1978 – Joe Niekro outduels his brother Phil in a 2-0 whitewash of the Braves and denies Phil a 20-win season. Joe allows seven hits then gives way to Ken Forsch in the ninth. Jose Cruz and Julio Gonzalez drive in the game’s only runs.
In a duel of aces, Dennis Eckersley tops Dave Rozema, scattering seven Tiger hits to win, 4 – 1. Eck’s record at Fenway Park is now 10-1. The Sox have 14 hits, led by Jim Rice’s 44th homer of the year. The Yankees top the Blue Jays, 4 – 1, to keep a one-game lead over Boston.
1978 – Boston finally wins against the Yankees, taking a 7 – 3 victory in Yankee Stadium as Dennis Eckersley and Andy Hassler combine to stop the Yankees on four hits. The Yanks score two unearned runs in the 8th on Butch Hobson’s second error of the game (and his 42nd of the year). Carl Yastrzemski, playing CF in place of the injured Fred Lynn, collects his 14th homer of the year in the 9th inning.
1978 – With 55,091 looking on, the Yankees snap a 2 – 2 tie with a 9th-inning triple by Willie Randolph and a sacrifice fly by Thurman Munson to beat the Red Sox, 3 – 2. New York now leads by 3 1/2 games. The Yanks first score on a Reggie Jackson two-run blast in the 5th. Both starters, Catfish Hunter and Mike Torrez, go the distance.
Phil Garner hits his 2nd grand slam in two days as the Pirates beat the Expos 6 – 1. Garner is the first National League player to have slams in consecutive games since Jimmy Sheckard (September 23-24, 1901) and the first major leaguer since Brooks Robinson, in 1962. Garner will end the season with 12 dingers.
The Yankees, now 1 1/2 games in front of Boston, open a 3-game series in the Bronx with the Red Sox. Ron Guidry again gives up two Boston hits and wins a 4 – 0 shutout. Chris Chambliss and Graig Nettles hit successive homers off Luis Tiant in the 4-run 4th inning.
The Dodgers become the first ML team ever to draw three million fans. Jay Blood is the historic three millionth spectator as the Dodgers shut out the Braves, 5 – 0. The victory is dampened when coach Jim Gilliam suffers a brain hemorrhage.
On September 14, 1978, Thirty Eight year old Jim Bouton of the Atlanta Braves earns his first win in eight seasons. The knuckleballing Bouton, who had retired after the 1970 season, defeats the San Francisco Giants, 4-1. Bouton, who gained fame for penning the controversial book, Ball Four. The Bulldog gives up just three hits in…
1978 – Ron Guidry (21-2) gives up two singles in the 1st inning and that’s it. New York sends 12 runners to the plate and scores seven runs in the 4th inning to win, 7 – 0, against Dennis Eckersley and cut the Boston lead to a single game. For Guidry, it is his 7th shutout of the year, and the first lefty shutout in Fenway Park since Ken Holtzman fired one on August 5, 1974.
1978 – The Yankees, four games behind the Red Sox in the American League East, arrive in Boston for a crucial 4-game series. The Yanks begin the “Boston Massacre” with a 15 – 3 route as Willie Randolph drives in five of the runs. The Yanks collect 21 hits off four Sox pitchers, including three hits apiece by Randolph, Thurman Munson and Roy White. Mike Torrez, with one inning of work, takes the loss. Ken Clay, in relief of Catfish Hunter, is the winner.
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