Bill Spaceman Lee faced Jim Catfish Hunter in a crucial game 5 of the ALCS. But Hunter wasn't around very long.
- After walking Pete Rose and then Joe Morgan to lead off the 1st inning, Hunter started griping to the home plate umpire Ron Luciano - he then may or may not have thrown a spitball to Tony Perez - but that was enough for Luciano and Hunter was sent to the showers.
- Thrown in to the fire Horacio Pina saved the situation against Perez and struck him out. The he felt Luciano's wrath walking Reggie Jackson and then Carl Yastrzemski to score Rose
- Reggie Smith followed with a sharp single that scored Rose but Jackson was held at 3rd, keepign it 2-0
- Pina settled down to get Dave Concepcion and Johnny Bench to end the inning and strand 3 base-runners
The Alteses struck back in the bottom of the first:
- Bill North singled and stole second to start the inning, he moved to third on Garry Maddox's grounder to the right side
- After a walk for Willie McCovey, Gene Tenace hit a deep flyball that was able to score North and cut the lead to 2-1
Rose and Morgan walked again in the second inning, but Pina got out of it without them getting further.
The Leos threatened again in the 3rd against Tom Bradley
- Yaz singled and Smith followed with a double, but Yaz stopped at third
- Bradley struck out Concepcion and walked Bench to force a decision with Lee due up next
- Lee was pitching well enough that he was sent up hoping to squeeze home a run
- Lee missed the pitch and Yaz - may have missed the safety squeeze sign - was out at home
- Lee then struck out to end the threat
The Alteses tied it up in the 4th
- With one out, Sal Bando walked
- Chris Speier followed a Bobby Bonds popout with a single to right - moving Bando to third
- Steve Ontiveros pinch-hitting for Bradley singled and Bando scored
A great defensive play from Reggie Jackson kept it tied in the bottom of the 6th
- With two outs Speier walked
- Jesus Alou, pinch-hitting for Darold Knowles doubled to right
- Jackson got to the ball quickly and hit Morgan for the relay to Bench for the final out keeping the score 2-2
The bottom of the 7th ended Lee's night
- With one out North, again singled and stole second
- Maddox reached on an infield single, North taking third
- Lee pitched around McCovey walked to load the bases
- Mel Stottlemeyer relieved Lee and induced a ground ball from Tenace, but Morgan had to range to his left and had no play other than Tenace at first, allowing North to score the lead run.
It stayed that way until the top of the 9th
- Rollie Fingers came in to try to get the save and allowed a leadoff single to pinch-hitting Carlton Fisk
- Tommy Harper came in to run for Fisk, Fingers held him close and got Rose to fly out to leftfield
- With Morgan up, Harper strayed too far off first and was picked off for the second out
- Morgan then singled, bringing Perez, up as the last hope
- Morgan took off for second, and saw that the throw from Tenace was far off line. He made the turn for third, and by the time Maddox corralled the poor throw, Morgan had come home to tie the score at 3
- Fingers snagged a line shot from Perez to end the inning
Pedro Borbon pitched a spotless 9th and Fingers matched him in the top of the 10th. The bottom half was a different story for Borbon
- McCovey walked to start the inning and was replaced by Gary Matthews to run
- Tenace flew out to Rose in left
- Bando singled and Matthews just beat the throw into third base. This allowed Bando to take second base.
- With first base open, Borbon intentionally walked Bonds to face Speier
- Speier was the hero with his third hit of the game scoring Matthews and giving the Bay Area Alteses the 4-3 win
Game 6 will be Saturday evening in Cincinnati/Boston with the RedsSox facing elimination. Expected starters are Ken Holtzman for the Alteses and John Curtis for the Leos
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