Jack Bauer Squared came home to Olympic Stadium for a three-game series against Piazza Blues, and about the only good news is we didn’t lose any games by 1 run. Oh no. We lost all of them by 2 or 3 runs instead!
After Bobby Bonilla doubled in a run in the 1st inning, our offense went nowhere the rest of the series opener. We managed only four hits in a 4-1 loss.
As the second quarter of the season began, we again failed to muster much offense in a 5-2 loss. Mike Cuellar was charged with only 2 earned runs due to a pair of errors. In his 11th start, this marked the first time he didn’t allow at least 3 earned runs. None of that is impressive in the least.
Trying to emerge from the final game of the series with some respectability, we at least kept it entertaining. Bonilla doubled in the 6th inning to tie the game 1-1, and then no one scored again until the 15th inning.
Burt Hooton and the first five relievers to follow him yielded just the lone run and seven hits through 14 innings, but in came long man Orlando Pena for the 15th and things got out of control quickly. After allowing only one run in his first seven appearances, Pena allowed six straight runners to reach base in the 15th and was charged with 5 runs.
We didn’t give up, though. Out of position players, JBS had to send up Bert Blyleven to pinch hit to start the inning, and he predictably struck out. But then two singles and two doubles put 3 runs on the board and we had a little hope. Alas, that was as close as we could get and lost 6-4.
The three-game sweep put us at 15-27, 9-14 at home and 6-13 on the road. Worst record in the National League. There are still 120 games to play, though, so we can try to find glimmers of hope that a turnaround remains possible.
