RUNNING WILD: SBs PUNCTUATE A’S ‘W’
A’s, ChiSox Combine for 13 SBs
OAKLAND, July 26 (AP) – The Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox combined
to steal 13 bases—a major league single game season high—highlighting the
A’s 6-5 come-from-behind victory at the Oakland Coliseum. The A’s
swiped eight bases—by eight different players—in nine attempts; the White
Sox stole five bags (four different players) in six attempts. But Oakland
prevailed, scoring a single run in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and
another solo tally in the tenth to win it.
Chicago scored first, with two runs in the top of the opening frame off A’s
starter Paul Mitchell. Ralph Garr singled with one out and stole the
game’s first base. Jorge Orta followed by drawing a base on balls and
Pat Kelly’s slow roller to short moved the runners to second and third.
Bill Stein then singled to left, scoring both runners to give the White Sox a
2-0 lead.
Oakland tied the game with single runs in the first and second. In the
bottom of the first, Bert Campaneris singled with one out, stole second, and
raced home on Joe Rudi’s base hit. The A’s knotted the score in the
second on Ken McMullen’s solo home run off Bart Johnson.
The White Sox regained the lead in the fourth and again the stolen base was
key. Brian Downing singled with two outs and immediately swiped
second. Bucky Dent’s base hit scored Downing to give Chicago a 3-2
advantage.
The White Sox added a run in the fifth. Garr led off with a single and
advanced to second on Orta’s infield grounder. Orta flied to center but
Stein’s single scored Garr with the fourth Chicago run of the contest.
The White Sox seemed to gain a commanding advantage in the seventh when
Kelly’s solo home run, off reliever Stan Bahnsen, gave them a 5-2 lead.
But the A’s fought back in the home half of the seventh. Phil Garner led
off with a single and, after Bill North flied out, stole third base and rode
home on Campaneris’ ground out. Joe Rudi then reached on an infield
single and stole second base. When Billy Williams dropped a single into
left-center field, Rudi scored to cut the deficit to a lone run.
Chris Knapp replaced Johnson on the mound for Chicago in the eighth and tossed a
scoreless frame and he remained on the hill in the bottom of the ninth.
North opened the inning with a single to right and—what else?—stole
second. Campaneris tried to sacrifice North to third but fouled off a pair
of pitches before ultimately accomplishing the desired task with a two-strike
ground ball to second. But Knapp came back to fan Rudi on a 3-2 pitch for
the second out, with the tying run still at third base. Don Baylor came on
to pinch hit for Larry Lintz—who had replaced Williams as a pinch runner in
the seventh—and lined a 2-2 Knapp offering into center field for a base hit,
scoring North with the tying run.
In the top the tenth, Rollie Fingers came on and retired the White Sox in
order. But in the bottom half of the inning the first Oakland hitter,
Claudell Washington, drove a 2-1 fastball from Knapp to right. The ball
barely cleared the wall for a game-winning home run.
The loss was the fifth in a row for Chicago, dropping the White Sox into last
place in the American League West. The win allows the A’s to remain two
games head of the Kansas City Royals in the race for the AL West lead.
7/26/1976, ChA76-Oak76, Oakland Coliseum 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E LOB DP 1976 White Sox 2 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 5 14 0 10 0 1976 Athletics 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 6 14 2 10 0 White Sox AB R H BI AVG Athletics AB R H BI AVG Hairston rf 4 0 0 0 .091 North cf 5 1 1 0 .283 Garr cf 5 2 3 0 .339 Campaneris ss 5 1 1 1 .252 Orta lf 4 1 0 0 .242 Rudi lf 5 1 2 1 .262 Kelly dh 5 1 1 1 .216 Williams,B dh 3 0 2 1 .210 Stein 2b 5 0 2 2 .164 Lintz pr 0 0 0 0 .000 Spencer 1b 5 0 2 0 .244 Baylor ph 1 0 1 1 .274 Bell,K 3b 4 0 2 0 .240 Bando 3b 3 0 0 0 .238 Downing,B c 5 1 2 0 .225 Tenace c 5 0 1 0 .290 Dent ss 5 0 2 1 .277 Washington rf 5 1 2 1 .267 42 5 14 4 McMullen 1b 4 1 2 1 .228 Alexander,M pr 0 0 0 0 .136 Haney c 0 0 0 0 .217 Garner 2b 4 1 2 0 .244 40 6 14 6 White Sox INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Johnson,B 7.0 10 4 4 2 3 110 71 3.44 Knapp BS 1, L 2-3 2.0 4 2 2 1 2 45 23 3.71 9.0 14 6 6 3 5 155 94 Athletics INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Mitchell,P 5.2 10 4 3 2 3 103 69 6.08 Bahnsen 3.1 4 1 1 1 1 49 29 3.56 Fingers W 7-2 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 7 4 2.01 10.0 14 5 4 3 4 159 102 Oak: Lintz ran for Williams,B in the 7th Alexander,M ran for McMullen in the 8th Tenace moved to 1b in the 9th Haney inserted at c in the 9th Baylor batted for Lintz in the 9th E-North, Tenace. HR-Kelly(4), Washington(5), McMullen(3). RBI-Kelly(24), Stein 2(12), Dent(36), Campaneris(19), Rudi(36), Williams,B(34), Washington(50), McMullen(11), Baylor(70). SB-Garr(8), Bell,K(1), Downing,B(5), Dent 2(4), North(45), Campaneris(35), Rudi(3), Bando(13), Garner(23), Lintz(17), Alexander,M(10), Baylor(31). CS-Spencer, Garner. K-Hairston 2, Spencer, Bell,K, Campaneris, Rudi 2, Williams,B, Tenace. BB-Hairston, Orta, Bell,K, Williams,B, Bando 2. GWRBI: Washington Temperature: 68, Sky: clear, Wind: out to right at 12 MPH. Attendance: 9,545 Game Time: 2:46