GRIMSLEY LOSES NO-HITTER IN 9TH
Yanks' Magic Number Remains 1
NEW YORK, Sept. 21 (AP) - Ross Grimsley became the second American League
pitcher to lose a no-hitter in the ninth inning in the last two days but Dave
Pagan recorded the game's final out as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the New
York Yankees 3-0 at Yankee Stadium. The outcome keeps the Yankees' magic
number for clinching the American League East at one, with 13 contests remaining
on the team's schedule.
Just one day earlier, Nolan Ryan of the California Angels took a no-hitter into
the ninth inning before settling for a complete game one-hitter. In this
instance, Grimsley was removed with the tying run at the plate and two outs in
the bottom of the ninth.
The Orioles gave Grimsley a lead in the top of the second when Ken Singleton and
Tony Muser opened the frame with consecutive singles, putting runners on first
and third. Doug DeCinces grounded to Graig Nettles at third who cut down
Singleton trying to score but Mark Belanger lashed a base hit to left, scoring
Muser with the game's first run.
Baltimore added a run in the sixth with Singleton and Muser again setting the
table. This time, Singleton drew a one-out walk from Yankees starter Doyle
Alexander and Muser's bloop single just inside the right field line advanced
Singleton to third. DeCinces' weak grounder to second scored Singleton to
give the Orioles a 2-0 lead.
The Orioles capped the scoring in the seventh. Rick Dempsey drew a
lead-off walk from Alexander and advanced to second on Al Bumbry's
sacrifice. Bobby Grich then roped a double into Death Valley in
left-center field, easily scoring Dempsey to make the score 3-0.
Baltimore had a chance to blow the game wide open in the ninth, loading the
bases with one out, but reliever Dick Tidrow induced Reggie Jackson to ground
into an around the horn double play to snuff out the threat.
Grimsley, meanwhile, was cruising through the potent New York lineup. Roy
White drew a one-out walk on a 3-2 pitch in the bottom of the first inning but
Grimsley got Thurman Munson to roll into an inning-ending double play. The
twin killing off Munson's bat was the first of 20 consecutive batters retired by
the Orioles left-hander.
With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Chris Chambliss reached when shortstop
Mark Belanger uncharacteristically booted a ground ball, but Grimsley pitched
around the miscue, retiring Nettles on a fly ball to center and pinch hitter
Otto Velez on strikes to end the frame.
In the bottom of the ninth, Cesar Tovar grounded to Belanger for the first
out. Fran Healy was then called upon to pinch hit for Fred Stanley and, on
a 2-2 pitch, bounced a ground ball through the box that avoided the grasps of
both Belanger and second baseman Grich for a base hit, ending the no-hit
bid. Grimsley then recorded the second out when Willie Randolph grounded
into a fielder's choice, forcing Healy at second. Roy White, however,
dropped a looping single in front of Paul Blair, who had been summoned for
defense in the eighth inning, bringing the tying run to the plate. Orioles
manager Earl Weaver played a hunch and brought right-hander Dave Pagan into the
game to face Munson who validated the strategy by grounding to Muser at first
base who flipped to Pagan covering to end the game.
Alexander took the loss--just his third in 18 starts since being traded to the
Yankees by the Orioles at the June 15 waiver deadline. Alexander saw a
string of wins in 10 straight decisions go by the wayside; his last loss came on
July 10 against the Chicago White Sox. Pagan, who also was involved in the
huge June trade between the two clubs, earned his first save of the year.
9/21/1976, Bal76-NYA76, Yankee Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1976 Orioles 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 10 1 9 1 1976 Yankees 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 2 Orioles AB R H BI AVG Yankees AB R H BI AVG Bumbry cf 2 0 0 0 .228 Randolph 2b 4 0 0 0 .280 Grich 2b 4 0 2 1 .247 White,R cf 3 0 1 0 .300 Jackson,Re rf 5 0 0 0 .291 Munson c 4 0 0 0 .291 May,L dh 4 0 0 0 .236 Piniella lf 3 0 0 0 .321 Singleton lf 3 1 1 0 .285 Chambliss 1b 3 0 0 0 .306 Blair,P cf 0 0 0 0 .196 Nettles 3b 3 0 0 0 .253 Muser 1b 4 1 3 0 .239 Maddox,E rf 2 0 0 0 .186 DeCinces 3b 4 0 1 1 .205 Velez ph 1 0 0 0 .227 Belanger ss 4 0 3 1 .262 Tovar dh 3 0 0 0 .173 Dempsey c 2 1 0 0 .246 Stanley,F ss 2 0 0 0 .261 32 3 10 3 Healy ph 1 0 1 0 .248 29 0 2 0 Orioles INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Grimsley W 5-10 8.2 2 0 0 1 2 98 63 3.89 Pagan S 1 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3.25 9.0 2 0 0 1 2 100 64 Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Alexander,D L 15-7 6.1 9 3 3 3 1 89 58 3.03 Lyle 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 12 7 2.83 Tidrow 1.1 1 0 0 1 1 29 17 3.01 9.0 10 3 3 4 2 130 82 Bal: Bumbry moved to lf in the 8th Blair,P inserted at cf in the 8th NYA: Velez batted for Maddox,E in the 8th Velez moved to rf in the 9th Healy batted for Stanley,F in the 9th E-Belanger. 2B-Grich(37), Muser(12), Belanger(34). RBI-Grich(75), DeCinces(42), Belanger(48). SB-Bumbry(32). K-May,L, DeCinces, Chambliss, Velez. BB-Bumbry, Grich, Singleton, Dempsey, White,R. SH-Bumbry, Dempsey. HBP-Bumbry. HB-Tidrow. WP-Alexander,D. GWRBI: Belanger Temperature: 74, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 10 MPH. Attendance: 27,715 Game Time: 2:20