After three games, things are as even as possible, with four teams at 2-1 and four teams at 1-2. The 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates became the final team to suffer a loss thanks to the 1977 Philadelphia Phillies and Bake McBride’s heroics. The 1978 Boston Red Sox won, becoming the last team to earn a victory.
Standings: Los Angeles 2-1, New York 2-1, Philadelphia 2-1, Pittsburgh 2-1, Cincinnati 1-2, Baltimore 1-2, Boston 1-2, Oakland 1-2
Boston 3, Oakland 2
The Red Sox won their first game of the season after a strong pitching performance by Bill Lee and two relievers. Boston scored first on an RBI single by Carl Yastrzemski in the first inning. Oakland got a two-run homer by Sal Bando in the second inning, but that’s all the A’s would get. Carlton Fisk’s two-run double in the sixth inning put the Red Sox ahead to stay. Boston pitchers retired the final 14 A’s hitters.
1971 OAK ATHLETICS AB R H BI 1978 BOS RED SOX AB R H BI
Bert Campaneris 5 0 1 0 Rick Burleson 4 1 3 0
Joe Rudi 4 0 1 0 Jerry Remy 4 0 0 0
Reggie Jackson 4 0 0 0 Jim Rice 4 1 1 0
Mike Epstein 3 1 1 0 Carl Yastrzemski 3 1 2 1
Sal Bando 3 1 2 2 Carlton Fisk 4 0 2 2
Tommy Davis 3 0 0 0 Fred Lynn 4 0 1 0
Rick Monday 4 0 0 0 George Scott 3 0 0 0
Dave Duncan 4 0 0 0 Dwight Evans 3 0 0 0
Dick Green 4 0 2 0 Butch Hobson 3 0 0 0
TOTALS 34 2 7 2 TOTALS 32 3 9 3
1971 OAK ATHLETICS 020 000 000 -- 2
1978 BOS RED SOX 100 002 00x -- 3
LOB--1971 OAK ATHLETICS 8, 1978 BOS RED SOX 6. ERR--Joe
Rudi. 2B--Rick Burleson, Carlton Fisk. HR--Sal Bando.
HBP--Mike Epstein.
1971 OAK ATHLETICS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Diego Segui Y [L] 6.00 8 3 3 1 3 0
Darold Knowles XZ 2.00 1 0 0 0 4 0
1978 BOS RED SOX
Bill Lee Z [W] 7.00 7 2 2 2 5 1
Dick Drago Y 1.00 0 0 0 0 1 0
Bob Stanley Z [S] 1.00 0 0 0 0 0 0
New York 5, Baltimore 2
Reggie Jackson hit a two-run homer in the top of the first to put the Yankees up 2-0, though Baltimore scored single runs in the second and third, one on a Boog Powell solo homer, to tie the game. New York went back in front a Graig Nettles solo homer in the fifth inning, then got RBI singles by Jackson and Lou Piniella to put the game out of reach.
1977 NY YANKEES AB R H BI 1969 BAL ORIOLES AB R H BI
Mickey Rivers 4 0 1 0 Don Buford 3 0 0 1
Roy White 4 1 1 0 Paul Blair 3 0 0 0
Thurman Munson 4 1 3 0 Brooks Robinson 4 0 1 0
Reggie Jackson 4 2 2 3 Boog Powell 4 1 1 1
Chris Chambliss 4 0 0 0 Frank Robinson 4 0 1 0
Lou Piniella 4 0 2 1 Davey Johnson 3 0 0 0
Graig Nettles 4 1 1 1 Mark Belanger 4 0 0 0
Willie Randolph 2 0 0 0 Marv Rettenmund 3 1 1 0
Bucky Dent 4 0 0 0 Elrod Hendricks 4 0 2 0
TOTALS 34 5 10 5 TOTALS 32 2 6 2
1977 NY YANKEES 200 012 000 -- 5
1969 BAL ORIOLES 011 000 000 -- 2
LOB--1977 NY YANKEES 4, 1969 BAL ORIOLES 7. ERR--Reggie
Jackson (2). 2B--Roy White. 3B--Mickey Rivers. HR--Reggie
Jackson, Graig Nettles, Boog Powell. SACF--Don Buford.
SB--Reggie Jackson.
1977 NY YANKEES IP H R ER BB SO HR
Ed Figueroa [W] 8.00 6 2 2 2 4 1
Sparky Lyle YZ [S] 1.00 0 0 0 1 1 0
1969 BAL ORIOLES
Dave McNally YZ [L] 7.00 9 5 5 1 2 2
Pete Richert XYZ 2.00 1 0 0 1 3 0
Los Angeles 4, Cincinnati 2
The Reds went ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth on George Foster’s sacrifice fly. It was all LA from there. Bill Buckner tied it with an RBI double in the top of the seventh. Davey Lopes provided a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the eighth to put the Dodgers ahead.
1974 LA DODGERS AB R H BI 1975 CIN REDS AB R H BI
Davey Lopes 5 0 1 2 Pete Rose 4 0 2 0
Bill Buckner 4 1 2 1 Ken Griffey 4 1 0 0
Jim Wynn 4 0 1 0 Joe Morgan 5 1 2 1
Steve Garvey 4 0 1 1 Johnny Bench 4 0 2 0
Willie Crawford 4 0 0 0 Tony Perez 3 0 1 0
Ron Cey 5 0 1 0 George Foster 3 0 0 1
Joe Ferguson 4 1 1 0 Dan Driessen 4 0 0 0
Steve Yeager 3 1 1 0 Dave Concepcion 3 0 0 0
Bill Russell 4 1 1 0 Cesar Geronimo 3 0 1 0
TOTALS 37 4 9 4 TOTALS 33 2 8 2
1974 LA DODGERS 001 000 120 -- 4
1975 CIN REDS 100 001 000 -- 2
LOB--1974 LA DODGERS 12, 1975 CIN REDS 10. ERR--Joe Morgan.
2B--Bill Buckner (2), Steve Garvey, Joe Ferguson, Joe
Morgan. SACF--George Foster. SACB--Cesar Geronimo. SB--Jim
Wynn.
1974 LA DODGERS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Don Sutton YZ [W] 7.00 5 2 2 4 4 0
Jim Brewer XZ 1.00 2 0 0 0 1 0
Mike Marshall YZ [S] 1.00 1 0 0 0 1 0
1975 CIN REDS
Fred Norman YW 7.00 6 2 2 3 3 0
Will McEnaney YZ [L] 1.00 2 2 2 2 0 0
Rawly Eastwick XZ 1.00 1 0 0 1 0 0
Philadelphia 7, Pittsburgh 6 (11 inn.)
The Phillies kept going ahead, and the Pirates kept coming back. Bake McBride hit a three-run in the top of the seventh to put Philadelphia up 4-2. It was 5-3 heading to the bottom of the ninth. Willie Stargell had an RBI single to make it a one-run game, and with two outs, Bob Robertson sent it to extra innings with an RBI single. In the top of the 11th, McBride had a two-run triple to give the Phillies the 7-5 advantage. Stargell hit his second solo homer of the game in the bottom of the 11th to make it a one-run game. Manny Sanguillen then doubled to put the tying run in scoring position. But the Phillies got the final two outs to hand the Pirates their first loss, despite their 18 hits.
1977 PHI PHILLIES AB R H BI 1971 PIT PIRATES AB R H BI
Bake McBride 6 1 3 5 Dave Cash 5 1 1 0
Garry Maddox 6 1 1 0 Vic Davalillo 6 1 2 0
Mike Schmidt 3 1 2 1 Roberto Clemente 6 1 3 1
Greg Luzinski 5 0 3 1 Willie Stargell 5 2 3 3
Richie Hebner 5 0 0 0 Manny Sanguillen 6 0 2 0
Jay Johnstone 5 1 1 0 Bob Robertson 6 1 3 2
Bob Boone 4 0 0 0 Richie Hebner 6 0 3 0
Ted Sizemore 5 1 0 0 Al Oliver 5 0 1 0
Larry Bowa 3 2 1 0 Gene Alley 5 0 0 0
TOTALS 42 7 11 7 TOTALS 50 6 18 6
1977 PHI PHILLIES 100 000 310 02 -- 7
1971 PIT PIRATES 000 100 112 01 -- 6
LOB--1977 PHI PHILLIES 7, 1971 PIT PIRATES 13. ERR--Larry
Bowa, Bob Johnson Y. 2B--Mike Schmidt, Manny Sanguillen, Vic
Davalillo, Al Oliver, Richie Hebner. 3B--Garry Maddox, Bake
McBride. HR--Bake McBride, Bob Robertson, Willie Stargell
(2). SACF--Mike Schmidt. SB--Vic Davalillo.
1977 PHI PHILLIES IP H R ER BB SO HR
Jim Lonborg 6.00 7 1 1 2 1 1
Tug McGraw X 1.33 4 2 2 0 1 1
Warren Brusstar Y 1.00 3 2 2 0 0 0
Ron Reed XZ [W] 2.67 4 1 1 0 0 1
1971 PIT PIRATES
Bob Johnson Y 7.00 7 4 4 1 3 1
Nelson Briles YZ 1.00 2 1 1 0 0 0
Bob Miller 2.00 1 0 0 1 1 0
Dave Giusti Y [L] 1.00 1 2 2 2 0 0
