77 NYY Takes 2 of 3 from 70 Bal O's

Game 1
Bal vs NYY
Cuellar vs Guidry
Bal 8 NYY 3 (10 innings)

Two southpaws square off in the season opener at Yankee Stadium as Ron Guidry and the Yankees meet up with Mike Cuellar and the Orioles.  A Chirs Chambliss HR in the bottom of the second puts Yanks up 1-0 against the O's.  Louisiana Lightning was all of that on this day as he yields only 2 singles to the O's through 6 innings.  Yanks open up a 2-0 lead on a Greg Nettles RBI triple down the left field line in the bottom of the 6th.  Lightning strikes the Yanks in the top of the 7th as a walk to Frank Robinson and a 2 run HR by Boog Powell tie this one up at 2 apiece.  Heading into the 8th Dick Tidrow relieved Guidry and the O's score on a Frank Robinson RBI double to take the 3-2 lead.  In the bottom of the ninth, after a lead off double by Roy White, Mike Cuellar heads to the showers and Eddie Watt comes on.  A sac bunt moves Roy White to third and Baltimore brings on lefty reliever Tom Richert.  A Mickey rivers sac fly to center tied this one up a 3 all.   the O's would come up big in the top of the 10th as an error by Thurman Munson on a Paul Blair sac bunt would load the bases with one out.  A Brooks Robinson 3 RBI double off of Tidrow would open the flood gates and put this one away for Baltimore

Game 2

Bal vs NYY
Palmer vs Figueroa
NYY 7 Bal 2

This one got away early from Palmer and the Birds as the Yanks scored in each of the first 4 times they were up, building a 6-0 lead by the end of the 4th as the Yanks sent 8 to the plate in the first and scored 3 times.  the Yanks continued to chip away at Palmer with single runs in each of the next 3 innings before he was pulled for Marcelino Lopez.   this one sent the home fans home happy as the O's never challenged the rest of the way and Palmer took an ugly loss 7-2.

Game 3
Bal vs NYY
Torrez vs McNally
NYY 5 Bal 3

In the rubber match Baltimore got off to a fast tart claiming a 3-0 lead on a Boog Powell 3 run HR in the top of the first off of Mike Torrez. Unfortunately that would be all they would get on the day and it would not be enough.  With a 3-2 lead in the bottom of teh 8th, Baltimore went to the pen, calling on Dick Hall to shut down a Yankee threat.  Unfortunately he turned out to be an arsonist and not a not a fireman on this day.  With Mickey Rivers on second, Reggie Jackson tied the score with an RBI double.  Jackson quickly came home on a Greg Nettles HR and the Yanks brought home a 5-3 victory over the Os.  Both starters pitched well in this one, but Sparky Lyle shut down the O's bats for the save that Dick Hall could not get.

Great games all around, looking forward to the rematch.

--Mark Nixon--