The A's edged the Rangers, 2-1, behind the five-hit hurling of Mike Norris. Oakland's tallies came on a two-run homer by Dwayne Murphy in the eighth inning. Oakland's Cliff Johnson and Texas' Danny Darwin got into a seventh-inning brawl and both benches emptied. Several fights broke out, with Johnson involved in more than one, and the Rangers' John Ellis was also prominent. Johnson was the only player ejected. [The Sporting News]



Oakland Athletics 2, Texas Rangers 1
Game Played on Wednesday, September 16, 1981 (Night game) at Arlington Stadium
A's          0  0  0    0  0  0    0  2  0  -   2  7  0
Rangers      0  0  1    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   1  5  1


A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Rangers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Henderson lf          4   1   1   0     1   0   .330      Wills 2b              4   0   0   0     0   1   .249
Murphy cf             4   1   1   2     0   1   .264      Rivers cf             4   0   4   0     0   0   .276
Johnson dh            3   0   2   0     0   0   .261      Oliver dh             4   0   0   0     0   0   .310
Armas rf              4   0   0   0     0   2   .262      Bell 3b               3   0   0   0     1   0   .300
Gross 3b              3   0   1   0     1   0   .196      Putnam 1b             3   0   0   0     0   1   .259
Spencer 1b            4   0   0   0     0   2   .193      Poquette lf           3   0   0   0     0   1   .200
McKay 2b              4   0   1   0     0   3   .238      Sundberg c            3   1   1   0     0   0   .278
Newman c              2   0   0   0     0   0   .239      Roberts rf            3   0   0   0     0   2   .281
  Drumright ph        1   0   1   0     0   0   .290      Wagner ss             2   0   0   1     0   0   .341
  Cox pr              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Darwin p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Heath c             1   0   0   0     0   0   .244        Comer p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Stanley ss            1   0   0   0     1   0   .205
  Davis ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Picciolo ss         1   0   0   0     0   0   .237
Norris p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               33   2   7   2     3   8             Totals               29   1   5   1     1   5

Time of Game: 2:29   Attendance:  9,743
Left on Base: A's 8, Rangers 3
DP: A's 2, Rangers 2
Errors: Comer
Doubles: Sundberg (13), Rivers (17)
Home Runs: Murphy (13)
Stolen Bases: Johnson (4), Henderson (47)
Sacrifice Hits: Wagner (2)
GIDP: Henderson 2 (7), Oliver 2 (16)
Hit by Pitch: Johnson (3,by Darwin)


A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Norris W(11-7)          9     5   1   1   1   5   0  31   3.50
Totals                  9     5   1   1   1   5   0  31

Rangers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Darwin L(8-8)           7.1   6   2   2   2   7   1  30   3.81
Comer                   1.2   1   0   0   1   1   0   7   2.86
Totals                  9     7   2   2   3   8   1  37

Hit by Pitch: Darwin (5)

Umpires: HP - Dave Phillips, 1B - Jerry Neudecker, 2B - Larry McCoy, 3B - Durwood Merrill


ATHLETICS 1ST: Henderson flied out to right; Murphy flied out to
center; Johnson singled to center; Armas flied out to right; 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 0.

RANGERS 1ST: Wills struck out; Rivers singled to left; Oliver
grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first)
[Rivers out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 0,
Rangers 0.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Gross grounded out (first to pitcher); Spencer
struck out; McKay struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics
0, Rangers 0.

RANGERS 2ND: Bell grounded out (third to first); Putnam struck
out; Poquette popped to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 0, Rangers 0.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Newman grounded out (first unassisted); Stanley
walked; Henderson grounded into a double play (shortstop to
second to first) [Stanley out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 0, Rangers 0.

RANGERS 3RD: Sundberg doubled to left; Roberts grounded out
(second to first) [Sundberg to third]; Wagner out on a sacrifice
bunt (pitcher unassisted) [Sundberg scored]; Wills flied out to
left; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Murphy grounded out (second to first); Johnson
singled to center; Johnson stole second; Armas struck out; Gross
flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers
1.

RANGERS 4TH: Rivers doubled to right; Oliver made an out to
first; Bell walked; Putnam flied out to center; Poquette flied
out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Spencer grounded out (second to pitcher); McKay
struck out; Newman flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

RANGERS 5TH: Sundberg flied out to right; Roberts struck out;
Wagner flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 0,
Rangers 1.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Stanley grounded out (third to first); Henderson
walked; Henderson stole second; Murphy struck out; Johnson was
hit by a pitch; Armas flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
 Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

RANGERS 6TH: Wills grounded out (second to first); Rivers
singled to center; Oliver grounded into a double play (second to
shortstop to first) [Rivers out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

ATHLETICS 7TH: Gross singled to right; Spencer struck out; McKay
struck out; DRUMRIGHT BATTED FOR NEWMAN; Drumright singled to
center [Gross to second]; COX RAN FOR DRUMRIGHT; DAVIS BATTED
FOR STANLEY; Davis grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0
E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

RANGERS 7TH: HEATH REPLACED COX (PLAYING C ); PICCIOLO REPLACED
DAVIS (PLAYING SS); Bell grounded out (shortstop to first);
Putnam grounded out (second to first); Poquette struck out; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

ATHLETICS 8TH: Henderson singled to right; Murphy homered
[Henderson scored]; Johnson grounded out (third to first);
Cliff Johnson charged the mound as a result of being hit on the
hip by a pitch in the sixth; both benches cleared; Johnson
ejected by HP umpire Dave Phillips; COMER REPLACED DARWIN
(PITCHING); Armas struck out; Gross walked; Spencer grounded out
(second to first); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 2, Rangers 1.

RANGERS 8TH: Sundberg flied out to center; Roberts struck out;
Wagner flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 2,
Rangers 1.

ATHLETICS 9TH: McKay singled to right; Heath grounded out
(pitcher to first) [McKay to second]; Picciolo reached on a
fielder's choice [McKay stayed at second (error by Comer)];
Henderson grounded into a double play (shortstop to first)
[Picciolo out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 2,
Rangers 1.

RANGERS 9TH: Wills flied out to right; Rivers singled to right;
Oliver flied out to right; Bell grounded out (third to first); 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 2, Rangers 1.