Hendricks' Slam Vaults Orioles Into First

American League:
Milwaukee 10 at Boston 8
-The Red Sox have allowed six or more runs in five straight games – the last two of them losses to the lowly Brewers. Rookie Danny Thomas (.331 19HR) with two home runs and five RBI’s. Boston now heads to Baltimore in the chase position, a half game back of the O’s
Cleveland 8 at New York 12
-The Yankees open up an 11-3 lead by the 3^rd inning as Ken Griffey, George Scott and Graig Nettles combine to drive in ten runs. Oscar Gamble ripped his 37^th home run in a losing cause for the Tribe
Baltimore 8 at Detroit 1
-The Orioles get a grand slam from Ellie Hendricks (20HR) in the 1^st and don’t look back as they vault ahead of the Red Sox for 1^st place. Baltimore elects to start Nelson Briles (5-3, 4.83) and save Jim Palmer for the Red Sox, and the move worked as Briles pitched eight innings for the easy win. The Orioles finish 16-2 versus the Tigers.
Oakland 4 at Chicago 5
-Jim Spencer’s RBI single in the 9^th hands Elias Sosa (5-6, 2.37) his second loss in as many days
Kansas City 9 at Minnesota 3
-Minnesota starter Vic Albury (7-9, 4.86) does not record an out as a Ruppert Jones (9^th) grand slam chases him from the game. Frank White also drove in four runs in the game.
Texas 4 at California 5
-The Angels rally for two in the 9^th, winning it on an Orlando Ramierez single. Johnny Grubb (.305) had four hits in defeat for the Rangers

AL East: The Orioles now lead the Red Sox by a half game heading into a two game set in Baltimore
AL West:  The Royals have clinched the division crown

National League
St. Louis 2 at Montreal 3
-John Milner’s double in the 8^th drove in the winning run as the Expos take two-of two from the Cards at the Big O
New York 2 at Philadelphia 7
-Mike Schmidt’s 36^th home run keyed a five-run first inning as the Phils knockTom Seaver (13-10, 3.31) out of the game early. Dave Kingman (26HR) accounted for the Mets output with a pair of solo shots
Chicago 10 at Pittsburgh 3
- Bobby Murcer (27) and Dave Rosello (2) homered as the Cubs hammer Dave Roberts (7-5, 3.66) to earn a split of two at Three Rivers . The Pirates however can celebrate a division crown thanks to the St. Louis loss
Atlanta 1 at Cincinnati 2
-Pete Rose (.343) had three hits including the game winning RBI in the 3^rd inning as Rich Hinton (12-4, 3.65) and Rawly Eastwick (39Sv, 2.06) shut down the Braves
San Diego 2 at Houston 10
-Cesar Cedeno (44SB) and Jose Cruz (46SB) each steal two bases as the Astros swipe six in total on way to an easy win over the Padres. Rick Rhoden (10-4, 3.58) made his second spot start of the month and has had a complete game victory both times.
Los Angeles 6 at San Francisco 12
-The Giants open up a 9-0 lead in the 2^nd inning as six Giants had two RBI’s each. Don Stanhouse (6-7, 4.24) and Charlie Hough (8.27) took the brunt of the onslaught

NL East: The Pirates have clinched
NL West: The Astros lead the Reds by 5 games and have a magic number to 7

Baltimore 8, Detroit 1

9/21/1976, BAL76-DET76, Tiger Stadium
 
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
1976 Baltimore         5  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  3     8 11  0     6  1
1976 Detroit           1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0     1  9  4     7  3
 
Baltimore            AB  R  H BI   AVG    Detroit              AB  R  H BI   AVG
Maddox            cf  3  1  0  0  .307    Collins           lf  4  0  1  0  .340
Northrup          lf  4  1  1  0  .284    Knox              2b  4  1  2  0  .296
 Harper           ph  1  1  1  3  .270    Wockenfuss        rf  4  0  2  0  .299
 Jefferson        p   0  0  0  0  .154    Madlock           1b  4  0  0  0  .313
Singleton         rf  5  1  3  0  .369    Freehan           c   4  0  2  1  .275
Grich             2b  5  1  1  1  .256    Hebner            3b  4  0  0  0  .256
May,L             1b  5  0  0  0  .269    Scrivener         ss  3  0  0  0  .231
Hendricks         c   3  1  1  4  .239     LeFlore          ph  1  0  0  0  .258
DeCinces          3b  4  0  1  0  .224    Herndon           cf  4  0  1  0  .260
Belanger          ss  4  1  3  0  .254    Abbott            p   0  0  0  0  .167
Briles            p   3  0  0  0  .214     Slaton           p   1  0  0  0  .111
 Beniquez         ph  0  1  0  0  .253     Bare             p   1  0  0  0  .059
                     37  8 11  8           Meyer            ph  1  0  1  0  .274
                                           Hiller           p   0  0  0  0  .267
                                           MacCormack       p   0  0  0  0  .000
                                                               35  1  9  1
 
Baltimore                        INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Briles           W 5-3           8.0  9  1  1  0  3  97  72  4.83
Jefferson                        1.0  0  0  0  0  0   6   4  6.26
                                 9.0  9  1  1  0  3 103  76 
 
Detroit                          INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Abbott           L 2-5           0.1  4  5  4  1  0  24  14  4.95
Slaton                           3.1  3  0  0  2  2  58  29  6.49
Bare                             3.1  1  0  0  0  3  37  24  3.86
Hiller                           1.1  2  3  3  1  0  26  14  3.77
MacCormack                       0.2  1  0  0  0  1   8   6  6.67
                                 9.0 11  8  7  4  6 153  87 
 
BAL: Beniquez batted for Briles in the 9th
     Harper batted for Northrup in the 9th
     Beniquez moved to lf in the 9th
DET: Meyer batted for Bare in the 7th
     LeFlore batted for Scrivener in the 9th
 
E-Wockenfuss, Freehan, Hebner, Herndon. 2B-Singleton 2. HR-Hendricks(20), 
Harper(9). SB-Singleton(4). K-Maddox, Singleton, Grich 2, Belanger, Briles, 
Madlock, Scrivener, Herndon. BB-Maddox 2, Hendricks, Beniquez. 
GWRBI: Grich