A's and O's Split opening series

A tightly contested series for the most part saw Baltimore take the first 3 games before the Oakland bats came roaring back in game 4.

Game 1  Baltimore 5 Oakland 0

Dave McNally opened the season with a fine 2 hitter in tossing the complete game shutout.  But he Baltimore bits weren't sizzling either as Catfish Hunter (a personal favorite of mine) scattered 5 Baltimore hits over  6 innings but game up 3 runs in the process.

Game 2 Baltimore 4 Oakland 2

Another pitching duel followed the next day as Milt Pappas spread 4 Oakland hits over 7 innings and held the A's to just 2 runs which he gave up in a rough first inning.   Across the diamond Blue Moon Odom held Baltimore to just 6 hits over 8 innings. 

Game 3   Baltimore 3 Oakland 2

The series moved on to Baltimore and the low scoring continued for both teams.  orioles hang on to win a nail biter 3-2 as the A's bats begin to show life in the series getting  11 hits off 4 O's hurlers.  Jose Tartabull went 2-2 as a late entry pinch hitting for Rick Monday.

Game 4  Oakland 10 Baltimore 6

Baltimore's pitching dominance came to a halt in game 4 as the A's jump to an early 4-0 lead after 3 against Baltimore's Hoeft.  Baltimore fights its way back and by the 8th took the lead 5-4 against Chuck Dobson of the A's.  The walls came crashing down for the O's i the top of the 9th as Baltimore's pen of Dick Hall, Moe Drabowsky and Stu Miller implode and the A's put up 6 on 3 singles, a triple, a home run, a walk and a hit batsman against the O's staff to take the series finale 10-6. Paul Lindblad came on in the 9th for the A's to close this one out and send the A's home with their first win of the season.  Of Oakland's 11 hits, Jerry Lumpe was the only player to have more than 1.

Fun, well played series.  This look like it's gonna be a tight KOD all around to me!

Take care and be safe out there.

Mark

Baltimore