[Joy in Mudville]

Baltimore--Saturday's game one of the 1972 Joy in Mudville World Series was anything but textbook baseball.

In a contest that featured three errors by the winners, Baltimore took the Series opener 6-5 on a bases-loaded walk.

The American League champion Orioles built a quick 5-0 lead off ineffective Houston starter Ken Forsch. Baltimore's Ken Singleton homered off Forsch, a 30-game winner during the regular season. Forsch was forced to pitch on short rest when scheduled starter Larry Dierker woke up Saturday morning with a bout of the flu.

Much of game one featured flu-like symptoms. Case in point, the Astros rallied for four runs in the fourth inning, taking advantage of an error by second baseman Davey Johnson. Jimmy Wynn struck the key blow with a two-run homer off Oriole starter Tom Seaver.

Two innings later, Houston tied the game when Joe Morgan homered off Seaver into the right field bleachers.

From there, the game settled into a battle of bullpens. The Astros had a chance to take the lead with two runners on in the eighth. However, hard-throwing Nolan Ryan struck out Wynn to end the threat.

Houston's Jack Billingham, a former reliever-turned-starter this season, held Baltimore scoreless for two innings before giving way to closer Mike Marshall.

Baltimore finally broke through in the 10th inning. Singleton and Dick Allen led off with consecutive singles. Allen's hit was his fourth of the game.

Following a successful sacrifice bunt by Darrell Evans, the right-handed Marshall intentionally walked left-handed hitting Johnny Grubb to load the bases.

The strategy failed when Marshall forced in the winning run with a fastball that was high to Johnson on a 3-2 pitch.

Fred Beene earned the win in relief while Marshall took the loss.

Game two is Sunday afternoon at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. Left-hander Jon Matlack will start for the Orioles. Right-hander Larry Dierker is likely the Houston pitcher.

Game ID: 6727 - Saturday, October 14th, 1972 - Game Log

Editor's Note: Box score statistics reflect the entire post-season.

Saturday, October 14th, 1972
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Houston Astros 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 8 0
Baltimore Orioles 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 11 3


Houston AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
J. Morgan 2B 2 2 2 2 3 0 0 .320 2 8
J. Wynn RF 5 1 1 2 0 1 5 .296 1 4
C. Cedeno CF 4 0 1 0 1 1 1 .375 1 4
J. Mayberry 1B 5 0 1 0 0 1 1 .261 0 1
C. May LF 4 0 0 0 1 0 3 .304 3 8
D. Rader 3B 4 0 0 0 0 2 4 .136 0 4
J. Billingham P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
c-C. Geronimo PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .250 0 0
M. Marshall P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
J. Edwards C 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 .364 0 0
R. Metzger SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250 0 3
K. Forsch P 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .400 0 1
a-G. Geiger PH 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 .500 0 1
F. Gladding P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
b-M. Martinez PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
W. Blasingame P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
D. Menke 3B 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 0 0
Totals 39 5 8 5 5 6 17

a - G. Geiger pinch hit for K. Forsch in the 4th
b - M. Martinez pinch hit for F. Gladding in the 6th
c - C. Geronimo pinch hit for J. Billingham in the 9th

BATTING
Doubles: G. Geiger (1, 4th Inning off T. Seaver, 1 on, 2 outs)
Home Runs: J. Morgan (2, 6th Inning off T. Seaver, 0 on, 2 outs) J. Wynn (1, 4th Inning off T. Seaver, 1 on, 2 outs)
Total Bases: K. Forsch, J. Edwards, J. Morgan 5, J. Mayberry, J. Wynn 4, C. Cedeno, G. Geiger 2
2-out RBI: , J. Morgan 2, J. Wynn, G. Geiger
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: C. May, J. Wynn 2, D. Rader 2
Sac Bunt: R. Metzger
Team LOB: 10

BASERUNNING
CS: C. Cedeno (1)

FIELDING
Double Plays: 1 (Billingham-Metzger)

Baltimore AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI
B. Grich SS 3 2 1 0 2 1 0 .167 0 1
K. Singleton LF 5 2 2 2 0 1 1 .231 1 3
D. Allen 1B 5 2 4 0 0 0 0 .500 3 3
D. Evans 3B 4 0 1 2 0 1 3 .143 0 2
J. Grubb CF, CF 4 0 2 0 1 2 1 .333 0 1
D. Johnson 2B 4 0 0 1 1 1 4 .313 1 6
D. May RF 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 .133 0 1
B. Boone C 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 .154 0 3
a-R. Miller PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
J. Oates C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
T. Seaver P 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 .286 0 0
P. Richert P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
N. Ryan P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
b-T. Crowley PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
F. Beene P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0
Totals 37 6 11 6 4 9 11

a - R. Miller pinch hit for B. Boone in the 9th
b - T. Crowley pinch hit for N. Ryan in the 9th

BATTING
Doubles: D. Allen (2, 1st Inning off K. Forsch, 1 on, 1 out) B. Grich (1, 3rd Inning off K. Forsch, 0 on, 0 outs) J. Grubb (1, 5th Inning off F. Gladding, 0 on, 2 outs)
Home Runs: K. Singleton (1, 3rd Inning off K. Forsch, 1 on, 0 outs)
Total Bases: D. Allen 5, D. Evans, B. Grich 2, K. Singleton 5, J. Grubb 3, D. May
2-out RBI: D. May
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: B. Boone, D. Johnson
GIDP: K. Singleton
Sac Bunt: D. Evans
Team LOB: 5

FIELDING
Errors: T. Seaver , B. Grich , D. Johnson

Houston IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
K. Forsch 3.0 7 5 5 1 4 1 70 45 4.50
F. Gladding 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 32 19 0.00
W. Blasingame 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 12 9 0.00
J. Billingham 2.0 1 0 0 1 1 0 21 12 0.00
M. Marshall L (0-1) 1.1 2 1 1 2 1 0 30 16 3.86

PITCHING
Game Score: K. Forsch 26
Batters Faced: K. Forsch 17, F. Gladding 7, W. Blasingame 3, J. Billingham 7, M. Marshall 8
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: K. Forsch 4-1, F. Gladding 3-2, W. Blasingame 1-0, J. Billingham 3-1, M. Marshall 2-1
Pitches - Strikes: K. Forsch 70-45, F. Gladding 32-19, W. Blasingame 12-9, J. Billingham 21-12, M. Marshall 30-16


Baltimore IP H R ER BB K HR PI PS ERA
T. Seaver 7.2 8 5 1 3 3 2 138 86 2.20
P. Richert 0.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 1 0.00
N. Ryan 1.1 0 0 0 1 3 0 21 14 0.00
F. Beene W (1-0) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 7 6.75

PITCHING
Game Score: T. Seaver 51
Batters Faced: T. Seaver 36, P. Richert 1, N. Ryan 5, F. Beene 3
Ground Outs - Fly Outs: T. Seaver 15-4, P. Richert 0-0, N. Ryan 1-0, F. Beene 2-1
Pitches - Strikes: T. Seaver 138-86, P. Richert 5-1, N. Ryan 21-14, F. Beene 9-7
Inherited Runners - Scored: P. Richert 1-0, N. Ryan 2-0


GAME NOTES
Player of the Game: D. Allen
Ballpark: Memorial Stadium
Weather: Partly Cloudy (48 degrees), wind blowing out to left at 10 mph
Start Time: 7:05 pm
Time: 3:32
Attendance: 38852