The Orioles blew a 4-0 lead and lost to the Indians, 9-4, damaging their chances in the East Division race. With this defeat, the Orioles fell 3½ games behind the Yankees. Eddie Murray hit a three-run homer for the Orioles, who fell apart in the fifth inning when the Indians erupted for five runs.

The Orioles committed four errors during the stanza, but only one of the Indians' runs was unearned. Alfredo Griffin drove in two tallies with a double. The Indians put the game away with four more runs in the seventh. Rico Carty capped the scoring by hitting a homer with two men on base. [The Sporting News]



Cleveland Indians 9, Baltimore Orioles 4
Game Played on Sunday, September 25, 1977 (Day game) at Cleveland Stadium
Orioles      3  0  0    0  1  0    0  0  0  -   4  8  4
Indians      0  0  0    0  5  0    4  0  x  -   9 14  0


Orioles              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Indians              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Bumbry lf             4   0   1   0     0   1   .312      Dade rf               2   0   0   0     0   0   .291
Dauer 2b              4   1   2   0     0   0   .240        Pruitt rf           3   1   2   1     0   0   .300
Maddox cf             4   0   0   0     0   2   .286      Kuiper 2b             2   0   0   0     0   0   .277
Singleton rf          4   1   1   0     0   0   .329        Oliver ph,2b        2   1   0   0     1   0   .000
Murray 1b             3   1   2   3     1   0   .278      Blanks 3b             5   1   2   1     0   0   .276
DeCinces 3b           3   0   0   0     0   1   .256      Thornton 1b           4   1   1   1     0   0   .274
  Muser ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .233      Carty dh              4   2   2   3     0   0   .285
Mora dh               4   0   0   0     0   1   .248      Bochte lf             4   0   2   0     0   0   .308
Belanger ss           3   1   1   0     0   0   .209      Kendall c             3   1   2   0     0   0   .253
Skaggs c              3   0   1   0     0   0   .284      Manning cf            4   1   1   0     0   1   .216
Grimsley p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Griffin ss            4   1   2   2     0   1   .182
  D. Martinez p       0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Garland p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Briles p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Parrott p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               33   4   8   3     1   5             Totals               37   9  14   8     1   2

Time of Game: 2:29   Attendance:  6,291
Left on Base: Orioles 3, Indians 6
DP: Orioles 0, Indians 2
Errors: Bumbry 2, Belanger, Grimsley
Doubles: Manning (6), Griffin (1)
Triples: Belanger (4)
Home Runs: Murray (25), Carty (15)
Caught Stealing: Griffin (1)
Sacrifice Hits: Kendall (7)
GIDP: Dauer (10), Bumbry (3)


Orioles                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Grimsley L(14-10)       4.1   6   5   4   0   0   0  19   3.96
D. Martinez             2     4   3   3   1   2   0  12   3.86
Briles                  0.2   2   1   1   0   0   1   4   4.29
Parrott                 1     2   0   0   0   0   0   4   2.08
Totals                  8    14   9   8   1   2   1  39

Indians                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Garland W(12-19)        9     8   4   4   1   5   1  34   3.68
Totals                  9     8   4   4   1   5   1  34

Passed Balls: Skaggs 2 (4)

Umpires: HP - Jim Evans, 1B - Vic Voltaggio, 2B - Marty Springstead, 3B - Larry Barnett


ORIOLES 1ST: Bumbry struck out; Dauer singled to center; Maddox
struck out; Singleton singled to right [Dauer to third]; Murray
homered [Dauer scored, Singleton scored]; DeCinces popped to
second; 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 3, Indians 0.

INDIANS 1ST: Dade grounded out (first unassisted); Kuiper
grounded out (shortstop to first); Blanks grounded out (first
unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 3, Indians 0.

ORIOLES 2ND: Mora flied out to right; Belanger made an out to
second; Skaggs grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Orioles 3, Indians 0.

INDIANS 2ND: Thornton grounded out (third to first); Carty
grounded out (third to first); Bochte flied out to left; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 3, Indians 0.

ORIOLES 3RD: Bumbry singled to center; Dauer grounded into a
double play (third to second to first) [Bumbry out at second];
Maddox flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 3,
Indians 0.

INDIANS 3RD: Kendall singled to center; Manning forced Kendall
(second to shortstop); On a bunt Griffin grounded out (pitcher
to first) [Manning to second]; Dade grounded out (second to
first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 3, Indians 0.

ORIOLES 4TH: Singleton flied out to center; Murray walked;
DeCinces struck out; Mora flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Orioles 3, Indians 0.

INDIANS 4TH: Kuiper flied out to center; Blanks flied out to
center; Thornton popped to third in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 3, Indians 0.

ORIOLES 5TH: Belanger tripled to right; Paul Dade and Duane
Kuiper collided; Kuiper suffered a bruised right thigh; Dade
took a knee to the head; PRUITT REPLACED DADE (PLAYING RF);
Skaggs singled to third [Belanger stayed at third]; Bumbry
grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first)
[Belanger scored (no RBI), Skaggs out at second]; Dauer singled
to right; Maddox grounded out (second to first); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Orioles 4, Indians 0.

INDIANS 5TH: Carty singled to left [Carty to second (error by
Belanger)]; Bochte flied out to left; Kendall singled to left
[Carty scored (error by Bumbry)]; Manning doubled to right
[Kendall to third]; Griffin doubled [Kendall scored, Manning
scored]; Griffin was picked off second but was safe on an error
by Grimsley [Griffin to third]; Pruitt singled to center
[Griffin scored]; D. MARTINEZ REPLACED GRIMSLEY (PITCHING);
OLIVER BATTED FOR KUIPER; Skaggs allowed a passed ball [Pruitt
to second]; Debut game for Dave Oliver; Oliver reached on
an error by Bumbry; Blanks singled to right [Pruitt scored
(unearned), Oliver to second]; Thornton flied out to center;
Carty flied out to center; 5 R (4 ER), 6 H, 4 E, 2 LOB.  Orioles
4, Indians 5.

ORIOLES 6TH: OLIVER STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); Singleton
popped to third in foul territory; Murray singled to second;
DeCinces popped to third; Mora struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
 Orioles 4, Indians 5.

INDIANS 6TH: Bochte singled to left; Kendall out on a sacrifice
bunt (first to second) [Bochte to second]; Manning was called
out on strikes; Griffin struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Orioles 4, Indians 5.

ORIOLES 7TH: Belanger grounded out (shortstop to first); Skaggs
grounded out (third to first); Bumbry grounded out (first to
pitcher); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 4, Indians 5.

INDIANS 7TH: Pruitt popped to second; Oliver walked; Blanks
singled to center [Oliver to third]; Thornton singled to left
[Oliver scored, Blanks to second]; BRILES REPLACED D. MARTINEZ
(PITCHING); Skaggs allowed a passed ball [Blanks to third,
Thornton to second]; Carty homered [Blanks scored, Thornton
scored]; Bochte singled to center; Kendall popped to shortstop;
Manning popped to catcher in foul territory; 4 R, 4 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Orioles 4, Indians 9.

ORIOLES 8TH: Dauer popped to catcher in foul territory; Maddox
struck out; Singleton grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 4, Indians 9.

INDIANS 8TH: PARROTT REPLACED BRILES (PITCHING); Griffin singled
to center; Griffin was caught stealing second (catcher to
second); Pruitt singled to left; Oliver lined to shortstop;
Blanks flied out to center; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 4,
Indians 9.

ORIOLES 9TH: Murray lined to shortstop; MUSER BATTED FOR
DECINCES; Muser popped to catcher in foul territory; Mora
grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 4,
Indians 9.