A two-run rally in the top of the ninth inning enabled the A's to edge the Blue Jays, 6-5, ending Toronto's four-game winning skein. The A's trailed, 5-4, when pinch-hitter Tim Hosley began the ninth with a walk and was replaced by pinch-runner Dave McKay, who went to second on a single by Rickey Henderson.

After Joey McLaughlin was relieved by Jerry Garvin on the hill for the Jays, a sacrifice by Dwayne Murphy moved the runners up, and McKay scored and Henderson reached third on a wild pitch. Wayne Gross then delivered a sacrifice fly to plate the decisive tally. [The Sporting News]



Oakland Athletics 6, Toronto Blue Jays 5
Game Played on Sunday, May       31, 1981 (Day game) at Exhibition Stadium
A's          0  0  2    0  0  0    0  2  2  -   6 12  2
Blue Jays    0  1  0    0  4  0    0  0  0  -   5  7  1


A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Blue Jays            AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Henderson lf          4   1   1   0     1   1   .323      Griffin ss            3   1   1   0     1   0   .201
Murphy cf             4   1   1   0     0   1   .256      Garcia 2b             5   1   2   2     0   1   .213
Gross 3b              4   1   3   3     0   1   .204      Bonnell cf            3   0   0   0     1   0   .238
Armas rf              2   0   0   0     0   1   .286      Velez dh              4   2   2   1     1   1   .212
  Heath rf            3   0   0   0     0   1   .230        Upshaw pr,dh        0   0   0   0     0   0   .179
Spencer 1b            3   1   2   0     1   0   .138      Mayberry 1b           2   0   0   0     0   1   .254
Johnson dh            3   1   2   0     1   1   .228        Ainge 3b            1   0   0   0     0   0   .160
Newman c              4   0   1   1     0   0   .210        Iorg ph             1   0   0   0     0   0   .242
Drumright 2b          4   0   2   1     0   1   .357      Macha 3b,1b           2   0   0   0     3   0   .260
Stanley ss            2   0   0   0     0   0   .206      Moseby rf             4   0   1   2     0   0   .238
  Page ph             1   0   0   0     0   0   .154      Bell lf               4   0   0   0     0   0   .215
  Picciolo ss         0   0   0   0     0   0   .225      Martinez c            3   1   1   0     1   0   .200
  Hosley ph           0   0   0   0     1   0   .111      Todd p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  McKay pr,ss         0   1   0   0     0   0   .232        Jackson p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Underwood p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        McLaughlin p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Jones p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Garvin p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Owchinko p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               34   6  12   5     4   7             Totals               32   5   7   5     7   3

Time of Game: 3:07   Attendance: 24,079
Left on Base: A's 7, Blue Jays 10
DP: A's 1, Blue Jays 2
Errors: Gross, Stanley, Todd
Doubles: Newman (6), Martinez (2), Garcia (4), Velez 2 (5)
Home Runs: Gross (4)
Stolen Bases: Henderson (31), Griffin 2 (6)
Sacrifice Hits: Murphy (6), Griffin (4), Bonnell (3)
Sacrifice Flies: Gross (2)
GIDP: Drumright (1), Heath (6)
Hit by Pitch: Mayberry (6,by Underwood)


A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Underwood               4.2   6   5   3   4   3   0  25   4.57
Jones                   1.1   0   0   0   2   0   0   6   2.70
Owchinko W(3-1)         3     1   0   0   1   0   0  11   1.29
Totals                  9     7   5   3   7   3   0  42

Blue Jays              IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Todd                    5.1   5   2   2   3   5   1  23   3.56
Jackson                 2.1   4   2   2   0   1   0  10   2.72
McLaughlin L(0-4)       0.1   3   2   2   1   0   0   4   2.70
Garvin                  1     0   0   0   0   1   0   3   3.68
Totals                  9    12   6   6   4   7   1  40

Hit by Pitch: Underwood (1)
Wild Pitches: Todd 2 (3), Garvin (3)
Balks: Underwood (2)

Umpires: HP - Vic Voltaggio, 1B - Bill Kunkel, 2B - Terry Cooney, 3B - John Shulock


ATHLETICS 1ST: Henderson walked; Henderson stole second; Murphy
grounded out (second to first) [Henderson to third]; Gross
struck out; Armas struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics
0, Blue Jays 0.

BLUE JAYS 1ST: Griffin singled to right; Griffin stole second;
Garcia struck out; Bonnell hit into a double play (right to
right to third) [Griffin out at third]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 0, Blue Jays 0.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Spencer grounded out (pitcher to first); Johnson
walked; Todd threw a wild pitch [Johnson to second]; Newman
flied to left; Johnson was picked off second but was safe on an
error by Todd [Johnson to third]; Drumright struck out; 0 R, 0
H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 0, Blue Jays 0.

BLUE JAYS 2ND: Velez walked; Mayberry was hit by a pitch [Velez
to second]; Macha forced Mayberry (third to second) [Velez to
third]; Moseby forced Macha (first to shortstop) [Velez scored,
Moseby to second (error by Stanley)]; Bell grounded out
(shortstop to first); 1 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 0, Blue
Jays 1.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Stanley grounded out (third to first); Henderson
struck out; Murphy singled to right; Gross homered [Murphy
scored]; Armas popped to second; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 2, Blue Jays 1.

BLUE JAYS 3RD: Martinez doubled to center; Griffin grounded out
(second to first); Garcia doubled to right [Martinez to third];
Bonnell popped to right; Velez was called out on strikes; 0 R, 2
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 2, Blue Jays 1.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Spencer singled to first; Johnson singled to
center [Spencer to second]; Newman flied to left; Drumright
grounded into a double play (second to second to first) [Johnson
out at second]; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 2, Blue Jays 1.

BLUE JAYS 4TH: Mayberry struck out; Macha walked; Moseby popped
to third; Bell flied to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics
2, Blue Jays 1.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Stanley flied to center; Henderson grounded out
(second to first); Murphy struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 2, Blue Jays 1.

BLUE JAYS 5TH: HEATH REPLACED ARMAS (PLAYING RF); Martinez
walked; Griffin reached on an error by Gross on a sacrifice bunt
[Martinez to third, Griffin to second]; Garcia singled to center
[Martinez scored, Griffin scored (unearned)]; Underwood balked
[Garcia to second]; Bonnell out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to
first) [Garcia to third]; Velez doubled to right [Garcia
scored]; Mayberry grounded out (first unassisted) [Velez to
third]; Macha walked; Moseby singled to right [Velez scored
(unearned), Macha to second]; JONES REPLACED UNDERWOOD
(PITCHING); Bell forced Moseby (shortstop to second); 4 R (2
ER), 3 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 2, Blue Jays 5.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Gross singled to center; Heath forced Gross
(third to second); Todd threw a wild pitch [Heath to second];
Spencer walked; JACKSON REPLACED TODD (PITCHING); Johnson struck
out; Newman grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
 Athletics 2, Blue Jays 5.

BLUE JAYS 6TH: Martinez popped to second; Griffin walked;
Griffin stole second; Garcia flied to right; Bonnell walked;
Velez flied to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 2, Blue
Jays 5.

ATHLETICS 7TH: AINGE REPLACED MAYBERRY (PLAYING 3B); MACHA
CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 1B); Drumright singled to left; PAGE
BATTED FOR STANLEY; Page flied to left; Henderson flied to left;
Murphy grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 2, Blue Jays 5.

BLUE JAYS 7TH: PICCIOLO REPLACED PAGE (PLAYING SS); OWCHINKO
REPLACED JONES (PITCHING); Ainge grounded out (shortstop to
first); Macha walked; Moseby grounded out (second to first)
[Macha to second]; Bell grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 2, Blue Jays 5.

ATHLETICS 8TH: Gross singled to right; Heath grounded into a
double play (second to shortstop to first) [Gross out at
second]; Spencer singled to right; Johnson singled to center
[Spencer to second]; MCLAUGHLIN REPLACED JACKSON (PITCHING);
Newman doubled to right [Spencer scored, Johnson to third];
Drumright singled to center [Johnson scored, Newman out at home
(center to catcher)]; 2 R, 5 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 4, Blue
Jays 5.

BLUE JAYS 8TH: Martinez flied to left; Griffin flied to left;
Garcia flied to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 4, Blue
Jays 5.

ATHLETICS 9TH: HOSLEY BATTED FOR PICCIOLO; Hosley walked; MCKAY
RAN FOR HOSLEY; Henderson singled to center [McKay to second];
GARVIN REPLACED MCLAUGHLIN (PITCHING); Murphy out on a sacrifice
bunt (first to second) [McKay to third, Henderson to second];
Garvin threw a wild pitch [McKay scored, Henderson to third];
Gross hit a sacrifice fly to right [Henderson scored]; Heath
struck out; 2 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 6, Blue Jays 5.

BLUE JAYS 9TH: MCKAY STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING SS); Bonnell
grounded out (shortstop to first); Velez doubled to center;
UPSHAW RAN FOR VELEZ; IORG BATTED FOR AINGE; Iorg grounded out
(third to first); Macha flied to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 6, Blue Jays 5.