The Orioles clinched their third straight East division title by beating the Indians, 9-2, in the opener of a twi-night doubleheader, but delayed their celebration until after they went back on the field and also won the nightcap, 7-0. In the sweep, Mike Cuellar and Pat Dobson each racked up his 20th victory of the season.

Cuellar, who turned in his 21st complete game in the lidlifter, had the support of homers by Davey Johnson, Frank Robinson and Boog Powell. After Ray Fosse hit for the circuit to produce the Indians' runs in the first inning, Johnson tied the score with his swat in the third. Johnson also singled for another RBI in the fifth and Merv Rettenmund drove in a run with a single before Robinson homered with two men on base. Powell hit his round-tripper in the sixth and batted home the final run with a single in the eighth.

Rettenmund was the big batter behind Dobson in the nightcap, driving in four runs with a sacrifice fly and two doubles. [The Sporting News]



Baltimore Orioles 9, Cleveland Indians 2 (Game 1)
Game Played on Friday, September 24, 1971 (Night game) at Cleveland Stadium
Orioles      0  0  2    0  5  1    0  1  0  -   9 12  1
Indians      2  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   2  8  2


Orioles              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Indians              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Blair cf              5   1   1   0     0   2   .262      Uhlaender rf          5   1   1   0     0   1   .288
Johnson 2b            5   2   2   3     0   2   .286      Pinson cf             4   0   0   0     0   1   .269
Rettenmund lf,rf      5   1   4   1     0   0   .314        Lowenstein cf       0   0   0   0     0   0   .184
F. Robinson rf        3   1   1   3     0   0   .282      R. Foster lf          4   0   0   0     0   1   .249
  Buford lf           2   0   0   0     0   1   .287      Fosse c               4   1   3   2     0   0   .271
B. Robinson 3b        4   0   0   0     0   0   .271      Nettles 3b            3   0   1   0     1   1   .264
  DaVanon pr,3b       1   1   0   0     0   1   .227      Hinton 1b             3   0   0   0     1   0   .226
Powell 1b             4   1   2   2     0   1   .254      Leon 2b               4   0   0   0     0   0   .262
Etchebarren c         2   0   0   0     0   0   .266      Stanley ss            2   0   0   0     1   1   .209
  Hendricks c         2   0   0   0     0   0   .249        Hodge ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .210
Belanger ss           3   1   1   0     1   0   .266      McDowell p            2   0   1   0     0   1   .178
Cuellar p             4   1   1   0     0   2   .105        Hargan p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .067
                                                            Ford ph             1   0   1   0     0   0   .194
                                                            Ballinger p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .200
                                                            Bevacqua ph         1   0   1   0     0   0   .214

Totals               40   9  12   9     1   9             Totals               34   2   8   2     3   6

Time of Game: 2:29
Left on Base: Orioles 5, Indians 8
DP: Orioles 1, Indians 0
Errors: Johnson, Pinson, R. Foster
Doubles: Rettenmund (21), Fosse (21)
Home Runs: Johnson (18), F. Robinson (28), Powell (22), Fosse (12)
GIDP: Leon (17)


Orioles                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Cuellar W(20-9)         9     8   2   2   3   6   1  37   3.06
Totals                  9     8   2   2   3   6   1  37

Indians                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
McDowell L(13-17)       4.2   7   7   7   1   3   2  22   3.40
Hargan                  2.1   2   1   1   0   2   1   9   6.28
Ballinger               2     3   1   0   0   4   0  10   4.54
Totals                  9    12   9   8   1   9   3  41

Passed Balls: Fosse (13)

Umpires: HP - Red Flaherty, 1B - Jerry Neudecker, 2B - Russ Goetz, 3B - Dave Phillips


ORIOLES 1ST: Blair made an out to second; Johnson was called out
on strikes; Rettenmund doubled; F. Robinson grounded out
(shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 0, Indians
0.

INDIANS 1ST: Uhlaender singled; Pinson struck out; R. Foster
flied out to right; Fosse homered [Uhlaender scored]; Nettles
walked; Hinton walked [Nettles to second]; Leon grounded out
(shortstop to first); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Orioles 0, Indians
2.

ORIOLES 2ND: B. Robinson made an out to second; Powell was
called out on strikes; Etchebarren grounded out (third to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 0, Indians 2.

INDIANS 2ND: Stanley walked; McDowell singled to right [Stanley
to second]; Uhlaender struck out; Pinson grounded out (first
unassisted) [Stanley to third, McDowell to second]; R. Foster
lined to first; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Orioles 0, Indians 2.

ORIOLES 3RD: Belanger walked; Cuellar struck out; Blair made an
out to second; Johnson homered [Belanger scored]; Rettenmund
grounded out (shortstop to first); 2 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Orioles 2, Indians 2.

INDIANS 3RD: Fosse singled to right; Nettles singled to first
[Fosse to third (error by Johnson)]; Hinton made an out to
second; Leon grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to
first) [Nettles out at second]; 0 R, 2 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles
2, Indians 2.

ORIOLES 4TH: F. Robinson popped to catcher in foul territory; B.
Robinson grounded out (third to first); Powell flied out to
center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 2, Indians 2.

INDIANS 4TH: Stanley struck out; McDowell struck out; Uhlaender
made an out to third; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 2, Indians
2.

ORIOLES 5TH: Etchebarren grounded out (first unassisted);
Belanger flied out to center; Cuellar singled to center; Blair
singled to center [Cuellar to third (error by Pinson)]; Johnson
singled to right [Cuellar scored, Blair to second]; Rettenmund
singled to center [Blair scored, Johnson to second]; F. Robinson
homered [Johnson scored, Rettenmund scored]; HARGAN REPLACED
MCDOWELL (PITCHING); B. Robinson grounded out (third to first);
5 R, 5 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 7, Indians 2.

INDIANS 5TH: HENDRICKS REPLACED ETCHEBARREN (PLAYING C ); Pinson
grounded out (pitcher to first); R. Foster made an out to
second; Fosse flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles
7, Indians 2.

ORIOLES 6TH: Powell homered; Hendricks flied out to right;
Belanger grounded out (second to first); Cuellar flied out to
center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 8, Indians 2.

INDIANS 6TH: BUFORD REPLACED F. ROBINSON (PLAYING LF);
RETTENMUND CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING RF); Nettles grounded out
(shortstop to first); Hinton lined to left; Leon flied out to
left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 8, Indians 2.

ORIOLES 7TH: Blair was called out on strikes; Johnson was called
out on strikes; Rettenmund singled to shortstop; Buford flied
out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 8, Indians 2.

INDIANS 7TH: Stanley flied out to center; FORD BATTED FOR
HARGAN; Ford singled to second; Uhlaender forced Ford (shortstop
to second); Pinson flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Orioles 8, Indians 2.

ORIOLES 8TH: BALLINGER REPLACED FORD (PITCHING); LOWENSTEIN
REPLACED PINSON (PLAYING CF); B. Robinson reached on an error by
R. Foster [B. Robinson to first]; DAVANON RAN FOR B. ROBINSON;
Fosse allowed a passed ball [DaVanon to second]; Powell singled
to right [DaVanon scored (unearned)]; Hendricks made an out to
third; Belanger singled to right [Powell to second]; Cuellar
struck out; Blair was called out on strikes; 1 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1
E, 2 LOB.  Orioles 9, Indians 2.

INDIANS 8TH: DAVANON STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 3B); R. Foster was
called out on strikes; Fosse doubled to left; Nettles was called
out on strikes; Hinton grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 9, Indians 2.

ORIOLES 9TH: Johnson grounded out (third to first); Rettenmund
singled to center; Buford struck out; DaVanon struck out; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 9, Indians 2.

INDIANS 9TH: Leon grounded out (third to first); HODGE BATTED
FOR STANLEY; Hodge grounded out (third to first); BEVACQUA
BATTED FOR BALLINGER; Bevacqua singled to center; Uhlaender
grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Orioles 9, Indians 2.