TANANA’S DOMINANT RUN CONTINUES
Melton Breaks Slump, Drives in 4
ANAHEIM, Cal., July 9 (AP) – Frank Tanana continued a dominant run with a
five-hit complete game shutout as the California Angels defeated the Baltimore
Orioles, 5-0, at Anaheim Stadium. Tanana struck out 12 batters en route to
his 12th win of the year while walking no one. Bill Melton broke out of a
season long slump with three hits including a three-run home run in the bottom
of the first inning and drove in four runs. Bobby Bonds also had three
hits in the game and Ron Jackson added four safeties for the Angels.
The Angels put the game away, for all practical purposes, in the very first
inning by mounting a two-out rally. Bonds singled off Orioles starter Rudy
May and stole second base. Tommy Davis drew a free pass and Melton
followed with his second home run of the year to give California a 3-0
advantage. Melton drove in his fourth run of the contest in the third when
his two-out single plated Dave Chalk who led off the frame with a base
hit. The Angels capped the scoring in the fourth when Leroy Stanton
singled to lead off the inning and scored two outs later on a base hit by Bonds.
Tanana, meanwhile, handcuffed the Orioles throughout. He posted his sixth
consecutive complete game and his 15th in 18 starts thus far this season,
lowering his earned run average to 1.91, second best among American League
qualifiers to Mark Fidrych of Detroit. The 12-strikeout performance in his
last start before the All-Star break gives Tanana a string of three consecutive
outings with 10 or more strikeouts, one off the major league high for the year
(Dennis Eckersley of Cleveland had four straight starts with double digit
strikeouts earlier this year). Tanana has fanned at least ten batters in
eight of his last 10 starts.
7/9/1976, Bal76-Cal76, Anaheim Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1976 Orioles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 9 0 1976 Angels 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 x 5 14 3 11 0 Orioles AB R H BI AVG Angels AB R H BI AVG Singleton lf 4 0 1 0 .277 Guerrero 2b 5 0 2 0 .340 Grich 2b 4 0 1 0 .255 Chalk ss 4 1 1 0 .238 Jackson,Re rf 3 0 0 0 .327 Remy ph 1 0 0 0 .299 May,L 1b 4 0 0 0 .263 Bonds rf 5 1 3 1 .256 Mora dh 4 0 0 0 .208 Davis,T dh 3 1 0 0 .262 Blair,P cf 4 0 1 0 .173 Jones,B ph 1 0 0 0 .162 Belanger ss 4 0 0 0 .246 Melton 1b 4 1 3 4 .152 DeCinces 3b 4 0 2 0 .171 Jackson,Ro 3b 4 0 4 0 .291 Dempsey c 4 0 0 0 .147 Briggs cf 4 0 0 0 .179 35 0 5 0 Stanton lf 4 1 1 0 .223 Etchebaren c 3 0 0 0 .219 Garrett,A ph 0 0 0 0 .184 38 5 14 5 Orioles INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA May,R L 6-8 3.2 9 5 4 1 2 75 49 4.43 Grimsley 2.1 2 0 0 0 1 29 20 4.50 Holdsworth 2.0 3 0 0 1 2 42 26 1.80 8.0 14 5 4 2 5 146 95 Angels INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Tanana W 12-5 9.0 5 0 0 0 12 140 96 1.91 9.0 5 0 0 0 12 140 96 Cal: Garrett,A batted for Etchebaren in the 8th Remy batted for Chalk in the 8th Jones,B batted for Davis,T in the 8th Guerrero moved to ss in the 9th Remy moved to 2b in the 9th Garrett,A moved to c in the 9th E-DeCinces, Melton, Jackson,Ro, Etchebaren. 2B-Grich(18), Guerrero(2). HR-Melton(2). RBI-Bonds(45), Melton 4(20). SB-Jackson,Re(10), Bonds(18). K-Singleton, Grich 3, Jackson,Re 2, May,L 2, Blair,P 2, Belanger, DeCinces, Bonds, Briggs, Stanton 2, Jones,B. BB-Davis,T, Garrett,A. HBP-Jackson,Re. HB-Tanana. GWRBI: Melton Temperature: 56, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: none. Attendance: 14,025 Game Time: 2:37