A hard slide home by Lee May, who knocked the ball out of catcher Alan Ashby's glove, made it possible for the Orioles to defeat the Blue Jays, 5-3. The Orioles had a homer by Ken Singleton in taking a 2-0 lead, but the Blue Jays slugged their way ahead in the fourth with circuit clouts by Al Woods, Doug Rader and Ron Fairly, marking the first three-homer inning in the expansion club's history.

May started the Orioles' sixth with a single and took third on a single by Eddie Murray. With one out, Doug DeCinces tapped to third baseman Roy Howell, who threw home, but May was safe on his slide. Ashby was charged with an error. Murray then scored on a sacrifice fly by Rick Dempsey. Pat Kelly added an insurance tally with a homer in the eighth. [The Sporting News]



Baltimore Orioles 5, Toronto Blue Jays 3
Game Played on Friday, June      17, 1977 (Night game) at Exhibition Stadium
Orioles      1  0  0    1  0  2    0  1  0  -   5  9  0
Blue Jays    0  0  0    3  0  0    0  0  0  -   3  8  1


Orioles              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Blue Jays            AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Bumbry cf             3   0   2   0     0   1   .299      Scott cf              4   0   0   0     0   2   .240
  Shopay pr,cf        2   0   0   0     0   0   .238      A. Woods lf           4   1   3   1     0   1   .322
Dauer 2b              4   0   0   0     1   1   .211      Bailor ss             4   0   0   0     0   0   .318
Singleton rf          4   2   2   1     0   0   .346      Rader dh              4   1   1   1     0   2   .265
L. May 1b             3   1   1   0     1   1   .242      Fairly rf             4   1   1   1     0   0   .323
Murray dh             4   1   2   0     0   0   .276      Ault 1b               3   0   0   0     0   0   .237
Kelly lf              4   1   2   1     0   0   .286        Ewing ph            1   0   1   0     0   0   .263
DeCinces 3b           3   0   0   0     1   1   .262      Howell 3b             3   0   0   0     1   0   .283
Dempsey c             3   0   0   1     0   1   .218      Ashby c               4   0   1   0     0   1   .213
Belanger ss           4   0   0   0     0   0   .189      McKay 2b              2   0   1   0     0   0   .185
Grimsley p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Vuckovich p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  D. Martinez p       0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Johnson p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               34   5   9   3     3   5             Totals               33   3   8   3     1   6

Time of Game: 2:12   Attendance: 26,183
Left on Base: Orioles 6, Blue Jays 5
DP: Orioles 1, Blue Jays 2
Errors: Ashby
Doubles: Ashby (9), A. Woods (8), Ewing (1)
Triples: McKay (3)
Home Runs: Singleton (9), Kelly (8), A. Woods (4), Rader (2), Fairly (7)
Caught Stealing: Ashby (2)
Sacrifice Flies: Dempsey (3)
GIDP: Dauer (2), Kelly (3), Ashby (5)
Hit by Pitch: McKay (2,by D. Martinez)


Orioles                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Grimsley                4     5   3   3   0   1   3  17   4.12
D. Martinez W(6-4)      5     3   0   0   1   5   0  18   2.70
Totals                  9     8   3   3   1   6   3  35

Blue Jays              IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Vuckovich L(2-6)        7.2   9   5   3   3   4   2  34   3.14
Johnson                 1.1   0   0   0   0   1   0   4   2.55
Totals                  9     9   5   3   3   5   2  38

Hit by Pitch: D. Martinez (3)
Wild Pitches: Vuckovich (4)

Umpires: HP - Nick Bremigan, 1B - Al Clark, 2B - Jerry Neudecker, 3B - Art Frantz


ORIOLES 1ST: Bumbry struck out; Dauer flied out to right;
Singleton homered; L. May struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Orioles 1, Blue Jays 0.

BLUE JAYS 1ST: Scott lined to third; A. Woods was called out on
strikes; Bailor grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Orioles 1, Blue Jays 0.

ORIOLES 2ND: Murray grounded out (second to first); On a bunt
Kelly singled; Vuckovich threw a wild pitch [Kelly to second];
DeCinces popped to second in foul territory; Dempsey struck out;
0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 1, Blue Jays 0.

BLUE JAYS 2ND: Rader grounded out (third to first); Fairly
grounded out (first unassisted); Ault flied out to center; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 1, Blue Jays 0.

ORIOLES 3RD: Belanger grounded out (third to first); Bumbry
singled to left; Dauer grounded into a double play (shortstop to
second to first) [Bumbry out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Orioles 1, Blue Jays 0.

BLUE JAYS 3RD: Howell grounded out (pitcher to first); Ashby
grounded out (second to first); McKay tripled; Scott grounded
out (first unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 1, Blue
Jays 0.

ORIOLES 4TH: Singleton singled to center; L. May walked
[Singleton to second]; Murray singled to right [Singleton to
third, L. May to second]; Kelly grounded into a double play
(second to shortstop to first) [Singleton scored (no RBI), L.
May to third, Murray out at second]; DeCinces struck out; 1 R, 2
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 2, Blue Jays 0.

BLUE JAYS 4TH: A. Woods homered; Bailor popped to second; Rader
homered; Fairly homered; Ault flied out to right; Howell
grounded out (pitcher to first); 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles
2, Blue Jays 3.

ORIOLES 5TH: Dempsey flied out to left; Belanger flied to right
in foul territory; Bumbry singled to left; SHOPAY RAN FOR
BUMBRY; Dauer walked [Shopay to second]; Singleton grounded out
(pitcher to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Orioles 2, Blue Jays
3.

BLUE JAYS 5TH: SHOPAY STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); Ashby
doubled; D. MARTINEZ REPLACED GRIMSLEY (PITCHING); Ashby was
caught stealing third (catcher to shortstop to third); McKay was
hit by a pitch; Scott struck out; A. Woods singled to left
[McKay to third]; Bailor flied out to right; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Orioles 2, Blue Jays 3.

ORIOLES 6TH: L. May singled to right; Murray singled to right
[L. May to third]; Kelly flied out to left [Murray to second];
DeCinces reached on a fielder's choice [L. May scored (error by
Ashby; assist by Howell) (unearned), Murray to third]; Dempsey
hit a sacrifice fly to center [Murray scored (unearned)];
Belanger flied out to right; 2 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.
Orioles 4, Blue Jays 3.

BLUE JAYS 6TH: Rader struck out; Fairly popped to shortstop;
Ault grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Orioles 4, Blue Jays 3.

ORIOLES 7TH: Shopay popped to first in foul territory; Dauer
grounded out (shortstop to first); Singleton grounded out
(shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 4, Blue
Jays 3.

BLUE JAYS 7TH: Howell walked; On a bunt Ashby grounded into a
double play (pitcher to shortstop to second) [Howell out at
second]; McKay grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Orioles 4, Blue Jays 3.

ORIOLES 8TH: L. May flied out to left; Murray grounded out
(second to first); Kelly homered; DeCinces walked; JOHNSON
REPLACED VUCKOVICH (PITCHING); Dempsey lined to right; 1 R, 1 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 5, Blue Jays 3.

BLUE JAYS 8TH: Scott struck out; A. Woods doubled to right;
Bailor grounded out (shortstop to first); Rader struck out; 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 5, Blue Jays 3.

ORIOLES 9TH: Belanger flied out to right; Shopay grounded out
(shortstop to first); Dauer was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 5, Blue Jays 3.

BLUE JAYS 9TH: Fairly grounded out (shortstop to first); EWING
BATTED FOR AULT; Ewing doubled to right; Howell flied out to
left; Ashby struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 5, Blue
Jays 3.