An unusual triple play enabled the Orioles to cut off a rally in the ninth inning and emerge with a 7-6 victory over the Royals. Lee May hit a three-run homer for the Orioles, while the Royals had round-trippers by Hal McRae and Al Cowens.

Trailing in the ninth, 7-5, the Royals put Cowens, Dave Nelson and Fred Patek on base with none out. Pinch-hitter John Wathan hit a sacrifice fly to right fielder Pat Kelly, scoring Cowens. Patek tried to advance from first to second after the catch, but Mark Belanger took the throw from Kelly and tagged out Patek in a rundown. Nelson ventured too far off third base after moving up, and was trapped in another rundown that ended with Belanger tagging out the runner to complete the triple play. [The Sporting News]



Baltimore Orioles 7, Kansas City Royals 6
Game Played on Friday, June      3, 1977 (Night game) at Royals Stadium
Orioles      2  0  0    4  0  0    1  0  0  -   7 13  0
Royals       0  0  0    1  2  1    1  0  1  -   6 14  3


Orioles              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Bumbry cf             5   2   2   0     0   0   .283      Brett 3b              5   1   2   0     0   0   .303
Smith 2b              5   2   3   1     0   0   .281      McRae dh              4   1   1   1     1   0   .296
Singleton rf          3   1   2   0     2   0   .321      Otis cf               4   1   3   1     1   0   .273
  Shopay pr,lf        0   0   0   0     0   0   .214      Mayberry 1b           5   0   0   0     0   1   .216
L. May 1b             5   1   1   3     0   1   .233      Cowens rf             4   2   3   2     1   0   .315
  Muser 1b            0   0   0   0     0   0   .237      Zdeb lf               3   0   0   0     0   0   .280
Murray dh             5   0   2   1     0   0   .257        Poquette ph,lf      0   0   0   0     1   0   .317
Kelly lf,rf           3   1   1   1     1   0   .280        Nelson ph           0   0   0   0     1   0   .259
Dempsey c             4   0   0   0     1   1   .257      Patek ss              4   1   2   0     1   0   .278
Robinson 3b           5   0   2   0     0   1   .206      Martinez c            3   0   1   0     0   0   .231
Belanger ss           4   0   0   1     0   1   .180        Porter ph,c         0   0   0   0     1   0   .263
Grimsley p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Wathan ph           0   0   0   1     0   0   .417
  D. Miller p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      White 2b              3   0   2   1     0   0   .219
  T. Martinez p       0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        LaCock ph           0   0   0   0     0   0   .298
                                                            Rojas ph,2b         1   0   0   0     0   0   .296
                                                          Bird p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Mingori p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Gura p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               39   7  13   7     4   4             Totals               36   6  14   6     7   1

Time of Game: 3:00   Attendance: 21,878
Left on Base: Orioles 11, Royals 11
DP: Orioles 2, Royals 1
Errors: Mayberry, Patek, Mingori
Doubles: White (6), Otis (6), Cowens (13)
Home Runs: L. May (7), McRae (5), Cowens (8)
Stolen Bases: Bumbry (8)
Sacrifice Hits: Kelly (1)
Sacrifice Flies: Belanger (1), Wathan (1)
GIDP: L. May (4), Martinez (1), Rojas (1)


Orioles                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Grimsley W(6-3)         5.2   9   4   4   4   1   1  29   3.43
D. Miller               0.2   2   1   1   2   0   1   6   6.00
T. Martinez SV(1)       2.2   3   1   1   1   0   0   9   3.75
Totals                  9    14   6   6   7   1   2  44

Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Bird L(2-1)             3.2   9   6   6   2   4   1  23   7.25
Mingori                 3.1   3   1   0   1   0   0  14   3.24
Gura                    2     1   0   0   1   0   0   8   2.90
Totals                  9    13   7   6   4   4   1  45

Umpires: HP - Dale Ford, 1B - Lou DiMuro, 2B - Bill Deegan, 3B - Jim McKean


ORIOLES 1ST: Bumbry singled to right; Smith singled to right
[Bumbry to second]; Singleton walked [Bumbry to third, Smith to
second]; L. May struck out; Murray reached on an error by
Mayberry [Bumbry scored, Smith to third, Singleton to second];
Kelly singled to right [Smith scored, Singleton to third, Murray
to second]; Dempsey struck out; Robinson grounded out (third to
first); 2 R, 3 H, 1 E, 3 LOB.  Orioles 2, Royals 0.

ROYALS 1ST: Brett singled to left; McRae forced Brett (shortstop
to second); Otis walked [McRae to second]; Mayberry struck out;
Cowens walked [McRae to third, Otis to second]; Zdeb flied out
to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Orioles 2, Royals 0.

ORIOLES 2ND: Belanger made an out to first; Bumbry grounded out
(second to first); Smith singled to right; Singleton singled to
right [Smith to third]; L. May forced Singleton (third to
second); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Orioles 2, Royals 0.

ROYALS 2ND: Patek walked; Martinez grounded into a double play
(pitcher to second to first) [Patek out at second]; White
doubled to left; Brett grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 2, Royals 0.

ORIOLES 3RD: Murray grounded out (first unassisted); Kelly
grounded out (third to first); Dempsey grounded out (shortstop
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 2, Royals 0.

ROYALS 3RD: McRae grounded out (second to first); Otis flied out
to right; Mayberry grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 2, Royals 0.

ORIOLES 4TH: Robinson was called out on strikes; Belanger struck
out; Bumbry singled to right; Bumbry stole second; Smith singled
to right [Bumbry scored]; Singleton walked [Smith to second]; L.
May homered [Smith scored, Singleton scored]; Murray singled to
right; MINGORI REPLACED BIRD (PITCHING); Kelly grounded out
(catcher to first); 4 R, 4 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 6, Royals 0.

ROYALS 4TH: Cowens grounded out (pitcher to first); Zdeb
grounded out (second to first); Patek singled to center;
Martinez singled to center [Patek to third]; White singled to
right [Patek scored, Martinez to second]; Brett grounded out
(second to first); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Orioles 6, Royals 1.

ORIOLES 5TH: Dempsey flied out to center; Robinson singled to
third; Belanger flied out to right; Bumbry flied out to right; 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 6, Royals 1.

ROYALS 5TH: McRae homered; Otis doubled to right; Mayberry flied
out to center; Cowens singled [Otis scored]; Zdeb grounded out
(shortstop to first) [Cowens to second]; Patek flied out to
left; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 6, Royals 3.

ORIOLES 6TH: Smith grounded out (second to first); Singleton
singled to left; L. May made an out to third; Murray popped to
catcher; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 6, Royals 3.

ROYALS 6TH: Martinez made an out to second; White grounded out
(shortstop to first); Brett singled to third; McRae walked
[Brett to second]; D. MILLER REPLACED GRIMSLEY (PITCHING); Otis
singled to center [Brett scored, McRae to third]; Mayberry
grounded out (first unassisted); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Orioles
6, Royals 4.

ORIOLES 7TH: Kelly walked; Dempsey flied out to right; Robinson
singled to third [Kelly to second]; Robinson was picked off
first but was safe on an error by Mingori [Kelly to third,
Robinson to second]; Belanger hit a sacrifice fly to left [Kelly
scored (unearned)]; Bumbry flied out to center; 1 R (0 ER), 1 H,
1 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 7, Royals 4.

ROYALS 7TH: Cowens homered; POQUETTE BATTED FOR ZDEB; Poquette
walked; Patek made an out to shortstop; PORTER BATTED FOR
MARTINEZ; Porter walked [Poquette to second]; LACOCK BATTED FOR
WHITE; T. MARTINEZ REPLACED D. MILLER (PITCHING); ROJAS BATTED
FOR LACOCK; Rojas grounded into a double play (shortstop to
second to first) [Porter out at second]; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Orioles 7, Royals 5.

ORIOLES 8TH: PORTER STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING C ); ROJAS STAYED IN
GAME (PLAYING 2B); POQUETTE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); GURA
REPLACED MINGORI (PITCHING); Smith flied out to right; Singleton
reached on an error by Patek; SHOPAY RAN FOR SINGLETON; L. May
grounded into a double play (third to second to first) [Shopay
out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 7, Royals 5.

ROYALS 8TH: SHOPAY STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); KELLY CHANGED
POSITIONS (PLAYING RF); Brett lined to shortstop; McRae flied
out to center; Otis singled to pitcher; Mayberry flied out to
right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 7, Royals 5.

ORIOLES 9TH: Murray singled to center; Kelly out on a sacrifice
bunt (third to first) [Murray to second]; Dempsey was walked
intentionally; Robinson forced Dempsey (third to second) [Murray
to third]; Belanger forced Robinson (second unassisted); 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Orioles 7, Royals 5.

ROYALS 9TH: MUSER REPLACED L. MAY (PLAYING 1B); Cowens doubled
to left; NELSON BATTED FOR POQUETTE; Nelson walked; Patek
singled to left [Cowens to third, Nelson to second]; WATHAN
BATTED FOR PORTER; Wathan sacrifice flied into a triple play
(right to shortstop to second to shortstop to shortstop) [Cowens
scored, Nelson out at third, Patek out at second]; Dave
Nelson,who moved to 3B after the catch, started home and was
caught in a rundown to end the game; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Orioles 7, Royals 6.