George bracket: Dodgers (69) defeat Cubs (69) in seven games

Game One: 69 Dodgers 6, 69 Cubs 1
WP: Singer (3-1)
LP: Hands (1-2)
HR: Sudakis (2)

Game Two: 69 Dodgers 5, 69 Cubs 4
WP: Foster (1-0)
LP: Regan (1-2)
HR: Crawford (2), Hickman (2)

Game Three: 69 Cubs 6, 69 Dodgers 2
WP: Holtzman (3-0)
LP: Osteen (3-1)
HR: B Williams (2), Banks (7), Wills (1)

Game Four: 69 Cubs 3, 69 Dodgers 2
WP: Hands (2-2)
LP: Singer (3-2)
HR: Banks (8), B Williams 2 (4), Kosco (4)

Game Five: 69 Cubs 10, 69 Dodgers 6
WP: Jenkins (3-3)
LP: Sutton (2-3)
HR: Gamble (1), Parker (1), Jenkins (2), Kosco (5)

Game Six: 69 Dodgers 7, 69 Cubs 4
WP: Osteen (4-1)
LP: Holtzman (3-1)
Save: Brewer (4)
HR: Parker (2), Crawford (3)

Game Seven: 69 Dodgers 2, 69 Cubs 1 (11 innings)
WP: Brewer (2-2)
LP: Abernathy (1-1)

The 69 Dodgers couldn't win in Wrigley Field; the 69 Cubs couldn't win in Chavez Ravine. The Dodgers, as the number two seed in the George bracket, had the extra home game and took the series with an extra inning win.

The Dodgers blew the first game open late. They scored single runs in the second and third innings to take a 2-1 lead, and Bill Singer made that lead hold up. Phil Regan relieved Bill Hands for the eighth and was battered for four runs for the final margin. Bill Sudakis had three RBIs for the Dodgers, including a two-run homer.

Regan was victimized for four runs again in Game Two. He was entrusted with a 4-1 lead and got only one out in the ninth inning as the Dodgers came back. Willie Crawford followed a walk by Ted Sizemore and a single by Andy Kosco with a three-run homer, then Sudakis doubled and later scored on Jeff Torborg's base hit. Fergie Jenkins had allowed just one unearned run in eight innings for the Cubs,

The series moved to hitter-friendly Wrigley, and the Cubs never trailed in Game Three. Ken Holtzman allowed four hits and two runs in eight innings, while Billy Williams had three hits and a two-run homer.

Singer and Hands dueled again in Game Four, with both right-handers going the distance. The Cubs got three solo homers, two from Williams and one from Ernie Banks. Hands scattered 10 hits, while Singer allowed just five hits, all by Williams and Banks.

The Cubs took the lead in the series with a crushing seven-run outburst in the third inning. Don Sutton walked three men in a row, two with the bases loaded, at one point in the inning, after which Randy Hundley drove in two runs with a base hit and Oscar Gamble homered. Jenkins later hit his second homer of the tournament. The Dodgers made the score deceptively close with four runs in the eighth and ninth innings off Rich Nye.

Back in Los Angeles for Game Six, the Dodgers quickly fell behind. Don Kessinger singled, stole second and scored on Williams' single. One out later, Banks doubled and Jim Hickman singled home Williams and Banks. The Dodgers scored one in the bottom of the inning and tied it in the third, with Manny Mota picking up all three RBIs with a pair of base hits. Wes Parker, who had missed the first four games with an injury, hit a two-run homer in the fifth to put the Dodgers ahead, and pinch-hitter Willie Crawford added another two-run shot in the eighth.

Game Seven went 11 innings and was every bit as taut as the 2-1 final would suggest. The Cubs scored in the fourth on singles by Glenn Beckert and Williams, followed by an error by Bill Singer. The Dodgers evened the score in the sixth; Maury Wills singled, stole second and scored on a Willie Daves base hit. Dodgers reliever Pete Mikkelsen walked four men and allowed a base hit in the seventh and eighth innings but stranded all five baserunners. The Dodgers finally broke through in the 10th on consecutive base hits by Parker, Tom Haller and Sudakis.

Player of the series: Bill Sudakis had a knack in the late innings for the Dodgers. He blew Game One open with an eighth-inning homer; he scored the winning run in Game Two's ninth inning comeback; and he singled home the game winner in the 11th of the finale. He went 9-for-23 for the series with three runs and four RBIs and even caught two innings when both Haller and Torborg were injured in Game Three.

Player availability: No injuries carry over. Mikkelsen pitched three innings in Game Seven and Brewer three in Games Six and Seven combined; try to limit them to one inning apiece in Game One.

Projected rotation: Sutton-Osteen-Singer-Sutton-(Osteen)-(Singer)-(Sutton)