Game One: 69 Orioles 6, 09 Athletics 2
WP: Cuellar (2-0)
LP: Cahill (1-1)
HR: F. Robinson (5)
Game Two: 69 Orioles 7, 09 Athletics 2
WP: McNally (1-0)
LP: Anderson (1-1)
HR: Powell (2), B. Robinson (2)
Game Three: 09 Athletics 3, 69 Orioles 2 (10 innings)
WP: Bailey (1-0)
LP: D Hall (0-1)
Game Four: 09 Athletics 8, 69 Orioles 1
WP: G. Gonzalez (2-0)
LP: Phoebus (1-1)
HR: Powell (3), Suzuki (2)
Game Five: 69 Orioles 3, 09 Athletics 1 (17 innings)
WP: Leonhard (1-0)
LP: E Gonzalez (0-1)
HR: Crosby (1)
Game Six: 09 Athletics 9, 69 Orioles 8
WP: Breslow (1-0)
LP: Phoebus (1-2)
Save: Bailey (3)
HR: Powell (4)
Game Seven: 69 Orioles 9, 09 Athletics 4
WP: Palmer (2-0)
LP: Braden (1-1)
HR: Ellis (2), Powell (5)
The underdog A's put up a tough fight, but the 1969 Orioles prevailed in the end.
The series looked early on like a rout for Baltimore. Boog Powell singled home two runs in the first inning of the opener, and the Orioles added another run in the second and two more in the fourth. The A's scored twice in the sixth of Mike Cuellar, but Frank Robinson got one back with a solo homer in the seventh to cap the scoring.
Game Two was even easier for the Birds. Oakland held a 2-1 head going int he fifth, but with two outs Don Buford singled. Davy Johnson scored him with a double. Frank Robinson plated Johnson with a single, and Powell followed with a home run. Brooks Robinson added a homer in the eighth.
The series shifted to Oakland and 2009, and the O's struck quickly for two runs in the first inning, as Paul Blair and Curt Motton had RBI doubles. Daric Barton doubled home Matt Holliday in the fourth to make it 2-1, but Jim Palmer was in command until the ninth. Jason Giambi led off with a base hit, and pinch runner Rajai Davis scored on Mark Ellis' double to tie it. Dick Hall relieved in the 10th and didn't get an out. Ryan Sweeney singled, Kurt Suzuki singled him to third, and Holliday singled over the drawn-in outfield for the winner.
The A's jumped on Tom Phoebus for six runs in Game Four's first inning. Phoebus retired just two men. Suzuki hit a two run homer to open the scoing, and Adam Kennedy and Cliff Pennington each drove home two runs in the inning. Pennington added another RBI later.
Game Five was a marathon classic -- 17 innings with the lead in the series in the balance. Bobby Crosby homered in the second for the A's. Davy Johnson plated Elrod Hendricks in the third to tie it. Both teams had repeated chances to break the deadlock.
In the top of the ninth, Brooks Robinson led off with a walk, and Hendricks followed with a single. But Mike Wuentz entered to get Make Belanger to fly out and fan Buford and Johnson. In the top of the 10th, Frank Robinson doubled and Powell walked, but Wuentz stuck out Blair, popped up Motton and got Brooks Robinson to ground out.
In the bottom of the 10th, Adam Kennedy led off with a single off Pete Richert, and Jack Cust added another single. Pennington bunted the two men over. Eddie Watt relieved to pop up Davis and Sweeney. In the 13th, the A's loaded the bases with two outs against Watt but couldn't get the run in.
In the 17th, after four futile innings against Edgar Gonzalez, the Orioles finally broke through. Johnson singled, Frank Robinson doubled him home, and Powell doubled Robinson in. Dave Leonhard threw five perfect innings for the win.
The series returned to Memorial Stadium in 1969 Baltimore, and the A's stung Dave McNally with another six run first inning. The A's got six singles and a walk before McNally got an out. The Bird fought back, scoring twice in the first and twice in the second. Powell hit a two run homer in the fourth to tie it at 6, and Andy Etchebarren drove in Johnson to give Baltimore a 7-6 lead in that inning.
But Phoebus, who had relieved McNally, couldn't hold the lead. Oakland scored one in the fifth and two more in the sixth, and while the Orioles got one back in the bottom of the sixth, they couldn't get a man in scoring position against Craig Breslow and Bailey the rest of the way.
That set up a climatic Game Seven. The Orioles scored a first inning run off Dallas Braden without benefit of a hit, but Ellis hit a three-run homer off Jim Palmer in the second for a 3-1 lead. The Orioles tied it in the third, and erupted for five runs in the fourth. Buford singled, Johnson walked, Frank Robinson singled, and Powell hit a grand slam. One out later, Merv Rettemund, subbing for the injured Blair, doubled and scored on Belanger's base hit. That was more than enough for Palmer and reliever Pete Richert.
Player of the series: Boog Powell had four homers for Baltimore and drove in 12 runs.
Player availability: Blair must sit out Game One of the second round. The Oriole bullpen was hard used by the two short starts in Games Four and Six and the marathon Game Five, but with the off day to rest Marcelino Lopez (7.2 innings in Game Four), Leonhard (5 innings in Game Five), Watt (2.2 innings in Game Five) and Dick Hall (three innings in Game Six), and with Phoebus (four innings in Game Six) not scheduled to start until Game Four, they should be good to go.
Projected rotation: Cuellar-McNally-Palmer-Phoebus-(Cuellar)-(McNally)-(Palmer)
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