Mike Epstein tied a major league record, hitting two homers for a string of four in as many consecutive times at bat, and Vida Blue gained his 14th victory of the season as the Athletics defeated the Senators, 5-1. All five of the A's runs were produced by homers off Denny McLain in the first three innings.

Epstein, who hit homers in his last two trips in the previous night's game, made it four in a row with round-trippers in the first and third innings. Joe Rudi also hit two homers and Dave Duncan accounted for the other wallop. [The Sporting News]



Oakland Athletics 5, Washington Senators 1
Game Played on Wednesday, June      16, 1971 (Night game) at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Senators     1  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   1  6  0
A's          2  1  2    0  0  0    0  0  x  -   5  6  0


Senators             AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Unser cf              3   1   3   0     1   0   .276      Campaneris ss         4   0   0   0     0   1   .247
Nelson 3b             3   0   0   0     1   0   .000      Rudi lf               4   2   2   2     0   0   .274
Howard lf             4   0   0   0     0   2   .297      Jackson rf            4   0   0   0     0   3   .266
Billings rf           4   0   2   1     0   0   .235      Epstein 1b            3   2   2   2     0   1   .275
Mincher 1b            4   0   0   0     0   1   .272      Bando 3b              3   0   0   0     1   1   .281
Casanova c            4   0   0   0     0   1   .229      Monday cf             3   0   0   0     0   2   .208
Randle 2b             4   0   1   0     0   2   .250      Duncan c              3   1   2   1     0   0   .233
Cullen ss             3   0   0   0     0   0   .173      Green 2b              3   0   0   0     0   1   .261
McLain p              1   0   0   0     0   1   .107      Blue p                2   0   0   0     0   1   .130
  Grzenda p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Fernandez ph        1   0   0   0     0   0   .091
  Lindblad p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .143
  Cox p               0   0   0   0     0   0   .118
  Maddox ph           1   0   0   0     0   1   .183
  Riddleberger p      0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               32   1   6   1     2   8             Totals               29   5   6   5     1  10

Time of Game: 2:05   Attendance: 19,893
Left on Base: Senators 6, A's 3
DP: Senators 0, A's 1
Home Runs: Rudi 2 (9), Epstein 2 (8), Duncan (9)
Sacrifice Hits: Blue (9)
GIDP: Nelson (1)
Hit by Pitch: Epstein (5,by Riddleberger)


Senators               IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
McLain L(4-12)          3     5   5   5   0   5   5  14   4.34
Grzenda                 1     0   0   0   0   1   0   3   1.88
Lindblad                2     0   0   0   1   2   0   7   2.54
Cox                     1     1   0   0   0   1   0   4   3.84
Riddleberger            1     0   0   0   0   1   0   4   5.10
Totals                  8     6   5   5   1  10   5  32

A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Blue W(14-2)            9     6   1   1   2   8   0  34   1.42
Totals                  9     6   1   1   2   8   0  34

Hit by Pitch: Riddleberger (1)

Umpires: HP - John Rice, 1B - Bill Kunkel, 2B - Ron Luciano, 3B - Red Flaherty


SENATORS 1ST: Unser walked; Nelson walked [Unser to second];
Howard struck out; Billings singled to left [Nelson to second,
Unser scored]; Mincher was called out on strikes; Casanova flied
out to right; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Senators 1, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 1ST: Campaneris flied out to left; Rudi homered;
Jackson struck out; Epstein homered; Bando struck out; 2 R, 2 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Senators 1, Athletics 2.

SENATORS 2ND: Randle flied out to left; Debut game for Len
Randle; Cullen grounded out (second to first); McLain struck
out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Senators 1, Athletics 2.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Monday struck out; Duncan homered; Green grounded
out (third to first); Blue struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Senators 1, Athletics 3.

SENATORS 3RD: Unser singled to center; Nelson grounded into a
double play (first to shortstop to first) [Unser out at second];
Howard grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Senators 1, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Campaneris flied out to center; Rudi homered;
Jackson struck out; Epstein homered; Bando popped to catcher in
foul territory; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Senators 1, Athletics 5.

SENATORS 4TH: Billings flied out to center; Mincher grounded out
(third to first); Casanova was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Senators 1, Athletics 5.

ATHLETICS 4TH: GRZENDA REPLACED MCLAIN (PITCHING); Monday
grounded out (second to first); Duncan flied out to left; Green
was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Senators 1,
Athletics 5.

SENATORS 5TH: Randle was called out on strikes; Cullen popped to
second; FERNANDEZ BATTED FOR GRZENDA; Fernandez flied out to
left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Senators 1, Athletics 5.

ATHLETICS 5TH: LINDBLAD REPLACED FERNANDEZ (PITCHING); Blue
grounded out (second to first); Campaneris grounded out
(shortstop to first); Rudi grounded out (second to first); 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Senators 1, Athletics 5.

SENATORS 6TH: Unser singled to center; Nelson forced Unser
(second to shortstop); Howard struck out; Billings flied out to
center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Senators 1, Athletics 5.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Jackson flied out to right; Epstein struck out;
Bando walked; Monday struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Senators
1, Athletics 5.

SENATORS 7TH: Mincher grounded out (shortstop to first);
Casanova grounded out (first unassisted); Randle singled to
shortstop; Cullen forced Randle (third to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Senators 1, Athletics 5.

ATHLETICS 7TH: COX REPLACED LINDBLAD (PITCHING); Duncan singled
to third; Green flied out to left; Blue out on a sacrifice bunt
(catcher to first) [Duncan to second]; Campaneris was called out
on strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Senators 1, Athletics 5.

SENATORS 8TH: MADDOX BATTED FOR COX; Maddox struck out; Unser
singled to left; Nelson forced Unser (third to second); Howard
grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Senators
1, Athletics 5.

ATHLETICS 8TH: RIDDLEBERGER REPLACED MADDOX (PITCHING); Rudi
popped to first; Jackson was called out on strikes; Epstein was
hit by a pitch; Bando flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Senators 1, Athletics 5.

SENATORS 9TH: Billings singled to third; Mincher flied out to
right; Casanova flied out to right; Randle struck out; 0 R, 1 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Senators 1, Athletics 5.