‘20 Tribe and ‘70 O’s split opening series

8/16-8/17 - League Park
GAME 1 - Indians 4, Orioles 1
Indian ace Jim Bagby, who won 31 games in 1920, went the distance by allowing only 1 run on 5 hits with an economical 81 pitches thrown.  The '70 O's played waited for the 3 run homer to come, but did not have enough baserunners to get it.  Cleveland got on the board first in the bottom of the 2nd no thanks to an error by the normally sure handed Mark Belanger.  With a 2-1 lead going into the 7th the Tribe scored 2 more on consecutive RBI singles by Bill Wambsganss and Doc Johnson.  That would be more than enough run support for Bagby.

GAME 2 - Orioles 4, Indians 3
Neither Jim Palmer, nor Stan Coveleski had their best stuff.   Still both 20 game winners had more than enough in the tank to keep the game close.  The O's jumped out to a 4-0 lead by scoring 2 in the first and 1 in the third.  An insurance run in the 7th was needed to hold off the Tribe who posted 3 in the bottom of the 7th.  Pete Richert came on to fan 2 in the 9th for the save.  Frank Robinson hit his first homer, a 2 run shot in the 1st.  The Tribes Larry Gardner had 3 hits in 4 trips to the plate in a losing effort.

8/18-8/19 - Memorial Stadium
GAME 3 - Indians 4, Orioles 3
It was Cleveland's turn to flip the score and notch the road win.  Ray Caldwell went the distance for the Tribe giving up 3 runs on 7 hits.  Dave McNally left on the losing side of the ledger with 1 out in the 9th.  An error by Frank Robinson, who also hit his second homer of the season, accounted for a huge unearned run that was the difference.

GAME 4 - Orioles 11, Indians 4
Baltimore jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but then the rains came in the  5th.  Oriole stater Tom Phoebus lost all control after the 33 minute rain delay and couldn't even make it out of the 5th inning.  Marcelino Lopez had to come in to get the final out, but by that point the Tribe had posted a 5 spot.  Lopez was barely effective after getting the final out in the 5th, but he didn't need to be.  Baltimore scored 7  runs over the final 3 innings and didn't even blink an eye when the Indians mounted a comeback in the top of the 9th.  Lopez gave up 3 runs before Dick Hall came on board to notch the save.  Lost in the shuffle was Tris Speaker's 3 for 4, 5 RBI day that included 2 homers.  Frank Robinson went 4 for 4 for the victors, along with 3 RBI.