The Indians swept a doubleheader from the Orioles, 4-1 and 4-3, with Larvell Blanks going 5-for-7 and providing most of the punch. A two-run triple by Blanks broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning of the opener. Blanks hit a two-run homer in the seventh, capping a three-run rally that won the nightcap. [The Sporting News]



Cleveland Indians 4, Baltimore Orioles 1 (Game 1)
Game Played on Monday, May       31, 1976 (Night game) at Cleveland Stadium
Orioles      0  0  0    0  0  1    0  0  0  -   1  9  1
Indians      0  0  0    2  0  1    1  0  x  -   4 13  0


Orioles              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Indians              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Bumbry lf             4   1   3   0     0   0   .255      Manning cf            5   2   3   1     0   0   .289
Belanger ss           4   0   4   0     0   0   .317      Blanks 2b             4   0   4   2     1   0   .351
Grich 2b              3   0   0   0     1   1   .252      Bell 3b               4   0   2   0     1   0   .285
R. Jackson cf         4   0   0   0     0   1   .227      Carty dh              3   0   0   0     1   1   .336
L. May dh             4   0   1   0     0   1   .224      Hendrick lf           4   0   0   0     0   0   .282
Muser 1b              4   0   0   0     0   1   .250        Lowenstein lf       0   0   0   0     0   0   .233
Singleton rf          3   0   0   0     1   1   .189      Spikes rf             4   1   2   0     0   0   .223
Robinson 3b           3   0   0   0     0   1   .154      Howard 1b             4   0   1   1     0   0   .219
  Stillman ph         1   0   0   0     0   0   .071      Fosse c               3   1   1   0     1   0   .167
Duncan c              3   0   1   0     0   0   .268      Duffy ss              4   0   0   0     0   0   .221
  Harper pr           0   0   0   0     0   0   .227      Kern p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Hendricks c         0   0   0   0     0   0   .149        Thomas p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Holtzman p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               33   1   9   0     2   6             Totals               35   4  13   4     4   1

Time of Game: 2:15
Left on Base: Orioles 7, Indians 11
DP: Orioles 2, Indians 2
Errors: Robinson
Triples: Blanks (2), Spikes (2)
Home Runs: Manning (3)
Caught Stealing: Belanger (4), Manning (4)
GIDP: R. Jackson (4), Fosse (1)


Orioles                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Holtzman L(4-3)         8    13   4   4   4   1   1  39   3.05
Totals                  8    13   4   4   4   1   1  39

Indians                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Kern W(3-2)             7     9   1   1   2   6   0  29   2.20
Thomas SV(2)            2     0   0   0   0   0   0   6   1.56
Totals                  9     9   1   1   2   6   0  35

Passed Balls: Fosse (1)

Umpires: HP - Nick Bremigan, 1B - Russ Goetz, 2B - George Maloney, 3B - Jim McKean


ORIOLES 1ST: Bumbry singled to center; Belanger singled to right
[Bumbry out at third (right to third)]; Grich struck out while
Belanger was caught stealing second (catcher to second); 0 R, 2
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 0, Indians 0.

INDIANS 1ST: Manning flied to right in foul territory; Blanks
walked; Bell walked [Blanks to second]; Carty struck out;
Hendrick grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Orioles 0, Indians 0.

ORIOLES 2ND: R. Jackson was called out on strikes; L. May
singled to left; Fosse allowed a passed ball [L. May to second];
Muser was called out on strikes; Singleton was called out on
strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 0, Indians 0.

INDIANS 2ND: Spikes reached on an error by Robinson; Howard
forced Spikes (second to shortstop); Fosse singled to left
[Howard to second]; Duffy popped to catcher in foul territory;
Manning flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Orioles 0,
Indians 0.

ORIOLES 3RD: Robinson grounded out (third to first); Duncan
grounded out (third to first); Bumbry singled to second;
Belanger singled to left [Bumbry to second]; Grich popped to
third in foul territory; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Orioles 0,
Indians 0.

INDIANS 3RD: Blanks singled to right; Bell singled to left
[Blanks to second]; Carty walked [Blanks to third, Bell to
second]; Hendrick lined into a double play (second to shortstop)
[Bell out at second]; Spikes flied out to right; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E,
2 LOB.  Orioles 0, Indians 0.

ORIOLES 4TH: R. Jackson grounded out (second to first); L. May
grounded out (first unassisted); Muser grounded out (third to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 0, Indians 0.

INDIANS 4TH: Howard grounded out (third to first); Fosse walked;
Duffy flied out to right; Manning singled to left [Fosse to
second]; Blanks tripled [Fosse scored, Manning scored]; Bell
flied out to center; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 0, Indians 2.

ORIOLES 5TH: Singleton grounded out (shortstop to first);
Robinson struck out; Duncan grounded out (shortstop to first); 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 0, Indians 2.

INDIANS 5TH: Carty popped to first in foul territory; Hendrick
grounded out (shortstop to first); Spikes singled to left;
Howard flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 0,
Indians 2.

ORIOLES 6TH: Bumbry singled to second; Belanger singled to left
[Bumbry to second]; Grich walked [Bumbry to third, Belanger to
second]; R. Jackson grounded into a double play (pitcher to
shortstop to first) [Bumbry scored (no RBI), Belanger to third,
Grich out at second]; L. May struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Orioles 1, Indians 2.

INDIANS 6TH: Fosse grounded out (shortstop to first); Duffy
flied out to center; Manning homered; Blanks singled to center;
Bell singled to left [Blanks to second]; Carty forced Bell
(second to shortstop); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Orioles 1, Indians
3.

ORIOLES 7TH: Muser flied out to center; Singleton walked;
Robinson forced Singleton (shortstop to second); Duncan singled
to right [Robinson to second]; HARPER RAN FOR DUNCAN; Bumbry
popped to shortstop in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Orioles 1, Indians 3.

INDIANS 7TH: HENDRICKS REPLACED HARPER (PLAYING C ); Hendrick
grounded out (third to first); Spikes tripled; Howard singled to
center [Spikes scored]; Fosse grounded into a double play (third
to second to first) [Howard out at second]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Orioles 1, Indians 4.

ORIOLES 8TH: Belanger singled to left; THOMAS REPLACED KERN
(PITCHING); Grich grounded out (second to first) [Belanger to
second]; R. Jackson grounded out (shortstop to first) [Belanger
to third]; L. May flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Orioles 1, Indians 4.

INDIANS 8TH: Duffy lined to third; Manning singled to right;
Manning was caught stealing second (pitcher to first to
shortstop); Blanks singled to center; Bell flied out to left; 0
R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 1, Indians 4.

ORIOLES 9TH: LOWENSTEIN REPLACED HENDRICK (PLAYING LF); Muser
grounded out (second to first); Singleton flied out to left;
STILLMAN BATTED FOR ROBINSON; Stillman grounded out (shortstop
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 1, Indians 4.