August 11, 1977 – Yankees 3, Athletics 0

NEW YORK – The media was calling Oakland’s alleged major-league team the Triple-A’s, and for good reason. Charlie Finley’s once great team - just three years removed from its three consecutive world championships - was awful, barely Triple-A worthy, and the Yankees beat overmatched Oakland for the ninth time in 11 tries.

Mike Torrez cruised all night, throwing a stress-free two-hit shutout against a lineup that looked like this: Rodney Scott, 3B; Marty Perez, 2B; Jim Tyrone, RF; Mitchell Page, LF; Jerry Tabb, 1B; Manny Sanguillen, C; Sheldon Mallory, DH; Larry Murray, CF; Rob Picciolo, SS.

Was there any wonder why this was Oakland’s 13th straight loss?

For just the 12th time in the 97 games he had played as a Yankee, but the second night in a row, Reggie Jackson batted cleanup. He knocked in the first run, singling home Willie Randolph who had reached via an error in the first innnig, and then trotted home on a double by Chris Chambliss, the only runs Torrez would need in his fourth straight complete-game victory.

“Reggie’s been swinging the bat good lately,” said Billy Martin. “I just wanted him up there. If he keeps swinging the bat good, he’ll stay there.”

That was the extent of the good news. It was revealed that Sparky Lyle and Mickey Rivers were fined $500 each for their behavior earlier in the week when the team had to go to Syracuse for a meaningless exhibition. Lyle didn’t even bother to show up, while Rivers refused to leave the clubhouse when he was asked by Martin to take the one at-bat Martin had expected from him. I’m sure the fine people of Syracuse weren’t too thrilled.

“I didn’t go because I didn’t think the whole club should go,” Lyle explained. “The way the team was going, we could’ve used the day off instead of flying from the furthest point possible (Seattle) just to play the game. They should have thought more about the team than the Syracuse franchise.” To be fair, he made a good point. Today, the idea of in-season exhibition games is about as foreign a concept as Donald Trump winning a humanitarian award.

Also, the Yankees announced that Don Gullett would go on the 21-day disabled list because of his recurring arm trouble.

Oh, and Graig Nettles had to leave the game with a sprained knee that at first looked serious, though it turned out he would miss only the next game.

The daily baseball report

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