Gomer Hodge, the Indians' 27-year-old rookie infielder, knocked in two runs with a two-out single in the ninth inning to beat the Red Sox, 3-2. Hodge entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Eddie Leon in the eighth and doubled and scored the Indians' first run on a single by John Lowenstein. Remaining in the game at second base, Hodge came through with his winning hit in the ninth. The Indians' home opener drew a crowd of 40,462. [The Sporting News]



Cleveland Indians 3, Boston Red Sox 2
Game Played on Thursday, April     8, 1971 (Day game) at Cleveland Stadium
Red Sox      0  0  1    0  1  0    0  0  0  -   2  3  0
Indians      0  0  0    0  0  0    0  1  2  -   3  7  0


Red Sox              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Indians              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Aparicio ss           2   1   1   1     2   0   .333      Brown ss              4   0   2   0     0   0   .429
Smith rf              4   0   0   0     0   1   .375      Nettles 3b            3   0   0   0     1   0   .286
Yastrzemski lf        4   0   0   0     0   2   .250      Pinson rf             4   0   1   0     0   0   .250
Petrocelli 3b         2   0   0   0     2   0   .167      Fosse c               3   1   0   0     0   1   .000
Scott 1b              4   0   0   0     0   2   .143      Harrelson 1b          3   0   0   0     0   1   .000
Josephson c           3   0   0   0     1   0   .429      R. Foster lf          2   0   0   0     0   1   .167
Conigliaro cf         4   0   0   0     0   3   .000        Ford lf             1   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Griffin 2b            4   0   1   0     0   2   .200        Colbert p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Siebert p             2   1   1   1     0   0   .500        Camilli ph          1   1   0   0     0   0   .000
  Lyle p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Leon 2b               2   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Fiore ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Hodge ph,2b         2   1   2   2     0   0  1.000
  Tatum p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Bradford cf           2   0   0   0     0   1   .200
                                                            Uhlaender ph,lf     1   0   1   0     0   0  1.000
                                                          McDowell p            2   0   0   0     0   2   .000
                                                            Lowenstein lf,cf    1   0   1   1     0   0  1.000

Totals               30   2   3   2     5  10             Totals               31   3   7   3     1   6

Time of Game: 2:31   Attendance: 40,462
Left on Base: Red Sox 7, Indians 5
DP: Red Sox 1, Indians 0
Doubles: Hodge (1)
Home Runs: Aparicio (1), Siebert (1)
Sacrifice Hits: Harrelson (1)
GIDP: Brown (1)
Hit by Pitch: Siebert (1,by McDowell), Fosse (1,by Tatum)


Red Sox                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Siebert                 7     5   1   1   1   6   0  27   1.29
Lyle                    1     0   0   0   0   0   0   2   0.00
Tatum L(0-1)            0.2   2   2   2   0   0   0   5  27.00
Totals                  8.2   7   3   3   1   6   0  34

Indians                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
McDowell                7     2   2   2   5   9   2  29   2.57
Colbert W(1-0)          2     1   0   0   0   1   0   7   0.00
Totals                  9     3   2   2   5  10   2  36

Hit by Pitch: Tatum (1), McDowell (1)

Umpires: HP - Merle Anthony, 1B - George Maloney, 2B - Hank Soar, 3B - Larry Barnett


RED SOX 1ST: Aparicio walked; Smith grounded out (second to
first) [Aparicio to second]; Yastrzemski struck out; Petrocelli
walked; Scott struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Red Sox 0,
Indians 0.

INDIANS 1ST: Brown lined to left; Nettles grounded out (first
unassisted); Pinson grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Red Sox 0, Indians 0.

RED SOX 2ND: Josephson walked; Conigliaro struck out; Griffin
struck out; Siebert grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Red Sox 0, Indians 0.

INDIANS 2ND: Fosse popped to second; Harrelson was called out on
strikes; R. Foster flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Red Sox 0, Indians 0.

RED SOX 3RD: Aparicio homered; Smith struck out; Yastrzemski
flied out to left; Petrocelli walked; Scott struck out; 1 R, 1
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Red Sox 1, Indians 0.

INDIANS 3RD: Leon flied out to right; Bradford grounded out
(shortstop to first); McDowell struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
 Red Sox 1, Indians 0.

RED SOX 4TH: Josephson grounded out (third to first); Conigliaro
struck out; Griffin struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Red Sox
1, Indians 0.

INDIANS 4TH: Brown singled to left; Nettles forced Brown (second
to shortstop); Pinson flied out to left; Fosse flied to right in
foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Red Sox 1, Indians 0.

RED SOX 5TH: Siebert homered; Aparicio flied out to left; Smith
flied out to center; Yastrzemski popped to third; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Red Sox 2, Indians 0.

INDIANS 5TH: Harrelson grounded out (shortstop to first); R.
Foster struck out; Leon grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Red Sox 2, Indians 0.

RED SOX 6TH: FORD REPLACED R. FOSTER (PLAYING LF); Petrocelli
grounded out (pitcher to shortstop to first); Scott flied out to
center; Josephson grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Red Sox 2, Indians 0.

INDIANS 6TH: Bradford struck out; McDowell was called out on
strikes; Brown singled to right; Nettles walked [Brown to
second]; Pinson popped to shortstop; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Red
Sox 2, Indians 0.

RED SOX 7TH: Conigliaro was called out on strikes; Griffin flied
out to left; Siebert was hit by a pitch; Aparicio walked
[Siebert to second]; Smith flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Red Sox 2, Indians 0.

INDIANS 7TH: Fosse was called out on strikes; Harrelson grounded
out (pitcher to first); Ford popped to first in foul territory;
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Red Sox 2, Indians 0.

RED SOX 8TH: COLBERT REPLACED FORD (PITCHING); LOWENSTEIN
REPLACED MCDOWELL (PLAYING LF); Yastrzemski struck out;
Petrocelli popped to second; Scott grounded out (pitcher to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Red Sox 2, Indians 0.

INDIANS 8TH: HODGE BATTED FOR LEON; Hodge doubled to left;
UHLAENDER BATTED FOR BRADFORD; Uhlaender singled to right [Hodge
to third]; Lowenstein singled to center [Uhlaender to second,
Hodge scored]; LYLE REPLACED SIEBERT (PITCHING); Brown grounded
into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Uhlaender to
third, Lowenstein out at second]; Nettles flied out to left; 1
R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Red Sox 2, Indians 1.

RED SOX 9TH: HODGE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); UHLAENDER STAYED
IN GAME (PLAYING LF); LOWENSTEIN CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING CF);
Josephson grounded out (first unassisted); Conigliaro flied out
to right; Griffin singled to right; FIORE BATTED FOR LYLE; Fiore
flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Red Sox 2, Indians 1.

INDIANS 9TH: TATUM REPLACED FIORE (PITCHING); Pinson singled to
left; Fosse was hit by a pitch [Pinson to second]; Harrelson out
on a sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Fosse to second, Pinson
to third]; CAMILLI BATTED FOR COLBERT; Camilli reached on a
fielder's choice [Pinson out at home (first to catcher), Fosse
to third, Camilli to second]; Hodge singled to center [Camilli
scored, Fosse scored]; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Red Sox 2, Indians
3.