FIGUEROA WINS 9TH STRAIGHT DECISION
3-Hit CG Shutout Gives Yanks 19th 'W' In Last 22
NEW YORK, Sept. 8 (AP) - Carlos May's two-run pinch hit home run in the bottom
of the eighth inning broke a scoreless tie and gave the New York Yankees 2-0
victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Yankees starter Ed Figueroa tossed a
three-hit complete game shutout--his first whitewash of the season--to win his
ninth consecutive decision. That ties Figueroa with Wayne Garland of the
Baltimore Orioles for the longest such streak in the American League this year;
Steve Carlton of the Philadelphia Phillies is the holder of the longest such
streak in the major leagues this season with wins in 10 straight decisions
between April 11 and June 10.
Brewers starter Jerry Augustine matched Figueroa with zeroes for seven
innings. In fact, Augustine arguably outpitched Figueroa. The
Milwaukee left-hander held the Yankees to one hit--a one-out double off the bat
of Otto Velez in the fifth inning--through seven. In the same span,
Figueroa allowed two hits but walked four batters; Augustine issued only one
free pass.
But the game was scoreless entering the eighth. In the top of the frame,
Tim Johnson led off and reached when Chris Chambliss booted his soft roller to
first. Von Joshua sacrificed Johnson into scoring position and Figueroa
walked Robin Yount, putting runners on first and second. George Scott
followed with a fly ball to Velez in deep left, with Johnson tagging and
advancing to third. Mike Hegan then flied to left to end the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth, Augustine yielded just his second hit of the
game--a base hit to Velez. At this point, Velez had both of the Yankees
hits in the contest. Brewers manager Alex Grammas made the controversial
decision to lift Augustine--who had been brilliant, allowing only two hits and
one walk--in favor of right-handed reliever Bill Castro. Willie Randolph
sacrificed Velez to second, giving the Yankees a runner in scoring position with
one out. Fred Stanley was due up but Yankees manager Billy Martin elected
to bring May off the bench to hit for his starting shortstop. May didn't
wait around. He guessed first pitch fastball from Castro, got it, and
drilled it into the right-center field bleachers for a 2-0 lead.
In the top of the ninth, Figueroa retired Darrell Porter on a grounder to first
and struck out Bernie Carbo. Pinch hitter Bill Sharp looped a two-out
single, bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of Jim Gantner.
But Figueroa induced a grounder to second off the bat of Gantner to end the
game.
The win is the 19th in the last 22 contests for the streaking Yankees, who
lowered their magic number to 14. The loss is the 11th in the last 12
games for the Brewers who dropped into last place in the AL East.
9/8/1976, Mil76-NYA76, Yankee Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1976 Brewers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 8 1 1976 Yankees 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 x 2 3 1 3 1 Brewers AB R H BI AVG Yankees AB R H BI AVG Joshua cf 3 0 0 0 .231 Tovar dh 4 0 0 0 .179 Yount ss 3 0 1 0 .273 White,R cf 4 0 0 0 .291 Scott,G 1b 4 0 0 0 .261 Munson c 3 0 0 0 .294 Hegan rf 2 0 1 0 .317 Piniella rf 3 0 0 0 .311 Porter c 3 0 0 0 .193 Chambliss 1b 3 0 0 0 .310 Carbo dh 4 0 0 0 .224 Nettles 3b 2 0 0 0 .254 Thomas,Da lf 3 0 0 0 .143 Velez lf 2 1 2 0 .225 Sharp ph 1 0 1 0 .221 Randolph 2b 2 0 0 0 .286 Heidemann pr 0 0 0 0 .205 Stanley,F ss 2 0 0 0 .265 Gantner 3b 3 0 0 0 .150 May,C ph 1 1 1 2 .200 Johnson,Ti 2b 2 0 0 0 .265 Mason ss 0 0 0 0 .163 28 0 3 0 26 2 3 2 Brewers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Augustine L 9-12 7.0 2 1 1 2 1 103 60 3.12 Castro 1.0 1 1 1 0 0 8 8 2.84 8.0 3 2 2 2 1 111 68 Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Figueroa W 18-7 9.0 3 0 0 5 3 140 84 3.74 9.0 3 0 0 5 3 140 84 Mil: Sharp batted for Thomas,Da in the 9th Heidemann ran for Sharp in the 9th NYA: May,C batted for Stanley,F in the 8th Mason inserted at ss in the 9th E-Yount, Chambliss. 2B-Hegan(8), Velez(5). HR-May,C(4). RBI-May,C 2(26). SB-Yount(14). K-Carbo 2, Thomas,Da, Randolph. BB-Yount, Hegan 2, Porter, Gantner, Nettles, Velez. SH-Joshua, Johnson,Ti, Randolph. GWRBI: May,C Temperature: 55, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: out to center at 10 MPH. Attendance: 27,056 Game Time: 2:16