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.

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