0 1 .000
Murray,E ph 1 1 1 1 .400 Gaetti 3b 3 0 1 0 .111
Marion ss 2 0 0 0 .000 Granderson ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Mussina p 3 0 0 0 .000 Gossage p 0 0 0 0 .000
Martinez,E ph 1 0 1 0 .750 Gooden p 2 0 0 0 .000
Myers,R p 0 0 0 0 .000 Guardado p 0 0 0 0 .000
Montgomery,J p 0 0 0 0 .000 Greenberg ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Medwick ph 1 0 0 0 .500 Gordon,T p 0 0 0 0 .000
Marshall,MG p 0 0 0 0 .000 Glaus ph 1 0 0 0 .000
40 3 5 2 39 4 9 4
M's INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Mussina 8.0 5 2 2 0 1 104 67 2.25
Myers,R H 1 0.2 1 1 0 0 1 10 6 3.38
Montgomery,J BS 1 1.1 2 0 0 0 1 24 15 0.00
Marshall,MG L 0-1 0.1 1 1 1 1 0 11 6 6.75
10.1 9 4 3 1 3 149 94
G's INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Gooden 6.1 3 3 3 5 4 110 62 4.26
Guardado 1.2 0 0 0 0 1 22 15 0.00
Gordon,T 2.0 2 0 0 1 2 35 21 0.00
Gossage W 1-0 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 14 9 0.00
11.0 5 3 3 6 8 181 107
ML : Murray,E batted for Maranville in the 7th
Marion inserted at ss in the 7th
Martinez,E batted for Mussina in the 9th
Medwick batted for Montgomery,J in the 11th
GOL: GwynnSr,T moved to lf in the 3rd
Guerrero,V inserted at rf in the 3rd
Greenberg batted for Guardado in the 8th
Granderson batted for Gaetti in the 10th
Glaus batted for Gordon,T in the 10th
Glaus moved to 3b in the 11th
E-Mays,W, Garciaparra, Guerrero,V. 2B-Murray,E(2), Gehrig(1), Gaetti(1).
3B-Gehrig(1). HR-Gehrig(2). RBI-Mays,W(5), Murray,E(1), Gehrig 2(3),
Garciaparra(1), Guerrero,V(1). SB-Morgan,J(1). K-Mays,W, Mantle, Mize 2,
Mauer 2, Maranville, Medwick, GwynnSr,T, GriffeyJr, Glaus. BB-Morgan,J 3,
Musial 2, Mauer, GriffeyJr. SF-Guerrero,V. WP-Gooden.
GWRBI: Gehrig
Goose Goslin was injured for this game and 1 more days