Indians Massacre Orioles

Game 1:  Cleveland 3  Baltimore 2  10innings

Luis Tiant struck out 12 and contributed to an
an Indians 35 strikeouts for the series.

WP Eddie Fischer: (1-2, 4.20 ERA)
LP: Bruce Howard (0-3, 4.01 ERA)
S: Hal Kurtz (4)
MVP: Sonny Siebert

Brooks Robinson hit his 2nd home run of the season to give the Orioles an early 2-0 lead.  But the Indians rallied to push this one into extra frames.  Indians Max Alvis (3rd) would smash the game winning homer in the 10th inning to set the stage for what was to be upcoming for the Orioles in this series.  Cleveland's Sonny Seibert (1.54 ERA)  got the start and struck out 8 batters in a fine performance.

Game 2:  Cleveland 8  Baltimore 0
WP Sam McDowell (3-1, 1.93 ERA)
LP: Gene Brabender (1-2, 6.30 ERA)
MVP: Sam McDowell

Sam McDowell struck out 12 and held the Orioles to just 5 hits as the Indians cruised to an easy victory.  Jose Vidal (.333 avg) hit his second homer of the season.  Cleveland has held Baltimore to just 8 hits in the first two games of the series.

Game 3:  Cleveland 2  Baltimore 0
WP Luis Tiant  (4-2, 1.20 ERA)
LP: Tom Phoebus (3-1, 1.97 ERA)
S: Hal Kurtz (5)
MVP: Luis Tiant

Another 12 strike out performance, this time by Luis Tiant, found the Indians on their way to another shut out of the hapless Orioles.  The Indians pitching dominance combined with Oriles woeful hitting made this game another painful experience for Baltimore fans.  Tiant's performance keeps him at the top of the major leagues in ERA trailing only St. Louis Bob Gibson (1.00 ERA).  Baltimore's hit total increased to 11 in 3 games.

Game 4:  Cleveland 4  Baltimore 1
WP Stan Williams  (2-0, 1.31 ERA)
LP: Leonhard (0-4, 7.61 ERA)
MVP: Stan Williams

Looking at the bright side for the Orioles, they only struck out 3 times this game but......again, only muster 4 hits in a 3 run loss to the Indians.  Cleveland sweeps the 4 game series allowing only 15 Orioles hits, striking out 35 batters and allowing only 3 runs.  Stan Williams threw 8 innings and allowed only 4 hits to earn the win.  Curt Blefary hit home run number 8 for Baltimore and was the ony bright spot of the game.  Baltimore has lost 8 of their last 9 games and drop to the bottom of the division in the AL with an 11-17 record.   Cleveland's sweep keeps them near the top at 17-11