McMULLEN HITS FOR CYCLE, A'S WIN IN EXTRAS
Tenace Hits Game-Winning HR in Return from DL
OAKLAND, May 27 (AP) - Ken McMullen, in a rare start, became the first player in
the major leagues this year to hit for the cycle and Gene Tenace snapped a 5-5
tie with a game-winning solo home run in the bottom of the 10th inning as the
Oakland A's defeated the Minnesota Twins, 6-5, at the Oakland Coliseum.
Tenace had been activated from the disabled list earlier in the day following an
absence of more than a month and didn't start, but pinch hit for designated
hitter Billy Williams in the seventh inning and remained in the game.
McMullen was making only his third start of the year at first base and his ninth
overall, but made the most of the opportunity, completing the cycle with a
game-tying home run in the bottom of the seventh off Bert Blyleven.
The A's took an early 2-0 lead with single runs in the first two innings.
McMullen doubled home Bert Campaneris, who had walked and stolen second base, in
the first inning and Bill North drove in Phil Garner, who had singled, with a
base hit in the second.
But the Twins rallied for three runs off Mike Torrez in the fifth. Dave
Ford and Craig Kusick led off with back-to-back singles and they were sacrificed
to second and third by Bob Randall. Luis Gomez followed with a base hit,
scoring Ford, but Kusick was gunned down at the plate by left fielder Don Baylor
for the second out of the inning. But Lyman Bostock singled Gomez to
second and Larry Hisle brought him home with a base hit, tying the game.
Rod Carew grounded to second with what appeared to be the final out of the frame
but Garner kicked the ball, allowing Bostock to score the go-ahead run.
Minnesota took the lead for the first time, 3-2.
When Ford gave the Twins a three-run lead by homering in the sixth following a
Butch Wynegar single, Oakland appeared to be in trouble, but they rallied to tie
the game in the seventh. Campaneris led off the inning with a single and
Baylor brought him home with a blast into the left-center field bleachers,
cutting the deficit to 5-4. That brought McMullen to the plate.
After doubling in the second, he had tripled, but been stranded, in the third
and singled in the fifth. He finished off the cycle by depositing a
Blyleven offering into the left field grandstand, tying the game.
The contest remained knotted until the bottom of the tenth when Tenace, leading
off the inning, unloaded on a 2-1 breaking ball from reliever Tom Burgmeier, for
his second home run of the year, ending the game.
Oakland now stands at 31-11 in the American League East, six games head of the
second place Kansas City Royals.
5/27/1976, Min76-Oak76, Oakland Coliseum 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E LOB DP 1976 Twins 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 5 10 0 5 1 1976 Athletics 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 6 12 3 8 1 Twins AB R H BI AVG Athletics AB R H BI AVG Bostock cf 5 1 1 0 .246 North rf 5 0 1 1 .288 Hisle lf 5 0 2 1 .233 Campaneris ss 4 2 1 0 .270 Carew 1b 4 0 0 0 .322 Baylor lf 5 1 1 2 .245 Braun 3b 5 0 1 0 .241 McMullen 1b 5 1 4 2 .231 Wynegar c 4 1 1 0 .320 Williams,B dh 3 0 0 0 .144 Ford rf 4 2 2 2 .273 Tenace ph 2 1 1 1 .229 Kusick dh 4 0 1 0 .250 Bando 3b 1 0 0 0 .228 Randall,B 2b 3 0 1 0 .220 Lintz pr 0 0 0 0 .000 Gomez ss 3 1 1 1 .267 Sandt 3b 0 0 0 0 .000 Oliva ph 1 0 0 0 .214 Washington cf 3 0 0 0 .257 Terrell ss 0 0 0 0 .147 Tovar ph 1 0 0 0 .188 38 5 10 4 Garner 2b 4 1 3 0 .279 Haney c 4 0 1 0 .247 37 6 12 6 Twins INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Blyleven 6.0 11 5 5 3 8 121 79 4.25 Burgmeier L 1-1 3.0 1 1 1 1 2 44 29 2.41 9.0 12 6 6 4 10 165 108 Athletics INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Torrez 9.0 9 5 4 1 3 97 68 2.40 Fingers W 3-0 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 12 9 0.00 10.0 10 5 4 1 3 109 77 Min: Oliva batted for Gomez in the 9th Terrell inserted at ss in the 9th Oak: Tenace batted for Williams,B in the 7th Lintz ran for Bando in the 7th Tovar batted for Washington in the 7th Sandt inserted at 3b in the 8th Tovar moved to cf in the 8th E-Washington, Garner, Torrez. 2B-McMullen(2), Garner 2(8). 3B-McMullen(1). HR-Ford(2), Baylor(6), McMullen(1), Tenace(2). RBI-Hisle(11), Ford 2(28), Gomez(2), North(16), Baylor 2(31), McMullen 2(4), Tenace(3). SB-Braun(2), Campaneris(15). CS-Bostock, Carew, Lintz. K-Bostock, Hisle, Ford, North, Campaneris 2, Baylor 2, Williams,B 2, Washington, Haney, Tenace. BB-Carew, Campaneris, Bando 3. SH-Randall,B. GWRBI: Tenace Temperature: 84, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: out to right at 16 MPH. Attendance: 9,121 Game Time: 2:38