Sam McDowell got the start for Cleveland and Mike Andrews greeted him with a base hit to left. George Thomas drew a walk but Carl Yastrzemski banged into a double play. Tony Conigliaro struck out to end the inning. Peters took the mound in the bottom of the first and Graig Nettles popped up to first in foul territory to start. Eddie Leon also popped up to first and Vada Pinson struck out to end the inning.
Rico Petrocelli walked to start the top of the second but George Scott took strike three. Petrocelli moved to second on the grounder by Billy Conigliaro and Bob Montgomery grounded out to third to end the inning. Old pal Ken "The Hawk" Harrelson singled to left to start the bottom of the second before Roy Foster struck out. A wild pitch moved Harrelson to second but Buddy Bradford flied out to right. Duke Sims walked but Jack Heidemann took strike three to end the inning.
Peters whiffed to start the top of the third before Andrews grounded out to second. Thomas flied out to right to end the inning. McDowell bunted foul for strike three to start the bottom of the third before Nettles grounded out to short. Leon also grounded out to short to end the inning,.
Yaz walked to start the top of the fourth but was erased on the Tony C force. Petrocelli was plunked but Scott banged into a double play to end the inning. Pinson singled to right to start the bottom of the fourth but Harrelson popped up to right. Pinson was forced at second by Foster and Bradford flied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the fifth although Billy C grounded out to third to start. Montgomery and Peters drew back to back walks before both moved over on the grounder by Andrews. Thomas got a base hit to left and Montgomery scored easily but Peters had to beat the tag home for the second run. Thomas advanced to second on the throw but Yaz struck out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 2-0.
Peters did his part in the bottom of the fifth as Sims struck out to start. Heidemann was plunked and moved to second on the McDowell grounder, but Nettles flied out to right to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the sixth as Tony C walked to start. Luis Alvarado pinch hit for Petrocelli and sacrificed Tony to second with a bunt. Scott lashed a base hit to center to score Conigliaro with another run. A passed ball moved Scott to second but he was thrown out trying to steal third. Billy C grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-0.
The Indians struck back in the bottom of the sixth although Leon struck out to start. Pinson grounded out to second but Harrelson walked. Foster was hit with a pitch and Harrelson scored on the double by Bradford but Sims flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox still ahead 3-1.
The Sox tried to rally when Montgomery singled to center to start the top of the seventh before moving to second on the sacrifice bunt by Peters. He was stranded as Andrews struck out and Thomas flied out to right to end the inning. John Kennedy took over for Andrews in the bottom of the seventh and Larry Brown pinch hit to Heidemann. Brown popped up to left in foul territory and Ted Ford pinch hit for McDowell only to strike out. Nettles grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the eighth with Jim Rittwage now on the mound. Yaz singled to center and took second on a passed ball before Tony C walked. Yaz moved to third on the fly out by Alvarado and Kennedy hit a pop up to Bradford...DROPPED! Conigilaro was forced at second but Yaz scored on the error to increase the lead. Billy C and Montgomery both walked to load the bases as Steve Mingori came in to pitch. Sox manager Eddie Kasko let Peters hit away and he struck out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-1.
The decision to let Peters hit came back to haunt Kasko as Leon singled to left to start the bottom of the eighth. Pinson then hit a home run all the way to Lake Michigan to cut the lead and chase Peters after 7 plus innings of 3 run ball. Gary Wagner came in and got Harrelson to fly out to left before Foster popped up to third. Bradford struck out to end the inning with the Sox still ahead 4-3.
Vince Colbert came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Andrews flied out to right to start. Thomas singled to center but was picked off. Yaz flied out to center to end the inning. Wagner returned for the bottom of the ninth and Sims singled to right to start. Lou Camilli ran for Duke and Brown sacrificed Lou to second with a bunt. Ted Uhlaender was sent in to pinch hit for Colbert until Sox manager Eddie Kasko countered by bringing in Sparky Lyle. Uhlaender was called back and Chuck Hinton was put in to pinch hit. Hinton grounded out to third and Vern Fuller pinch hit for Nettles. Fuller grounded out to short to end the game. The Sox held on to win Game 1 by a score of 4-3.
Hero of the Night is George Thomas. He drove in 3 big runs to guide the Sox to victory.
The Good:
Rico Petrocelli walked and was hit with a pitch before he left the game.
Tony Conigliaro walked twice and scored a run in 4 plate appearances.
George Scott was 1 for 3 with an rbi.
Bob Montgomery was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and a run scored.
Gary Peters tossed 7 innings of 2 run ball to earn the victory. He was 0 for 2 at the plate but walked and scored a run.
Gary Wagner tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Sparky Lyle earned his 20th save by getting the final two outs of the ninth inning.
The Bad:
Luis Alvarado was 0 for 1.
John Kennedy was 0 for 1.
The Ugly:
Mike Andrews was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
Carl Yastrzemski was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored a run.
Billy Conigliaro was 0 for 3 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
As this ho-hum season draws to a close you have to look at any and all positives.....which aren't much. The Sox seem to be getting worse every year and can't come anywhere close to the Baltimore Orioles. The key to the game is pitching and the Sox just don't have enough to match Baltimore. They either need to make a trade or scout someone worth a damn if they hope to ever contend again. As for this game, good win by Peters and good on Lyle to get the final two outs. Everything else....yawn. The win improved the Sox to 72-67, nowhere near the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. The Sox are back in action shortly against these same Indians in Game 2. Cal Koonce (3-5) goes for the Sox against Dean Chance at 5:05 PM Eastern Time at Cleveland Stadium
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