Thursday, September 27, 2012

Game 156: Desperate O's Outlast Tigers in 15, 3-2

Baltimore, MD (Wed., Sept. 24, 1975) - Light-hitting Mark Belanger lined a single into center field with two outs in the bottom of the 15th, scoring Elrod Hendricks from second base, and the Baltimore Orioles kept their East Division title hopes alive with a 3-2 win over the Tigers at Memorial Stadium.

The Orioles tied the game, 2-2, in the eighth inning after the Tigers moved ahead 2-1 in the top half of the inning. Then the teams rarely threatened to score from the ninth through 14th innings.

The Tigers put runners on second and third with one out in the 14th, but Dyar Miller struck out Bill Freehan and Aurelio Rodriguez to end the threat.

In the 15th for Baltimore, Don Baylor led off with a single. Bobby Grich walked, and Hendricks hit a ground ball to shortstop Tom Veryzer, who flipped the ball to Jerry Manuel at second, but Manuel's throw to first was late, putting runners on first and third with one out.

Brooks Robinson hit a chopper to Rodriguez at third base, who gunned out Baylor trying to score. That left things up to Belanger, who stroked a 2-1 fastball from rookie Steve Grilli (0-1) into center field to plate Hendricks from second.

The win kept the Orioles 2.5 games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox. The Tigers (60-96) lost their third straight.

Rookie Bob Molinaro had two triples for the Tigers, both off starter Jim Palmer, who went 10 innings. Tigers starter Joe Coleman didn't add to his league-leading 20 losses, but he is still winless since May 19, and he has no remaining starts scheduled.

The Major Said: "This game kind of symbolizes our season. When you're going good, you win games like this. We had our shot in the 14th."

Tigers   000 100 010 000 000  2-9-0
Baltimore 000 001 010 000 001  3-15-1

WP: Garland
LP: Grilli (0-1)

Tigers record: 60-96 (actual 57-99)
Home: 31-49
Away: 29-47
Last 10: 4-6

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