August 14, 1977 – Yankees 15, Angels 3
- Sal Maiorana
- Aug 14, 2017
- 2 min read
NEW YORK – One of the beautiful things about baseball is that every day is a new day and you get to turn the page and start fresh. So, 24 hours after failing time and time again with runners on base and losing a game to the mediocre Angels that they shouldn’t have, the Yankees bounced back with a vengeance in a series-clinching pummeling that featured 15 hits, seven coming with runners in scoring position.
“They all did the job today,” Billy Martin said. “That’s how you win baseball games.”
Mickey Rivers, whom Martin had benched a few times recently, broke out with four hits including a leadoff home run in the first inning and scored three runs while driving in three. “Yeah, he gave me a little rest,” Rivers said. “I don’t like it. I like to go out every day and play, but it’s up to the manager, you know. He puts in the team he thinks is going to win that day.”
Every Yankee starter but Carlos May and Roy White had a hit, though White drew three walks and scored twice. Graig Nettles hit a three-run homer in the second, Chris Chambliss had three hits and two RBI, and Reggie Jackson had a three-run triple.
With his pitching staff in tatters, Martin had to coax another spot start out of someone, and the choice was Dick Tidrow. It was his first start of the season after 41 relief appearances, and Tidrow gave the Yankees a much-needed six-inning scoreless effort before turning the one-sided game over to rookie Gil Patterson who had been recalled from Syracuse.
This was the Yankees sixth win in their last seven games, but they were getting nowhere in the division. They were still down 4.5 games to Boston – with Baltimore wedged between them 2.5 behind - because the Red Sox drubbed Seattle for the second day in a row for their 14th win in their last 15 games.
“Seems like every time you look up Boston is winning,” said Rivers. “We can’t slack up; we have to keep winning.”
When Martin was asked about the relentless Red Sox, he said tersely, “I don’t want to talk about Boston, I want to talk about the Yankees. They’ve got to play us five times and Baltimore six times. They’re going to be playing some better ballclubs now, so things could turn around.”
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