The Rangers beat the Orioles 7 – 4, snapping pitcher Steve Stone’s 14-game winning streak. Stone is two shy of the American League record of 16 consecutive wins.
1980 – J.R. Richard collapses from a stroke while working out at the Astrodome. He is rushed to Methodist Hospital where surgery saves his life. His distracted teammates lose in Philadelphia, 6-4. Richard would never regain the coordination needed to resume his career.
1980 – At Montreal, the Expos beat the Reds, 5 – 4, with Fred Norman getting the win over Mario Soto. Ron LeFlore of the Expos steals his 62nd base in the 7th inning and the Montreal scoreboard notes that the first stolen base was 115 years earlier. As LeFlore stands off base reading the message, he is tagged out.
Orioles ace Steve Stone tops Mike Caldwell and the Brewers, 4 – 1, for his 14th straight win.
1980 – Astros shock Montreal with seven runs in the ninth inning for a 9-8 triumph. Terry Puhl starts the rally with a blast off Steve Rogers then Jose Cruz, Enos Cabell and Alan Ashby each deliver two-run hits to complete the comeback. Ashby’s double is his third hit. Frank LaCorte is the surprise winner.
Mike Schmidt becomes the all-time Phillies’ franchise home run leader when he hits the first of his two round-trippers in the team’s 6-5 extra-inning victory over Atlanta at Veterans Stadium. The future Hall of Fame third baseman, who will retire with 548 homers, passes Del Ennis’ mark of 259 that the outfielder established playing with Philadelphia from 1945-56.
The Cubs fire manager Preston Gomez and replace him with Joey Amalfitano. Chicago is 38-52, last in the National League East.
1980 – Hours after signing a new five-year contract that will boost his salary to $1 million per year, Kansas City’s George Brett goes 2 for 4 in a 12 – 4 win over Chicago to raise his batting average to .379. The Royals lead 2nd-place Texas by 11 games in the American League West.
1980 – Atlanta’s Bob Horner belts two home runs in a 7 – 5 win over the Expos, giving him 15 homers in his last 23 games and 13 in the month of July, just two short of the major-league record shared by Hank Greenberg, Joe DiMaggio and Joe Adcock. Horner will hit one more home run in July, and finish the season with a career-high 35.
Roy Lee Jackson retires the last 19 batters he faces en route to a complete-game victory in the Mets’ 13-3 rout of the Reds at Riverfront Stadium. The 26 year-old right-hander benefits from his teammates’ 20-hit barrage in the Cincinnati contest.
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