Saturday, February 18, 2023

Moses Lake routs Goldendale 9-2, evens playoff series at two each

GOLDENDALE, WA. (GPS)--Greg Maddux pitched a six-hitter and Stan Musial drove in four runs to lead Moses Lake in a 9-2 rout of Goldendale October 16 at Ekone Park, evening their A to Z League playoff series at two games each.

Greg Maddux pitched a six-
hitter and Moses Lake beat 
Goldendale 9-2 in game four
of their playoff series.
G's manager Clark Griffith has been in a pitching bind because of a late-season injury to starter Lefty Grove. Bob Gibson and Tom Glavine are solid at the top of his rotation, but the three and four spots have question marks because of Grove's absence. Griffith went with Dwight Gooden in game three, partly to keep some tough righty bats on the bench, and Gooden pitched reasonably well in a game the G's eventually won in eleven innings. That left Griffith with a choice between southpaws Lefty Gomez and Ron Guidry, or bringing back Gibson or Glavine on short rest. He went with Gomez, partly because Guidry had been shelled in a couple of late-season outings. 

Neither team scored in the first or the second, but Moses Lake got to Gomez in the third. Paul Molitor led off the frame with a double to right center on a 1-0 pitch. Willie Mays hit a fly ball to right, deep enough for Molitor to take third. He then scored on Stan Musial's sacrifice fly to right. With two out and nobody on, Mickey Mantle walked on a 3-2 pitch. Edgar Martinez also worked a full count, then took a Gomez fastball the opposite way for a long, two-run homer to right for a 3-0 Moses Lake lead. Joe Medwick followed with a double, and that was it for Gomez, as Griffith called on Eric Gagne to take over on the hill. 

Stan Musial had four 
RBI in Moses Lake's
lopsided win.
Goldendale didn't score in the first three innings, getting just one runner against Maddux when Tony Gwynn reached on an error by first baseman Musial in the first. The M's played add-on in the fourth against Gagne, thanks to an error by the G's. Maddux started the rally with one out, hitting a dribbler in front of the plate and beating it out for an infield single. Molitor hit a grounder to short that looked like a double play, but Dick Groat booted it for an error and runners were on first and second. Mays hit a fly ball to right, moving Maddux to third, then Musial cracked a homer to deep right, a three-run shot that made it 6-0 Moses Lake.

That was essentially the game. Moses Lake made it 7-0 with a run in the fifth on a triple by Medwick and an RBI double by Marty Marion. Goldendale finally got on board against Maddux on Josh Gibson's leadoff homer in the seventh. Mays hit a solo shot in the eighth, Gwynn hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning, and Marion singled in a run in the ninth for the final score of 9-2. Maddux allowed two earned runs on six hits, struck out seven and had no walks. He threw 115 pitches, which may be a factor should manager Connie Mack need him later in the series.

Mack plans to start Jack Morris October 17 in game five at Ekone Park. Griffith will go with Gibson.

                   Game four box score, October 16
 
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
Moses Lake             0  0  3  3  1  0  0  1  1     9 12  1     9  0
Goldendale             0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1  0     2  6  1     5  0
 
M's                  AB  R  H BI   AVG    G's                  AB  R  H BI   AVG
Molitor           2b  5  2  2  0  .500    Gehringer         2b  4  0  1  0  .188
Mays,W            cf  5  1  2  1  .263    GwynnSr,T         rf  3  0  0  1  .063
Musial            1b  4  1  1  4  .214    GriffeyJr         cf  4  0  1  0  .133
Mantle            rf  2  1  1  0  .250    Gibson,J          c   4  1  1  1  .333
Martinez,E        3b  3  2  1  2  .571    Gehrig            1b  4  0  2  0  .429
Medwick           lf  5  1  2  0  .429    Greenberg         lf  4  0  0  0  .000
Munson,T          c   4  0  0  0  .000    Garciaparra       ss  1  0  0  0  .200
Marion            ss  5  0  2  2  .182     Gagne,E          p   0  0  0  0  .000
Maddux,G          p   5  1  1  0  .167     Garber           p   1  0  0  0  .000
                     38  9 12  9           Gordon,T         p   0  0  0  0  .000
                                           Granderson       ph  1  0  0  0  .000
                                           Guardado         p   0  0  0  0  .000
                                           Guidry           p   0  0  0  0  .000
                                           Guerrero,V       ph  1  0  0  0  .000
                                          Gaetti            3b  3  0  0  0  .083
                                          Gomez,Lef         p   0  0  0  0  .000
                                           Groat            ss  3  1  1  0  .333
                                                               33  2  6  2
 
M's                              INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Maddux,G         W 1-1           9.0  6  2  2  0  7 115  76  3.86
                                 9.0  6  2  2  0  7 115  76 
 
G's                              INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Gomez,Lef        L 0-1           2.2  5  3  3  3  0  53  27 10.13
Gagne,E                          1.1  2  3  0  1  0  31  18  0.00
Garber                           2.0  3  1  1  0  0  27  17  2.25
Gordon,T                         1.0  0  0  0  0  0  12   9  0.00
Guardado                         1.0  1  1  1  0  2  16  11  3.38
Guidry                           1.0  1  1  1  2  3  23  12  9.00
                                 9.0 12  9  6  6  5 162  94 
 
GOL: Groat inserted at ss in the 3rd
     Granderson batted for Gordon,T in the 7th
     Guerrero,V batted for Guidry in the 9th
 
E-Musial, Groat. 2B-Molitor(1), Medwick(1), Marion(1), Gehrig(2). 
3B-Mantle(1), Medwick(1). HR-Mays,W(1), Musial(1), Martinez,E(1), 
Gibson,J(2). RBI-Mays,W(6), Musial 4(4), Martinez,E 2(3), Marion 2(2), 
GwynnSr,T(1), Gibson,J(2). SB-Mays,W(1). CS-Molitor. K-Molitor, Mantle, 
Medwick, Maddux,G 2, GriffeyJr, Gibson,J 2, Gehrig, Garciaparra, Garber, 
Granderson. BB-Mantle 3, Martinez,E 2, Munson,T. SF-Musial, GwynnSr,T. 
GWRBI: Musial
Published