1969
AMERICAN LEAGUE
CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES1969
AMERICAN LEAGUE
CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Minnesota
vs. Baltimore 
Game 1, at Memorial Stadium: Boswell vs. Cuellar
Cuellar's Dream Season Continues
Left-hander Stifles Twins, Gives O's 1-0 ALCS Lead
BALTIMORE, Oct. 4 (AP) -- Mike Cuellar shut down the Minnesota Twins on one run over 8 2/3 innings to lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 3-1 American League Championship Series opening game win at Memorial Stadium.
The left-hander, who was an incredible 31-4 during the regular season, kept on rolling, carrying a 3-0 shutout into the ninth before yielding a leadoff home run to Harmon Killebrew. After George Mitterwald singled two outs later, bringing the tying run to the plate, Cuellar left in favor of Eddie Watt who retired Leo Cardenas on a ground ball to shortstop Mark Belanger to seal the win.
Until Killebrew hit his solo home run, the Twins' best chance to score came in the very first inning. Rod Carew's one-out walk was followed by a Killebrew single to left, putting runners on first and second. But Cuellar retired Tony Oliva on a grounder to second and Bob Allison on a fly to right to extinguish the threat. After George Mitterwald opened the second with a walk, Cuellar retired 20 of the next 21 batters. Only a harmless two-out fifth inning walk to pitcher Dave Boswell interrupted the string.
The Orioles put together a two-out threat of their own in the first. Frank Robinson reached on an error by third baseman Killebrew and Boog Powell followed with a single to center, but Boswell retired Brooks Robinson on a sharp grounder to Cesar Tovar at third.
Boswell had retired nine in a row himself when the Orioles finally broke the mutual shutout in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, Brooks Robinson singled to left. Dave Johnson drew a walk and a Boswell wild pitch on a 1-1 count put runners on second and third. With first base now open and a 2-1 count, the Twins elected to walk lefty swinging Elrod Hendricks and pitch to Mark Belanger. It was a fateful move. The Orioles shortstop roped a line drive into the right field corner, scoring Robinson and Johnson and putting Baltimore on top, 2-0. Cuellar fanned to end the inning, but the Orioles had taken a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
After stranding the bases loaded in the sixth, the Orioles scored an insurance run in the seventh. Paul Blair's leadoff single was followed by a walk to Frank Robinson. That marked the end of Boswell's day; he was replaced on the hill by lefty Tom Hall, with port-sider Powell due up. The Orioles first baseman drove a ball to the wall in right, where it was hauled in by Oliva. Robinson tagged and took third. Brooks Robinson then launched a fly to right of his own. It was deep enough to score Blair without a throw and the Orioles now led 3-0.
That was the score when the game moved to the ninth. After Killebrew drove a Cuellar screwball over the left-center field fence, Oliva grounded to second and Allison fanned. But Mitterwald singled through the middle and and Cuellar left in favor of Watt who closed the game out on the Cardenas grounder.
Game 2 of the ALCS will be tomorrow at Memorial Stadium. Jim Palmer of the Orioles will take on Jim Perry of the Twins.
10/4/1969, ALCS Game 1: Min69-Bal69, Memorial Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1969 Twins 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 2 6 0
1969 Orioles 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 x 3 6 0 9 0
Twins AB R H BI AVG Orioles AB R H BI AVG
Tovar 3b 3 0 0 0 .000 Buford lf 4 0 1 0 .250
Carew 2b 3 0 0 0 .000 Etchebarren c 0 0 0 0 .000
Killebrew 1b 4 1 2 1 .500 Blair cf 4 1 1 0 .250
Oliva rf 4 0 0 0 .000 Robinson,F rf 3 0 0 0 .000
Allison lf 4 0 0 0 .000 Powell 1b 3 0 1 0 .333
Mitterwald c 4 0 2 0 .500 Robinson,Br 3b 3 1 1 1 .333
Cardenas ss 4 0 0 0 .000 Johnson,Da 2b 3 1 1 0 .333
Uhlaender cf 3 0 0 0 .000 Hendricks c 2 0 0 0 .000
Boswell,D p 1 0 0 0 .000 Rettenmund ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Hall,T p 0 0 0 0 .000 Belanger ss 4 0 1 2 .250
Renick ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Cuellar p 4 0 0 0 .000
Perranoski p 0 0 0 0 .000 Watt p 0 0 0 0 .000
31 1 4 1 31 3 6 3
Twins INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Boswell,D L 0-1 6.0 6 3 3 4 2 107 64 4.50
Hall,T 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 9 5 0.00
Perranoski 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 7 7 0.00
8.0 6 3 3 4 2 123 76
Orioles INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Cuellar W 1-0 8.2 4 1 1 3 6 132 78 1.04
Watt S 1 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0.00
9.0 4 1 1 3 6 134 80
Min: Renick batted for Hall,T in the 8th
Bal: Rettenmund batted for Hendricks in the 8th
Etchebarren inserted at c in the 9th
Rettenmund moved to lf in the 9th
E-Killebrew, Cardenas. 2B-Belanger. HR-Killebrew(1). K-Carew, Allison,
Mitterwald, Cardenas, Uhlaender, Renick, Cuellar 2. BB-Tovar, Carew,
Boswell,D, Robinson,F, Powell, Johnson,Da, Hendricks. SF-Robinson,Br.
WP-Boswell,D.
GWRBI: Belanger
Temperature: 57, Sky: cloudy, Wind: in from left at 11 MPH.
Attendance: 51,864
Game Time: 2:28
Game 2, at Memorial Stadium: Perry vs. Palmer
Resurgent, Resourceful, Resilient, Remarkable
O's Bats Pace Three-Comeback Victory; Lead Twins 2-0
BALTIMORE, Oct. 5 (AP) -- The Baltimore Orioles showed that when the pitching and defense falters, the offense is still enough to make them baseball's best team. They demonstrated that conclusively in their 10-7 victory over the Twins in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series at Memorial Stadium before 52,296.
The Orioles came back three separate times in the span of six innings to tie the Twins and then burst forth for three more runs in the eighth to put the game away.
Minnesota took the lead in the first on a very odd play. After Ted Uhlaender and Rod Carew reached on consecutive singles to open the game off starter Jim Palmer, Tony Oliva's soft grounder to short put runners on second and third with one out. Third baseman Harmon Killebrew then struck out, and it appeared that Palmer might escape the inning, but on an 0-1 pitch to Rich Reese, Palmer was called for a balk, which allowed Uhlaender to score with the game's first run.
The Orioles tied the game in the second when Dave Johnson doubled down the left field line with one out and after advancing to third on Elrod Hendricks' single, scored on Mark Belanger's sacrifice fly.
But the Twins got to Palmer again in the third, helped by an uncharacteristically shaky Baltimore defense. With one out, Belanger threw wildly to first on Uhlaender's routine grounder. Carew followed with a walk. Oliva then looped a single to right which scored Uhlaender and moved Carew to third. Killebrew's soft grounder to third scored Carew and moved Oliva to second and Reese followed with a run-scoring single to right-center. Cesar Tovar's fly to right finally ended the inning, but the Twins had plated three unearned runs.
The Orioles immediately got two of the tallies back in the bottom of the third off Jim Perry. Don Buford led off with a walk and, one out later, Frank Robinson's double to left moved him to third. Boog Powell's sacrifice fly to left made it 4-2 and Brooks Robinson's line single to right-center cut the Twins' lead to a single run.
Minnesota reclaimed the three-run lead in the top of the fourth. Johnny Roseboro walked to open the inning and then George Mitterwald's single to right was bobbled by Frank Robinson for an error, which put runners on second and third with no one out. Palmer struck out Perry for out number one, but Uhlaender's infield hit made it 5-3 and Carew's sacrifice fly to right put the Twins up 6-3.
As quickly as the Twins extended their lead, the Orioles eliminated it in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Belanger doubled to the left-center field gap. A wild pitch moved him to third and then pinch hitter Dave May rocked a long home run into the right field bullpen to cut the Twins' lead back to one. That was the end of the day for Perry. Bob Miller replaced him and Don Buford immediately tripled over Uhlaender's head in center. Paul Blair's sacrifice fly to center then tied the game at six.
Marcelino Lopez replaced Palmer on the hill in the fifth and the Twins immediately resumed their onslaught. Reese, Tover and Roseboro rapped consecutive singles to put Minnesota back on top, 7-6, and runners on first and second with no one out. Lopez was removed in favor of Dick Hall and for the first time, the Twins' offense was slowed. Leo Cardenas rapped into a 4-6-3 double play and Miller fanned to end the top of the fifth.
There was, remarkably, no further scoring until the bottom of the sixth. Elrod Hendricks led off with a walk and Belanger advanced him into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Pinch hitter Clay Dalrymple grounded out, advancing Belanger to second. Don Buford then doubled off the left field wall, plating Belanger and tying the game again, this time at seven.
And there the score remained until the bottom of the eighth. Hendricks led off the inning with a towering home run to the right field power alley off reliever Al Worthington to give the Orioles their first lead of the day, sending the Memorial Stadium crowd into a frenzy. Belanger then singled. Merv Rettenmund hit for reliever Pete Richert and dropped down a perfect sacrifice, moving Belanger to second. Buford flied to left but Paul Blair cracked Baltimore's third home run of the afternoon into the left field stands, only 20-odd feet inside the foul pole, to put the Orioles on top 10-7.
Eddie Watt came on in the ninth and, after yielding a bloop single to Oliva, retired Killebrew on a liner to second and induced a 6-3 double play grounder off the bat of Reese to end the game and pick up his second save of the series.
Hall, Richert and Watt combined to throw five innings of shutout relief. The Orioles committed three errors, leading to four unearned runs, but more than made up for it by slugging all eight of the game's extra base hits and turning a pair of double plays.
The series moves to Minneapolis-St. Paul for Game 3, where Dave McNally of the Orioles will face Jim Kaat of the Twins in a battle of southpaws.
10/5/1969, ALCS Game 2: Min69-Bal69, Memorial Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1969 Twins 1 0 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 7 13 1 7 0
1969 Orioles 0 1 2 3 0 1 0 3 x 10 13 3 7 2
Twins AB R H BI AVG Orioles AB R H BI AVG
Uhlaender lf 5 2 3 1 .375 Buford lf 4 2 2 1 .375
Carew 2b 3 1 2 1 .333 Watt p 0 0 0 0 .000
Oliva rf 5 1 3 1 .333 Blair cf 4 1 1 3 .250
Killebrew 3b 5 0 0 1 .222 Robinson,F rf 5 1 3 0 .375
Reese 1b 5 1 2 1 .400 Powell 1b 3 0 0 1 .167
Tovar cf 4 0 1 0 .143 Robinson,Br 3b 5 0 1 1 .250
Grzenda p 0 0 0 0 .000 Johnson,Da 2b 4 1 1 0 .286
Worthington p 0 0 0 0 .000 Hendricks c 3 1 2 1 .400
Perranoski p 0 0 0 0 .000 Belanger ss 3 3 2 1 .429
Roseboro c 2 1 1 1 .500 Palmer,J p 1 0 0 0 .000
Mitterwald ph 1 0 0 0 .400 May,D ph 1 1 1 2 1.000
Cardenas ss 4 1 1 0 .125 Lopez p 0 0 0 0 .000
Perry,J p 2 0 0 0 .000 Hall,D p 0 0 0 0 .000
Miller,B p 1 0 0 0 .000 Dalrymple ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Nettles lf 1 0 0 0 .000 Richert p 0 0 0 0 .000
38 7 13 6 Rettenmund ph 0 0 0 0 .000
34 10 13 10
Twins INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Perry,J 3.1 6 5 5 1 2 59 36 13.50
Miller,B 2.2 3 2 2 1 1 39 20 6.75
Grzenda 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0.00
Worthington L 0-1 1.1 4 3 3 0 1 24 14 20.25
Perranoski 0.1 0 0 0 1 0 9 4 0.00
8.0 13 10 10 3 4 135 76
Orioles INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Palmer,J 4.0 7 6 2 2 4 67 42 4.50
Lopez 0.0 3 1 1 0 0 6 5 99.99
Hall,D 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 21 14 0.00
Richert W 1-0 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 24 17 0.00
Watt S 2 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 8 5 0.00
9.0 13 7 3 2 6 126 83
Min: Mitterwald batted for Roseboro in the 7th
Mitterwald moved to c in the 7th
Uhlaender moved to cf in the 7th
Nettles inserted at lf in the 7th
Bal: May,D batted for Palmer,J in the 4th
Dalrymple batted for Hall,D in the 6th
Rettenmund batted for Richert in the 8th
Rettenmund moved to lf in the 9th
E-Reese, Robinson,F, Robinson,Br, Belanger. 2B-Buford, Robinson,F,
Johnson,Da, Belanger. 3B-Buford. HR-Blair(1), Hendricks(1), May,D(1).
SB-Carew(1), Blair(1). CS-Uhlaender. K-Carew, Killebrew, Reese, Tovar,
Perry,J, Miller,B, Robinson,F 2, Powell, Johnson,Da. BB-Carew, Roseboro,
Buford, Powell, Hendricks. SH-Rettenmund. SF-Carew, Blair, Powell, Belanger.
WP-Perry,J. BALK-Palmer,J.
GWRBI: Hendricks
Temperature: 59, Sky: cloudy, Wind: out to left at 7 MPH.
Attendance: 52,296
Game Time: 2:54
Game 3 at Metropolitan Stadium: McNally vs. Kaat
Twins Still Breathing
Score Early, Hold On Late to Force Game 4
BLOOMINGTON, Minn., Oct. 6 (AP) -- The Minnesota Twins knocked Orioles starter Jim Palmer around early and then thwarted a late Baltimore rally, holding on for a 6-4 win in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. There will be no rest for the weary, however; the Twins will face possible elimination again tomorrow in Game 4 at Metropolitan Stadium.
The Twins drew first blood off Palmer in the second. With two outs, Rick Renick doubled and George Mitterwald walked. Leo Cardenas followed with a single to center, scoring Renick and putting Minnesota on top 1-0.
Minnesota extended its lead in the very next inning. Cesar Tover led off with a single and stole second base on the very first pitch to Rod Carew. Andy Etchebarren's throw went into center field and Tovar scampered to third on the error. Carew promptly followed with a base hit to left-center, making it 2-0. Harmon Killebrew followed by cueing a ball off the end of the bat to second base. While Dave Johnson easily threw out Killebrew at first, Carew alertly took second. That paid dividends moments later when Tony Oliva lined a single to right, driving home Carew and upping the Twins' lead to 3-0.
The Orioles finally got to Twins starter Jim Kaat in the top of the fifth, largely because of some shoddy Minnesota defense. Don Buford singled to open the frame and then Paul Blair hit what looked like a sure double play ball to Cardenas at short. The Twins got the force on Buford at second but Carew air-mailed the relay into the stands. The error put Blair on second with one out and then Renick misplayed Frank Robinson's routine grounder, leaving runners at first and third. Boog Powell's single to right plated Blair, making it 3-1, but Oliva cut down Robinson at third base, all but snuffing out the Orioles' rally.
The Twins regained whatever momentum they might have lost in the top half of the inning when action moved to the bottom half. Killebrew singled with one out and Oliva walked. Bob Allison followed with a sharp single to left-center, scoring Killebrew to make it 4-1 and sending Oliva all the way around to third. Renick followed with a deep fly to center which Blair ran down, but Oliva trotted home to make it 5-1. When Mitterwald singled to right, moving Renick to third, Palmer's day was over. He was replaced by Jim Hardin who escaped further damage when Cardenas grounded to Brooks Robinson at third for the final out of the inning.
The Orioles got a run back in the sixth when Kaat issued consecutive two-out walks to Mark Belanger and pinch hitter Curt Motton which was followed by Buford's RBI-single, but he retired Blair for the final out.
Kaat's day came to a close in the seventh when he ran into some two-out difficulty, but Tom Hall came on and kept the Orioles from doing any damage.
The Twins appeared to get the insurance run they needed in the eighth on an RBI-fielder's choice off the bat of Johnny Roseboro, which made the score 6-2 entering the ninth inning. Ron Perranoski came on for the Twins and immediately ran into trouble. Paul Blair led off with a single and Perranoski plunked Frank Robinson to put runners on first and second with no outs. Powell dribbled a ball to the left side of the mound and Perranoski threw to third to force Blair for the first out of the inning, but Brooks Robinson followed with a sharp single to left which loaded the bases and brought the potential tying run to the plate. Perranoski induced Dave Johnson to roll back to the mound, which allowed the left-hander to force Frank Robinson at the plate for the second out. But pinch hitter Merv Rettenmund cracked a double into the left field corner, scoring Powell and Brooks Robinson to cut the Twins' lead to 6-4. What's more, the tying run was now in scoring position and the potential lead run was coming to the plate in the form of Belanger, who was 2-3 with a walk in the game to that point. But Perranoski managed to get Belanger to fly routinely to Tovar in center to end the game.
While the Twins were obviously happy to have staved off elimination, they couldn't have been pleased about having come so close to melting down in the end. The Orioles had pounded Minnesota pitchers for 15 hits and had drawn three walks and a hit batsman in the game. If not for 13 stranded Baltimore baserunners, it might have been a three-game series sweep. Still, a win is a win, particularly in the postseason when style points seem especially irrelevant and the Twins were looking forward to tomorrow when they might be able to build on the momentum of their Game 3 win and force a winner-take-all Game 5.
10/6/1969, Bal69-Min69, Metropolitan Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1969 Orioles 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 4 15 1 13 0
1969 Twins 0 1 2 0 2 0 0 1 x 6 11 2 8 2
Orioles AB R H BI AVG Twins AB R H BI AVG
Buford lf 4 0 3 1 .500 Tovar cf 5 1 1 0 .167
Blair cf 5 1 2 0 .308 Carew 2b 5 1 1 1 .273
Robinson,F rf 4 0 1 0 .333 Killebrew 1b 4 1 1 0 .231
Powell 1b 5 1 3 1 .364 Perranoski p 0 0 0 0 .000
Robinson,Br 3b 5 1 1 0 .231 Oliva rf 3 1 1 1 .333
Johnson,Da 2b 5 0 1 0 .250 Allison lf 3 0 1 1 .143
Etchebarren c 3 0 1 0 .333 Uhlaender ph 1 0 0 0 .333
Hendricks ph 1 0 0 0 .333 Renick 3b 2 1 2 1 .667
Rettenmund ph 1 0 1 2 .500 Reese ph 1 0 1 0 .500
Belanger ss 4 1 2 0 .455 Mitterwald c 2 0 1 0 .429
McNally p 2 0 0 0 .000 Woodson p 0 0 0 0 .000
Hardin p 0 0 0 0 .000 Hall,T p 0 0 0 0 .000
Motton ph 0 0 0 0 .000 Quilici ph 1 1 0 0 .000
Leonhard p 0 0 0 0 .000 Cardenas ss 4 0 2 1 .250
Salmon ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Kaat p 2 0 0 0 .000
Hall,D p 0 0 0 0 .000 Roseboro c 2 0 0 1 .250
40 4 15 4 35 6 11 6
Orioles INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
McNally L 0-1 4.2 9 5 5 2 1 89 61 9.64
Hardin 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0.00
Leonhard 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 14 10 0.00
Hall,D 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 14 11 3.00
8.0 11 6 6 2 1 119 84
Twins INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Kaat W 1-0 5.2 9 2 1 3 0 107 63 1.59
Woodson H 1 1.0 2 0 0 0 0 14 10 0.00
Hall,T H 1 1.1 1 0 0 0 0 14 8 0.00
Perranoski 1.0 3 2 2 0 0 23 13 7.71
9.0 15 4 3 3 0 158 94
Bal: Motton batted for Hardin in the 6th
Hendricks batted for Etchebarren in the 7th
Hendricks moved to c in the 7th
Salmon batted for Leonhard in the 8th
Rettenmund batted for Hendricks in the 9th
Min: Roseboro inserted at c in the 6th
Uhlaender batted for Allison in the 7th
Uhlaender moved to lf in the 8th
Reese batted for Renick in the 8th
Quilici batted for Hall,T in the 8th
Reese moved to 1b in the 9th
Quilici moved to 3b in the 9th
E-Etchebarren, Carew, Renick. 2B-Rettenmund, Renick. SB-Tovar(1). K-Allison.
BB-Buford, Belanger, Motton, Oliva, Mitterwald. SF-Renick. HBP-Robinson,F.
HB-Perranoski.
GWRBI: Cardenas
Temperature: 64, Sky: cloudy, Wind: right to left at 2 MPH.
Attendance: 39,548
Game Time: 2:55
Game 4 at Metropolitan Stadium: Phoebus vs. Chance
Late
Inning Dramatics End With Orioles World Series Trip
Costly 9th Inning Error Does in Twins
BLOOMINGTON, Minn., Oct. 7 (AP) -- Consecutive two-out singles by Don Buford and Paul Blair, driving home the game-tying and game-winning runs respectively, in the top of the ninth inning pushed the Baltimore Orioles to a dramatic 4-3 American League Championship Series clinching victory in Game 4 at Metropolitan Stadium. Eddie Watt came on and held the Twins scoreless in the bottom of the ninth, finishing the game off and earning his third save in the process. Watt saved all three of the Orioles' ALCS victories.
It was a tense, close, hard-fought contest throughout. Neither team ever led by more than a single run and the lead changed hands four times, including twice in the final two innings.
Minnesota scored first when Harmon Killebrew drove a Tom Phoebus fastball deep into the left field bleachers leading off the second inning for his second home run of the series..
The Orioles evened matters off Dean Chance in the fourth. With one out Boog Powell doubled to right and promptly scored on Brooks Robinson's single to right-center.
Baltimore took the lead for the first time in the following inning when Don Buford's one-out drive just cleared the right field fence.
Both teams had decent scoring chances in the succeeding innings, but couldn't quite break through. Chance was removed in the top of the sixth when the Orioles put runners on first and second with two outs. The Twins starter was replaced by Bob Miller and Mark Belanger ripped a Miller offering that was speared by Killebrew at third for the final out of the inning. Phoebus pitched six solid innings but gave way to pinch hitter Dave May leading off the seventh.
With the score still 2-1 in favor of the Orioles, the game reached the bottom of the eighth. Left-hander Pete Richert was on the hill for the Orioles, having recorded the final two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Killebrew led off with a double off the left-center field wall, and was replaced by pinch runner Frank Quilici. Left-handed swinging Rich Reese was due next and the Twins elected to leave him in the game--and have him swing away. It was a decision that Reese would reward in grand fashion. His towering fly ball easily cleared the right-center field fence, putting Minnesota on top and sending the sellout crowd of nearly 40,000 into a state of bedlam. Cesar Tovar followed the Reese home run with a single, but Richert stiffened at this point, striking out Johnny Roseboro and inducing a double play ball off the bat of Leo Cardenas.
But the lead had changed hands again and the Twins sent Ron Perranoski--easily the American League leader in saves during the regular season with 33--to the mound in the top of the ninth. The Orioles sent Curt Motton to the plate to hit for left-handed Elrod Hendricks to face the southpaw Perranoski. Motton sent a routine grounder to short which Cardenas promptly booted. It was to be a fateful error. Belanger followed with a single to center putting runners at first and second with none out. Merv Rettenmund was sent up to hit for Richert and asked to sacrifice the runners along, but he popped up the bunt attempt. Catcher George Mitterwald caught the pop fly for the first out. But Buford then slashed a single to right-center, scoring Motton to tie the game and advancing Belanger all the way to third. Blair followed suit with a single of his own, this one near the right field line. Belanger scored to put the Orioles ahead 4-3 and moving Blair to third. Frank Robinson then hit a line shot that Quilici speared at third with a brilliant backhand dive and doubled off Blair before anyone knew what had happened.
But the damage had been done. For the second time in as many half-innings, the lead had changed hands. Eddie Watt, unscored upon in two previous game finishing appearances in the ALCS, was brought on to nail down the final three outs. The Twins would have Mitterwald, who had come on as part of a double switch in the top of the inning, and then the head of the order due up. Minnesota elected to pinch hit for Mitterwald with lefty swinging Charlie Manuel against right-hander Watt. Manuel rolled to Dave Johnson at second for the first out. Watt then fanned Ted Uhlaender for the second out. Rod Carew, 3-4 in the contest, was all that stood between the Orioles and a trip to the World Series. But as he did so often, Carew came through for the Twins, slicing a double down the left field line. The tying run was now in scoring position and the winning run was coming to the plate in the form of Tony Oliva. Oliva's .343 batting average had placed him third in the AL during the regular season, but he was 0-4 in this game. Watt worked him away and Oliva tried to take what he was given, rapping a sharp grounder to the left side, but it was right at third baseman Brooks Robinson, who picked the grounder and threw Oliva out at first, ending the game and sending the Orioles on to the World Series.
10/7/1969, Bal69-Min69, Metropolitan Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1969 Orioles 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 4 12 0 8 1
1969 Twins 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 9 1 9 2
Orioles AB R H BI AVG Twins AB R H BI AVG
Buford lf 5 1 2 2 .471 Uhlaender lf 5 0 0 0 .214
Watt p 0 0 0 0 .000 Carew 2b 5 0 4 0 .438
Blair cf 5 0 2 1 .333 Oliva rf 5 0 0 0 .235
Robinson,F rf 5 0 0 0 .235 Killebrew 3b 4 1 2 1 .294
Powell 1b 4 1 4 0 .533 Quilici pr 0 1 0 0 .000
Robinson,Br 3b 3 0 1 1 .250 Reese 1b 3 1 1 2 .444
Johnson,Da 2b 3 0 0 0 .200 Tovar cf 3 0 1 0 .200
Hendricks c 3 0 2 0 .444 Roseboro c 4 0 1 0 .250
Motton ph 1 1 0 0 .000 Perranoski p 0 0 0 0 .000
Etchebarren c 0 0 0 0 .333 Cardenas ss 2 0 0 0 .214
Belanger ss 3 1 1 0 .429 Chance,D p 2 0 0 0 .000
Phoebus p 1 0 0 0 .000 Miller,B p 0 0 0 0 .000
May,D ph 1 0 0 0 .500 Nettles ph 0 0 0 0 .000
Hall,D p 0 0 0 0 .000 Renick ph 0 0 0 0 .667
Richert p 0 0 0 0 .000 Worthington p 0 0 0 0 .000
Rettenmund ph 1 0 0 0 .333 Mitterwald c 0 0 0 0 .429
35 4 12 4 Manuel ph 1 0 0 0 .000
34 3 9 3
Orioles INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Phoebus 6.0 4 1 1 3 3 107 60 1.50
Hall,D H 1 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2.70
Richert BS 1, W 2-0 1.2 4 2 2 1 2 33 23 4.91
Watt S 3 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 16 10 0.00
9.0 9 3 3 4 6 157 94
Twins INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Chance,D 5.2 8 2 2 2 3 103 61 3.18
Miller,B 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 12 8 4.50
Worthington 1.0 1 0 0 1 1 17 9 11.57
Perranoski BS 1, L 0-1 1.0 3 2 1 0 0 12 8 8.10
9.0 12 4 3 3 5 144 86
Bal: May,D batted for Phoebus in the 7th
Motton batted for Hendricks in the 9th
Rettenmund batted for Richert in the 9th
Etchebarren inserted at c in the 9th
Rettenmund moved to lf in the 9th
Min: Nettles batted for Miller,B in the 7th
Renick batted for Nettles in the 7th
Quilici ran for Killebrew in the 8th
Quilici moved to 3b in the 9th
Mitterwald inserted at c in the 9th
Manuel batted for Mitterwald in the 9th
E-Cardenas. 2B-Powell, Carew, Killebrew, Roseboro. HR-Buford(1),
Killebrew(2), Reese(1). CS-Blair, Carew. K-Buford, Johnson,Da 2, Belanger,
Phoebus, Uhlaender 2, Carew, Roseboro 2, Chance,D. BB-Robinson,Br,
Johnson,Da, Belanger, Reese, Cardenas 2, Renick. SH-Phoebus. HBP-Tovar.
HB-Phoebus.
GWRBI: Blair
Temperature: 54, Sky: clear, Wind: in from left at 12 MPH.
Attendance: 39,621
Game Time: 2:39