Willie Randolph broke a scoreless tie with a two-out homer in the sixth inning to back five-hit pitching by Dave Righetti, Ron Davis and Rich Gossage as the Yankees blanked the A's, 4-0, for a three-game sweep of the A.L. Championship Series. The Yanks captured their 33rd A.L. pennant with the victory.

After stranding nine runners in the first five innings, New York finally got to A's starter Matt Keough when Randolph lofted a blast high over the left field wall. The homer was Randolph's first since April 28 and his first in postseason play since 1977. The Yanks put the game out of reach in the ninth when Graig Nettles cleared the bases with a two-out double off Tom Underwood, giving the veteran third baseman a record nine RBIs in a three-game Championship Series. [The Sporting News]



New York Yankees 4, Oakland Athletics 0
League Championship Series Game 3 Played on Thursday, October   15, 1981 (Night game) at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Yankees      0  0  0    0  0  1    0  0  3  -   4 10  0
A's          0  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   0  5  2


Yankees              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Mumphrey cf           3   0   1   0     2   1   .000      Henderson lf          2   0   1   0     1   1   .000
Milbourne ss          4   1   1   0     0   0   .000        Heath lf            1   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Winfield lf           5   0   0   0     0   2   .000      Murphy cf             1   0   0   0     0   1   .000
Murcer dh             3   0   1   0     1   1   .000        Bosetti ph,cf       3   0   0   0     0   1   .000
  Piniella ph,dh      1   1   1   0     0   0   .000      Johnson dh            3   0   0   0     1   1   .000
Gamble rf             1   0   0   0     3   0   .000      Armas rf              4   0   1   0     0   1   .000
  Foote ph            1   0   1   0     0   0   .000      Klutts 3b             2   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Brown pr,rf         0   1   0   0     0   0   .000        Gross ph,3b         2   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Nettles 3b            5   0   1   3     0   0   .000      Moore 1b              2   0   2   0     0   0   .000
Watson 1b             5   0   1   0     0   0   .000        Spencer ph,1b       1   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Cerone c              4   0   1   0     0   0   .000      McKay 2b              3   0   1   0     0   0   .000
Randolph 2b           4   1   2   1     0   0   .000      Newman c              3   0   0   0     0   2   .000
Righetti p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Picciolo ss           2   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Davis p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Drumright ph        1   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Gossage p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Stanley ss          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                          Keough p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Underwood p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               36   4  10   4     6   4             Totals               30   0   5   0     2   7

Time of Game: 3:19   Attendance: 47,302
Left on Base: Yankees 12, A's 5
DP: Yankees 2, A's 1
Errors: McKay, Picciolo
Doubles: Nettles (2)
Home Runs: Randolph (1)
Stolen Bases: Henderson 2 (2)
Sacrifice Hits: Milbourne (1)
GIDP: Randolph (1), Armas (1), McKay (1)


Yankees                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Righetti W(1-0)         6     4   0   0   2   4   0  22
Davis                   2     0   0   0   0   1   0   6
Gossage                 1     1   0   0   0   2   0   4
Totals                  9     5   0   0   2   7   0  32

A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Keough L(0-1)           8.1   7   2   1   6   4   1  39
Underwood               0.2   3   2   2   0   0   0   4
Totals                  9    10   4   1*  6   4   1  43

Wild Pitches: Keough (1)

Umpires: HP - Jerry Neudecker, 1B - Marty Springstead, 2B - Durwood Merrill, 3B - Vic Voltaggio, LF - Nick Bremigan, RF - Russ Goetz


YANKEES 1ST: Mumphrey was called out on strikes; Milbourne
singled; Winfield flied out to left; Keough threw a wild pitch
[Milbourne to second]; Murcer walked; Gamble walked [Milbourne
to third, Murcer to second]; Nettles flied out to right; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Yankees 0, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 1ST: Henderson singled; Henderson stole second;
BOSETTI BATTED FOR MURPHY; Bosetti struck out (strikeout was
charged to Murphy); Dwayne Murphy injured back on swing;
Johnson walked; Armas grounded into a double play (shortstop to
second to first) [Johnson out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Yankees 0, Athletics 0.

YANKEES 2ND: BOSETTI STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); Watson lined
to third; Cerone flied out to center; Randolph singled to left;
Mumphrey singled to center [Randolph to third]; Milbourne
grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Yankees
0, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Klutts grounded out (shortstop to first); Moore
singled to right; McKay singled to right [Moore to second];
Newman struck out; Picciolo forced McKay (third to second); 0 R,
2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Yankees 0, Athletics 0.

YANKEES 3RD: Winfield reached on an error by Picciolo [Winfield
to second]; Murcer grounded out (shortstop to first) [Winfield
to third]; Gamble lined to second; Nettles grounded out (second
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Yankees 0, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Henderson walked; Henderson stole second; Bosetti
popped to second; Johnson popped to first; Armas struck out; 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Yankees 0, Athletics 0.

YANKEES 4TH: Watson singled to left; Cerone forced Watson (third
to second); Randolph forced Cerone (shortstop to second);
Mumphrey walked [Randolph to second]; Milbourne grounded out
(first unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Yankees 0, Athletics
0.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Klutts popped to second; Moore singled to left;
McKay grounded into a double play (third to second to first)
[Moore out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Yankees 0,
Athletics 0.

YANKEES 5TH: Winfield flied out to left; Murcer struck out;
Gamble walked; Nettles popped to third; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Yankees 0, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Newman flied out to left; Picciolo grounded out
(pitcher to first); Henderson struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Yankees 0, Athletics 0.

YANKEES 6TH: HEATH REPLACED HENDERSON (PLAYING LF); Watson flied
out to right; Cerone grounded out (third to first); Randolph
homered; Mumphrey popped to shortstop; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Yankees 1, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Bosetti flied out to right; Johnson flied out to
right; Armas flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Yankees
1, Athletics 0.

YANKEES 7TH: Milbourne grounded out (shortstop to first);
Winfield struck out; Murcer singled to center; Gamble walked
[Murcer to second]; Nettles flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
2 LOB.  Yankees 1, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 7TH: DAVIS REPLACED RIGHETTI (PITCHING); GROSS BATTED
FOR KLUTTS; Gross flied out to right; SPENCER BATTED FOR MOORE;
Spencer popped to third; McKay flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Yankees 1, Athletics 0.

YANKEES 8TH: GROSS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 3B); SPENCER STAYED
IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); Watson lined to third; Cerone singled to
left; Randolph grounded into a double play (shortstop to first)
[Cerone out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Yankees 1,
Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 8TH: Newman struck out; DRUMRIGHT BATTED FOR PICCIOLO;
Drumright grounded out (first unassisted); Heath grounded out
(first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Yankees 1, Athletics
0.

YANKEES 9TH: STANLEY REPLACED DRUMRIGHT (PLAYING SS); Mumphrey
walked; Milbourne reached on an error by McKay on a sacrifice
bunt [Mumphrey to second]; Winfield struck out; UNDERWOOD
REPLACED KEOUGH (PITCHING); PINIELLA BATTED FOR MURCER; Piniella
singled to left [Mumphrey out at home (left to catcher),
Milbourne to second]; FOOTE BATTED FOR GAMBLE; Foote singled to
right [Milbourne to third, Piniella to second]; BROWN RAN FOR
FOOTE; Nettles doubled to center [Milbourne scored (unearned),
Piniella scored (unearned, but earned for the pitcher), Brown
scored (unearned, but earned for the pitcher)]; Watson lined to
second; 3 R (2 ER), 3 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Yankees 4, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 9TH: PINIELLA STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING DH); BROWN
STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); GOSSAGE REPLACED DAVIS (PITCHING);
Bosetti struck out; Johnson struck out; Armas singled to right;
Gross popped to second; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Yankees 4,
Athletics 0.