Center fielder Dwayne Murphy killed off a Ranger rally, cutting down the potential tying run at the plate, to enable the A's to emerge with a 4-3 victory. The Rangers had picked up one run in the ninth and had two men on base with one out when Murphy grabbed a single by pinch-hitter Dave Roberts and threw out Pat Putnam who tried to score from second.

Bob Lacey then retired Mickey Rivers to pick up the save in relief of Mike Norris. Tony Armas and Wayne Gross each hit a run-scoring triple and Mitchell Page knocked in two runs with singles to account for the A's scoring. [The Sporting News]



Oakland Athletics 4, Texas Rangers 3
Game Played on Saturday, May       31, 1980 (Night game) at Arlington Stadium
A's          0  0  0    0  0  2    0  2  0  -   4  8  1
Rangers      1  0  0    0  0  0    0  1  1  -   3  7  0


A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Rangers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Henderson lf          3   2   2   0     1   0   .274      Rivers cf             4   1   1   0     1   0   .302
Murphy cf             3   0   1   0     0   0   .311      Wills 2b              4   0   0   0     0   0   .251
Page dh               4   2   1   2     0   0   .260      Oliver lf             2   0   1   1     1   0   .289
Gross 1b              4   0   2   1     0   0   .281      Bell 3b               4   0   1   0     0   0   .324
Armas rf              4   0   1   1     0   2   .292      Ellis dh              2   0   0   1     1   0   .297
Newman c              4   0   0   0     0   0   .205        Grubb pr,dh         0   1   0   0     0   0   .242
Klutts 3b             4   0   1   0     0   1   .277      Zisk rf               4   0   0   0     0   2   .263
Guerrero ss           2   0   0   0     1   0   .212      Putnam 1b             4   0   2   0     0   1   .230
Edwards 2b            4   0   0   0     0   1   .212      Sundberg c            4   0   1   1     0   0   .304
Norris p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Harrelson ss          1   0   0   0     0   0   .118
  Lacey p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Sample ph           0   1   0   0     1   0   .200
                                                            Frias ss            0   0   0   0     0   0   .239
                                                            Norris ph           0   0   0   0     0   0   .250
                                                            Roberts ph          1   0   1   0     0   0   .212
                                                          Medich p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Babcock p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               32   4   8   4     2   4             Totals               30   3   7   3     4   3

Time of Game: 2:42   Attendance: 24,305
Left on Base: A's 5, Rangers 7
DP: A's 0, Rangers 0
Errors: Norris
Doubles: Gross (7), Henderson (6)
Triples: Armas (1), Gross (1)
Stolen Bases: Page (9), Rivers (6), Wills (13)
Caught Stealing: Oliver (5)
Sacrifice Hits: Guerrero (3), Murphy (9), Harrelson (4)
Sacrifice Flies: Ellis (2), Oliver (4)


A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Norris W(6-3)           8.1   6   3   3   4   3   0  35   1.42
Lacey SV(1)             0.2   1   0   0   0   0   0   2   2.45
Totals                  9     7   3   3   4   3   0  37

Rangers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Medich L(4-3)           7.1   8   4   4   2   2   0  31   4.81
Babcock                 1.2   0   0   0   0   2   0   5   1.93
Totals                  9     8   4   4   2   4   0  36

Wild Pitches: Norris (1)

Umpires: HP - Derryl Cousins, 1B - Al Clark, 2B - Dave Phillips, 3B - Steve Palermo


ATHLETICS 1ST: Henderson flied out to center; Murphy flied out
to center; Page grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 0.

RANGERS 1ST: Rivers walked; Wills grounded out (first
unassisted) [Rivers to second]; Oliver walked; Bell singled to
right [Rivers to third, Oliver to second]; Ellis hit a sacrifice
fly to center [Rivers scored]; Norris threw a wild pitch [Oliver
to third, Bell to second]; Zisk struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Gross doubled to left; Gross was picked off
second (pitcher to second); Armas struck out; Newman flied out
to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

RANGERS 2ND: Putnam singled to right; Sundberg forced Putnam
(third to second); Harrelson out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to
second) [Sundberg to second]; Rivers flied out to left; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Klutts singled to center; Guerrero out on a
sacrifice bunt (first unassisted) [Klutts to second]; Edwards
grounded out (second to first); Henderson walked; Murphy forced
Henderson (second to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

RANGERS 3RD: Wills grounded out (third to first); Oliver singled
to center; Oliver was caught stealing second (catcher to
shortstop); Bell flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Page grounded out (second to first); Gross
grounded out (shortstop to first); Armas grounded out (shortstop
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

RANGERS 4TH: Ellis grounded out (third to first); Zisk flied out
to right; Putnam struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 0,
Rangers 1.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Newman grounded out (shortstop to first); Klutts
grounded out (shortstop to first); Guerrero walked; Edwards
forced Guerrero (shortstop to second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

RANGERS 5TH: Sundberg grounded out (pitcher to first); Harrelson
grounded out (first unassisted); Rivers reached on an error by
Norris; Rivers stole second; Wills grounded out (second to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Henderson singled to center; Murphy out on a
sacrifice bunt (third to first) [Henderson to second]; Page
singled to center [Henderson scored]; Page stole second; Gross
flied out to right; Armas tripled to right [Page scored]; Newman
grounded out (shortstop to first); 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 2, Rangers 1.

RANGERS 6TH: Oliver flied out to left; Bell grounded out
(shortstop to first); Ellis flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Athletics 2, Rangers 1.

ATHLETICS 7TH: Klutts grounded out (shortstop to first);
Guerrero grounded out (pitcher to second to first); Edwards
struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 2, Rangers 1.

RANGERS 7TH: Zisk struck out; Putnam grounded out (pitcher to
first); Sundberg made an out to first; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 2, Rangers 1.

ATHLETICS 8TH: Henderson doubled to right; Murphy singled to
second [Henderson to third]; Page forced Murphy (first to
shortstop) [Henderson scored]; Gross tripled to right [Page
scored]; BABCOCK REPLACED MEDICH (PITCHING); Armas struck out;
Newman flied out to center; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 4,
Rangers 1.

RANGERS 8TH: SAMPLE BATTED FOR HARRELSON; Sample walked; Rivers
singled to right [Sample to second]; Wills forced Rivers (first
to shortstop) [Sample to third]; Wills stole second; Oliver hit
a sacrifice fly to center [Sample scored]; Bell flied out to
right; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 4, Rangers 2.

ATHLETICS 9TH: FRIAS REPLACED SAMPLE (PLAYING SS); Klutts struck
out; Guerrero flied out to left; Edwards grounded out (second to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 4, Rangers 2.

RANGERS 9TH: Ellis walked; GRUBB RAN FOR ELLIS; Zisk flied out
to right; Putnam singled to right [Grubb to second]; Sundberg
singled to left [Grubb scored, Putnam to second]; NORRIS BATTED
FOR FRIAS; LACEY REPLACED NORRIS (PITCHING); ROBERTS BATTED FOR
NORRIS; Roberts singled to center [Putnam out at home (center to
catcher), Sundberg to second]; Rivers forced Sundberg (third
unassisted); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 4, Rangers 3.