Yielding just three hits and not permitting a runner past first base, Steve McCatty lowered his league-leading ERA to 2.20 in pitching the A's to a 3-0 whitewashing of the Rangers. Rickey Henderson cracked a leadoff homer in the first inning and the A's picked up two more runs in the eighth on a squeeze bunt by Rob Picciolo and RBI single by Henderson. [The Sporting News]

Oakland Athletics 3, Texas Rangers 0

Game Played on Tuesday, September 8, 1981 (Night game) at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Rangers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 3 0 A's 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 x - 3 4 1 Rangers AB R H RBI BB SO AVG A's AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Rivers cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .259 Henderson lf 4 1 2 2 0 1 .334 Sample lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .268 Murphy cf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .273 Oliver dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 .317 Johnson dh 3 0 0 0 1 1 .251 Bell 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .309 Armas rf 3 0 0 0 0 2 .276 Jones rf 3 0 0 0 0 3 .296 Spencer 1b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .196 Sundberg c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .271 Gross 3b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .182 Putnam 1b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .248 Sexton pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 Wills 2b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .248 McKay 3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .211 Mendoza ss 2 0 0 0 0 1 .249 Heath c 2 0 0 0 1 0 .241 Poquette ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .083 Stanley 2b 3 1 1 0 0 0 .212 Wagner ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 Picciolo ss 2 0 0 1 0 1 .222 Hough p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 McCatty p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Comer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Mercer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Kern p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 30 0 3 0 0 7 Totals 26 3 4 3 3 7 Time of Game: 2:26 Attendance: 17,469 Left on Base: Rangers 3, A's 3 DP: Rangers 0, A's 0 Errors: McCatty Home Runs: Henderson (6) Stolen Bases: Sexton (1) Caught Stealing: Johnson (2) Sacrifice Hits: Picciolo (9) Rangers IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Hough L(0-1) 7 3 3 3 2 7 1 25 3.99 Comer 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 3.00 Mercer 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4.26 Kern 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1.86 Totals 8 4 3 3 3 7 1 30 A's IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA McCatty W(11-6) 9 3 0 0 0 7 0 30 2.19 Totals 9 3 0 0 0 7 0 30 Wild Pitches: Hough (2) Umpires: HP - Russ Goetz, 1B - George Maloney, 2B - Rocky Roe, 3B - Ken Kaiser RANGERS 1ST: Rivers singled to center; Sample flied out to center; Oliver reached on an error by McCatty [Rivers out at third (pitcher to first to shortstop)]; Bell struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 0, Athletics 0. ATHLETICS 1ST: Henderson homered; Murphy grounded out (second to first); Johnson struck out; Armas struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 0, Athletics 1. RANGERS 2ND: Jones struck out; Sundberg struck out; Putnam flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 0, Athletics 1. ATHLETICS 2ND: Spencer made an out to second; Gross made an out to catcher; Heath grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 0, Athletics 1. RANGERS 3RD: Wills grounded out (pitcher to third to first); Mendoza struck out; Rivers grounded out (catcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 0, Athletics 1. ATHLETICS 3RD: Stanley grounded out (shortstop to first); Picciolo grounded out (first unassisted); Henderson struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 0, Athletics 1. RANGERS 4TH: Sample flied out to right; Oliver grounded out (shortstop to first); Bell flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 0, Athletics 1. ATHLETICS 4TH: Murphy grounded out (shortstop to first); Johnson walked; Johnson was caught stealing second (catcher to second); Armas struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 0, Athletics 1. RANGERS 5TH: Jones struck out; Sundberg made an out to first; Putnam singled to left; Wills grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 0, Athletics 1. ATHLETICS 5TH: Spencer made an out to third; Gross made an out to second; Heath grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 0, Athletics 1. RANGERS 6TH: Mendoza flied out to center; Rivers made an out to shortstop; Sample grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 0, Athletics 1. ATHLETICS 6TH: Stanley singled to right; Hough threw a wild pitch [Stanley to second]; Picciolo struck out; Henderson flied out to right; Murphy struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 0, Athletics 1. RANGERS 7TH: Oliver flied out to left; Bell made an out to second; Jones struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 0, Athletics 1. ATHLETICS 7TH: Johnson grounded out (third to first); Armas made an out to shortstop; Spencer struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 0, Athletics 1. RANGERS 8TH: Sundberg flied out to center; Putnam flied out to left; Wills singled to left; POQUETTE BATTED FOR MENDOZA; Poquette flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 0, Athletics 1. ATHLETICS 8TH: WAGNER REPLACED POQUETTE (PLAYING SS); Gross singled to right; SEXTON RAN FOR GROSS; Sexton stole second; Heath walked; COMER REPLACED HOUGH (PITCHING); Stanley forced Heath (third to second) [Sexton to third]; Picciolo out on a sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Sexton scored, Stanley to second]; Henderson singled to center [Stanley scored, Henderson to second (on throw to home)]; MERCER REPLACED COMER (PITCHING); Murphy walked; KERN REPLACED MERCER (PITCHING); Johnson forced Murphy (third to second); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Rangers 0, Athletics 3. RANGERS 9TH: MCKAY REPLACED SEXTON (PLAYING 3B); Rivers grounded out (second to first); Sample flied out to center; Oliver struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 0, Athletics 3.

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