Colts Bounce Back, With an Old Friend
Undeterred by Losses to L.A., Chicago Wins Six Straight
CHICAGO (Sep. 13) - Rather than letting panic set in, the Colts regrouped.  After losing twice to the Los Angeles Outlaws and watching their division lead shrink to a single game, the Colts took the third game 4-3 to keep the Outlaws out of first, then turned out five more wins to rebuild their lead back to three games.

Mike "Superjew" Epstein's first inning, three-run homer off Jerry Janeski set the tone in Game 1, as Larry Dierker earned his 16th win with a four-hitter.  And Ron Santo homered twice, driving in five, in a 7-2 win in Game 2.  But Chicago won the finale, 4-3.  Bill Singer anchored a five-hitter and Hank Aaron drove in a run with a rare triple (rare hit for that matter; the 39-year-old legend is hitting .198).

The Colts' win streak included back-to-back 15-inning and 14-inning wins over San Francisco, with Rusty Staub and Roger Maris providing the game-winning hits, and a 6-5 thriller in St. Louis that featured a Maris grand slam.  But the clutch performance of the week came from 41-year-old Bob "Warrior" Friend, who lived up to his nickname with a six-hit shutout on Sept. 11 to earn just his second win since Apr. 26.  Friend, pressed into service as the fifth starter following injuries to Stan Bahnsen and Dave Boswell, is sixth all-time with 270 wins, just nine behind Colts legend Billy Pierce.

The Colts are quietly confident heading into the final weeks given their recent form (8-3 in September) and their easy schedule: only 5 of their last 17 games are against winning teams.  Los Angeles has 11 road games remaining, including five at third place Atlanta, who, at four games back, still have an outside chance to steal the pennant down the stretch.

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE REVIEW
Timbers Win First Governor’s Cup
San Francisco has had a dismal season after collapsing again after brief flirtation with a winning season, but the organization has something to celebrate, as the Triple-A Portland Timbers won the International League title with a 4-1 Governor’s Cup series win over the defending champion Pittsburgh Maulers.  Juan Marichal, 35, and Ken Forsch, 26, each pitched a shutout in the series, showcasing the circuit’s top-ranked pitching staff.

Semifinal Series: Pittsburgh def. Havana, 3-1
Charlie Hough won Games 1 and 5 for the Maulers, including anchored and four-hitter in the Game 5 clincher.  Pittsburgh features the batting champion, Freddie "The Flea" Patek (.328), the win champion Charlie Hough (18-7, 2.22), and the strikeout champion Jim Bibby (210 Ks), impressive numbers for a 132-game season.

Semifinal Series: Portland def. Philadelphia, 3-2
Dick Pole was almost unhittable in Philly's Game 2 win, and Mack "the Knife" Jones hit a game-winning 3-run homer in Game 3 to put the 'Stones up 2-1 in the series.  But George Foster drove in both runs as Doyle Alexander edged Bill Sadowski 2-1 in Game 4, and Chris Zachary gave up a pair of runs in the ninth but held on for a 5-4 win in Game 5.

International League Notes
-- Portland made the playoffs for the third straight year, after failing to qualify from 1963-68.
-- Havana and Philly both returned to the playoffs for the first time since 1967.
-- The Montreal Alouettes, in their last year in the minors, finished dead last at 56-76.  
-- The Denver Grizzlies, in their last IL season, suffered their first losing record (62-70) in nine IL seasons (including the wacky 1968-70 superseason), and were dead last in attendance.
-- Last year’s worst team, Kansas City, improved 20 wins to 64-66

Top Performers
-- Pittsburgh Jim Bibby defended his strikeout title with 210 whiffs in 31 starts.  Teammate Charlie Hough led the league with 18 wins, and teammate Dick Ruthven authored the league’s only no-hitter of the year on July 15.
-- Vic Albury of Portland led the league’s best pitching team to a West Division title with a league-best 1.66 ERA.
-- Portland’s George Foster was the circuit’s most prolific slugger, leading the league with 24 HR and 86 RBI.  Toronto’s Tony Horton (.274-23-78), San Diego’s Mike Ivie (.287-16-81), and Philadelphia’s Mike Lum (.289-14-80) also put up gaudy numbers.
-- Jim Slaton of Twin Cities turned in the league’s best pitching performance on April 9, a 1-hit, 12-strikeout shutout in his second start of the season.
-- Portland’s Doyle Alexander pitched 12 innings without allowing an earned run in a 16-inning marathon with Denver on June 5.
-- Freddie Patek won the batting title with a .328 average, and had the league’s best batting performance on Aug. 7 with 5 hits and 6 RBIs in a 12-1 rout of Baltimore.
-- Toronto’s Enos Cabell was second in batting (.317) and led the league with 23 stolen bases.
-- Bucky Dent of Denver established a new league record with a 31-game hitting streak in May and June.