PALMER, O'S STIFLE BOSOX
Baltimore Right-Hander Fires 2-Hitter
BOSTON, June 28 (AP) - Jim Palmer retired 25 of the final 26 batters he faced en
route to a two-hit complete game shutout to lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 5-0
victory over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. It was the 13th complete
game, and fourth shutout, for Palmer (12-5)--both league leading marks--in 20
starts this season.
The Orioles jumped on Boston starter Rick Jones early, and took a commanding
lead. In the first, Bobby Grich doubled with one out and, after Jones
struck out Reggie Jackson, Lee May singled to right-center, scoring Grich with
the game's first run. Andres Mora's single to center advanced May to
second and a wild pitch put runners on second and third. Paul Blair then
dropped a single into shallow center field, scoring May to make it 2-0 before
Mark Belanger flied to right to end the inning.
The Orioles then added runs in each of the next three innings. In the
second, Dave Duncan and Tommy Harper hit back-to-back singles with one out and,
after Grich flied to right advancing Duncan to third, Jackson drove home the
Baltimore catcher with a single to right field. In the third, Mora led off
with a single, advanced to second when Blair reached on Red Sox catcher Carlton
Fisk's misplay of a swinging bunt and scored one out later on Brooks Robinson's
infield roller. And in the fourth, walks to Grich, May and Mora loaded the
bases before Blair brought home a run with a base hit.
Palmer, meanwhile, was cruising through the Boston lineup. The only Red
Sox scoring threat came in the bottom of the very first inning. Cecil
Cooper led off with a single and advanced to second on Butch Hobson's ground
out. Fred Lynn bounced a routine grounder to Robinson at third, but the
throw to first was low and May couldn't handle it cleanly. It went as an
error on Robinson and put runners on the corners with only one out. But
Palmer calmly induced Carl Yastrzemski to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end
the threat.
Yastrzemski was the first in a string of 17 consecutive batters retired by
Palmer who didn't surrender another baserunner until Lynn's one-out single in
the seventh. But Palmer got Yastrzemski on a fly to Blair in center and
fanned Fisk to end the inning. Palmer then retired the Red Sox in order in
each of the final two frames to close out the game.
The game marks the second time this year Palmer, who leads the American League
in earned run average, has shut out an opponent on fewer than three hits.
On May 17, the right-hander one-hit the Milwaukee Brewers at Memorial Stadium.
6/28/1976, Bal76-Bos76, Fenway Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1976 Orioles 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 12 1 10 1 1976 Red Sox 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 1 Orioles AB R H BI AVG Red Sox AB R H BI AVG Harper dh 5 0 1 0 .237 Cooper 1b 4 0 1 0 .224 Grich 2b 4 2 1 0 .239 Hobson 3b 4 0 0 0 .000 Jackson,Re rf 5 0 1 1 .317 Lynn cf 3 0 1 0 .288 May,L 1b 4 1 2 1 .260 Yastrzemski lf 3 0 0 0 .279 Mora lf 4 1 3 0 .216 Fisk c 3 0 0 0 .256 Blair,P cf 5 0 3 2 .169 Rice dh 3 0 0 0 .305 Belanger ss 3 0 0 0 .256 Darwin rf 3 0 0 0 .206 Robinson,Br 3b 4 0 0 1 .186 Petrocelli 2b 3 0 0 0 .206 Duncan c 4 1 1 0 .257 Dillard ss 2 0 0 0 .172 38 5 12 5 Burleson ph 1 0 0 0 .316 29 0 2 0 Orioles INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Palmer W 12-5 9.0 2 0 0 0 7 96 67 1.97 9.0 2 0 0 0 7 96 67 Red Sox INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Jones,Ri L 1-2 3.2 9 5 4 3 5 87 56 6.30 Willoughby 3.1 2 0 0 0 4 35 30 3.05 Cleveland 2.0 1 0 0 0 2 26 18 3.29 9.0 12 5 4 3 11 148 104 Bos: Burleson batted for Dillard in the 9th E-Robinson,Br, Fisk. 2B-Grich(14), Mora(3). RBI-Jackson,Re(54), May,L(29), Blair,P 2(15), Robinson,Br(13). SB-Grich(5), May,L(1). K-Harper 3, Jackson,Re 3, May,L, Mora, Belanger, Duncan 2, Hobson, Lynn, Yastrzemski, Fisk, Rice, Darwin, Dillard. BB-Grich, May,L, Mora. SH-Belanger. WP-Jones,Ri. GWRBI: May,L Temperature: 80, Sky: cloudy, Wind: out to right at 17 MPH. Attendance: 16,937 Game Time: 2:08