Relieving for the first time since May 18, 1975, Dennis Eckersley struck out Phil Roof in the ninth inning to save a victory for the Indians, who ended their five-game losing streak by defeating the Twins, 7-6. Rico Carty and Buddy Bell cracked bases-loaded singles to drive in two runs apiece and lead the Indians' attack.

In the ninth, Butch Wynegar hit a three-run homer to pull the Twins within one run and Lyman Bostock doubled. That's when Eckersley made his relief appearance as the Indians' fourth pitcher of the game. After passing Larry Hisle intentionally, Eckersley "blew" the ball past Roof for the game-ending strikeout. [The Sporting News]



Cleveland Indians 7, Minnesota Twins 6
Game Played on Friday, July      16, 1976 (Night game) at Metropolitan Stadium
Indians      0  0  2    0  0  2    0  0  3  -   7 10  1
Twins        0  0  0    0  0  0    1  2  3  -   6 12  1


Indians              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Twins                AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Kuiper 2b             5   1   2   0     0   0   .233      Braun lf              4   0   0   0     0   1   .258
Duffy ss              3   1   0   0     2   0   .222        Brye ph             1   0   0   0     0   1   .267
Manning cf            5   0   0   1     0   1   .297      Smalley ss            5   1   2   0     0   1   .225
Carty dh              2   0   1   2     1   0   .298      Carew 1b              2   2   1   0     3   0   .324
  Lowenstein pr,dh    0   1   0   0     0   0   .244      Wynegar c             5   2   3   3     0   1   .296
  Blanks ph,dh        2   0   1   0     0   0   .287      Bostock cf            5   0   1   0     0   1   .329
Hendrick lf           4   1   1   0     0   2   .260      Hisle rf              4   1   2   2     1   0   .259
Powell 1b             3   0   0   0     1   0   .194      Cubbage 3b            3   0   2   1     0   0   .231
Bell 3b               4   1   2   2     0   0   .289        Ford ph             1   0   0   0     0   1   .237
Spikes rf             4   0   2   0     0   1   .237        Gomez 2b            0   0   0   0     0   0   .250
Ashby c               3   2   1   1     1   0   .223        Roof ph             1   0   0   0     0   1   .217
Dobson p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Kusick dh             3   0   0   0     1   0   .306
  Kern p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Randall 2b            2   0   1   0     0   0   .260
  LaRoche p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Oliva ph            1   0   0   0     0   1   .143
  Eckersley p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Terrell 2b,3b       1   0   0   0     0   1   .208
                                                          Singer p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Burgmeier p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Campbell p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               35   7  10   6     5   4             Totals               38   6  12   6     5   9

Time of Game: 3:02   Attendance:  8,962
Left on Base: Indians 6, Twins 10
DP: Indians 1, Twins 1
Errors: Bell, Wynegar
Doubles: Wynegar (15), Bostock (8)
Home Runs: Wynegar (7)
Stolen Bases: Hisle (22)
Caught Stealing: Kuiper (9), Blanks (1), Carew (12)
GIDP: Bostock (5)


Indians                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Dobson W(11-7)          6     7   1   1   1   2   0  25   3.43
Kern                    1     1   2   2   2   2   0   6   2.45
LaRoche                 1.2   4   3   3   1   4   1  10   2.14
Eckersley SV(1)         0.1   0   0   0   1   1   0   2   4.93
Totals                  9    12   6   6   5   9   1  43

Twins                  IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Singer L(8-5)           5.2   5   4   4   5   3   0  26   3.90
Burgmeier               2.1   1   0   0   0   1   0   7   2.22
Campbell                1     4   3   1   0   0   0   7   3.20
Totals                  9    10   7   5   5   4   0  40

Umpires: HP - Nestor Chylak, 1B - Jim Evans, 2B - Joe Brinkman, 3B - Greg Kosc


INDIANS 1ST: Kuiper singled to right; Kuiper was caught stealing
second (catcher to shortstop to first); Duffy walked; Manning
struck out; Carty grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Indians 0, Twins 0.

TWINS 1ST: Braun flied out to left; Smalley flied out to center;
Carew walked; Wynegar grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Indians 0, Twins 0.

INDIANS 2ND: Hendrick grounded out (shortstop to first); Powell
flied out to left; Bell flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Indians 0, Twins 0.

TWINS 2ND: Bostock grounded out (second to first); Hisle
grounded out (second to first); Cubbage singled to right; Kusick
grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Indians 0,
Twins 0.

INDIANS 3RD: Spikes singled to center; Ashby walked [Spikes to
second]; Kuiper flied out to center; Duffy walked [Spikes to
third, Ashby to second]; Manning forced Spikes (first to
catcher) [Ashby to third, Duffy to second]; Carty singled to
center [Ashby scored, Duffy scored, Manning to third]; Hendrick
struck out; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Indians 2, Twins 0.

TWINS 3RD: Randall grounded out (third to first); Braun flied
out to center; Smalley was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Indians 2, Twins 0.

INDIANS 4TH: Powell grounded out (first unassisted); Bell flied
out to left; Spikes grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Indians 2, Twins 0.

TWINS 4TH: Carew singled to right; Carew was caught stealing
second (catcher to shortstop); Wynegar struck out; Bostock
grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Indians 2, Twins 0.

INDIANS 5TH: Ashby flied out to center; Kuiper flied out to
left; Duffy lined to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Indians 2,
Twins 0.

TWINS 5TH: Hisle flied out to left; Cubbage made an out to
third; Kusick reached on an error by Bell; Randall singled to
center [Kusick to second]; Braun flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 1
E, 2 LOB.  Indians 2, Twins 0.

INDIANS 6TH: Manning flied out to left; Carty walked; LOWENSTEIN
RAN FOR CARTY; Hendrick singled to right [Lowenstein to second];
Powell walked [Lowenstein to third, Hendrick to second]; Bell
singled to center [Lowenstein scored, Hendrick scored, Powell to
second]; Spikes struck out; BURGMEIER REPLACED SINGER
(PITCHING); Ashby made an out to shortstop; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Indians 4, Twins 0.

TWINS 6TH: LOWENSTEIN STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING DH); Smalley
singled to right; Carew flied out to center; Wynegar singled to
right [Smalley to third]; Bostock grounded into a double play
(first to shortstop to pitcher) [Wynegar out at second]; 0 R, 2
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Indians 4, Twins 0.

INDIANS 7TH: Kuiper flied out to center; Duffy grounded out
(second to first); Manning grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Indians 4, Twins 0.

TWINS 7TH: Hisle singled to left; Hisle stole second; Cubbage
singled to right [Hisle scored]; KERN REPLACED DOBSON
(PITCHING); Kusick walked [Cubbage to second]; OLIVA BATTED FOR
RANDALL; Oliva struck out; Braun struck out; Smalley lined to
left; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Indians 4, Twins 1.

INDIANS 8TH: TERRELL REPLACED OLIVA (PLAYING 2B); BLANKS BATTED
FOR LOWENSTEIN; Blanks singled; Hendrick struck out while Blanks
was caught stealing second (catcher to second); Powell grounded
out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Indians 4, Twins
1.

TWINS 8TH: Carew walked; Wynegar doubled to left [Carew to
third]; LAROCHE REPLACED KERN (PITCHING); Bostock struck out;
Hisle singled to left [Carew scored, Wynegar scored]; FORD
BATTED FOR CUBBAGE; Ford struck out; Kusick grounded out
(pitcher to first); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Indians 4, Twins 3.

INDIANS 9TH: GOMEZ REPLACED FORD (PLAYING 2B); TERRELL CHANGED
POSITIONS (PLAYING 3B); CAMPBELL REPLACED BURGMEIER (PITCHING);
Bell singled to left; Spikes singled to right [Bell to third];
Ashby singled to left [Bell scored, Spikes out at third (left to
third), Ashby to second (on throw to 3b)]; On a bunt Kuiper
singled [Ashby to third]; Duffy reached on a fielder's choice
[Ashby scored (error by Wynegar; assist by Terrell) (unearned),
Kuiper to second]; Manning grounded out (first to pitcher)
[Kuiper scored (unearned), Duffy to third]; Blanks flied out to
left; 3 R (1 ER), 4 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Indians 7, Twins 3.

TWINS 9TH: Terrell struck out; BRYE BATTED FOR BRAUN; Brye
struck out; Smalley singled to center; Carew walked [Smalley to
second]; Wynegar homered [Smalley scored, Carew scored]; Bostock
doubled to left; ECKERSLEY REPLACED LAROCHE (PITCHING); Hisle
was walked intentionally; ROOF BATTED FOR GOMEZ; Roof struck
out; 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Indians 7, Twins 6.