Game 93

July 21, 1968 – Mike Paxton Strikes out Four in the Fifth Inning

A matchup between the last-place Mariners and second-to-last place Indians in mid-summer 1978 would be entirely forgettable if not for an event that happened only for the 16th time in MLB history. Mike Paxton had gone 10-5 in his first major league season the year before with Boston and was a competent member of the Indians rotation in 1978. 

In the bottom of the second the Tribe got the offense going. Andre Thornton and Bernie Carbo drew back to back walks. Then catcher Gary Alexander singled to load the bases. Jim Norris flied out and everyone had to stay put. Second baseman Duane Kuiper grounded to short, scoring Thornton, while Carbo was forced out at first. Then Tom Veryzer singled, driving in Carbo. Rick Manning followed with a two-run double to center giving the Indians four runs on three hits in the inning. 

Paxton struck out Dan Meyer to lead off the top of the fifth, but the third strike was mishandled by Greg Alexander and Meyer took first on the passed ball. Paxton then retired Bruce Bochte (not to be confused with Bruce Bochy, Giants manager), Tom Paciorek, and Bill Stein all on strikeouts. This was only the sixteenth time a pitcher had retired the side with four strikeouts. 

The Tribe would score another seven insurance runs and go on to an 11-0 rout of the lowly Mariners. Mike Paxton would have his best season with a 12-11 record, but the Indians finished 74-85 and in sixth place. 

Five Cleveland pitchers have had four-strikeout innings. Guy Morton in Game 51 of 1916 and Lee Stange in Game 136 of 1964 preceded him. Paul Shuey K-ed four in Game  33 of 1994 and Chuck Finley in Game 12 of 2000. Finley is the only MLB-er to have two four-strikeout innings. The other was with the Angels in 1999. 

Baseball Reference Box Score

Game 88

July 19, 1982 – Toby Harrah Walkoff Gets Tribe Back to .500

After three seasons with the Tribe, Toby Harrah was not pleased with the direction the Indians were taking. He did not mince words. “I am tired of playing .500 ball or being the spoiler. It has been the same every year and I’m sick of it. We need a more balanced bullpen… We need a team that doesn’t have 12 designated hitters and 6 first basemen. All of this is management’s fault.”

In mid-July of 1982, the Indians were once again in 6th place in the AL East, ahead of only the Blue Jays. The day before, the Indians celebrated a rare walkoff win on a pinch hit RBI triple by Bill Nahrodny. 

On this Monday evening in July a sparse crowd of under 12,000 was scattered around Municipal Stadium to see the Indians take on the Oakland A’s. Steve McCatty started for the A’s while the Tribe sent Lary Sorenson to the mound. 

Indians’ second baseman Larry Milbourne bookended the previous night’s performance with a leadoff triple in the bottom of the first. He was driven home by a Toby Harrah groundout to get the Tribe on the Board 1-0. 

The A’s tied things up in the top of the third when Ricky Henderson walked with two outs, stole second, and was driven home by a Dwayne Murphy single to center field. A two run homer by Jeff Newman put Oakland ahead 3-1. 

Von Hayes doubled to right to lead off the bottom of the fourth. After fly-outs by Rick Manning and Ron Hassey, Carmello Castillo drove Hayes in with a single past the shortstop, cutting the A’s lead to one run. 

The teams continued to battle through the middle innings, with Oakland notching another run on a Jeff Burroughs homer to lead off the top of the 6th. Von Hayes had another leadoff hit in the Indians half of the sixth, and scored again on a Ron Hassey single to right. 

In the bottom of the ninth, the Indians would find themselves down one run with one out and the bases loaded. Larry Milbourne lofted a sacrifice fly to right. Rick Manning tagged up to score the tying run. 

Down to their final out, Toby Harrah stepped to the plate and smacked a sharp one to third base. A’s third baseman Wayne Gross lofted the throw to first, which would likely have put Harrah out and sent the game to extra innings. Instead, Jack Perconte hustled home to give the Tribe their second walkoff win in as many nights and put the team back at .500 with a 44 and 44 record for the season.

Harrah would go on to play all 162 games of the 1982 season for the Indians, and have the best hitting season of his career. He finished the year batting .304 with.183 hits, 25 home runs, and 100 runs scored. However, the Indians would finish 78-84 and once again 6th in the AL East. 

Baseball Reference Box Score