Battle for the AL East Lead

Baltimore went into Detroit and took 2 of the three games in this series.  But all were hotly contested and hard fought. Game 1 saw the aces of both staffs going at it and no one was disappointed.  Baltimore struck first blood in the 3rd off of the Tigers Mickey Lolich.  But the Bengals clawed back in the fourth with 2 of their own.  Baltimore gained the lead with single runs in the 5th and 6th inning.  After scoreless innings in the 7th and 8th both teams added single runs in the 9th which gave the Orioles a 4 to 3 victory.  Dave McNally (14-3) went 8 innings for the victory while Eddie Watt picked up his 4th save.  Mickey Lolich (16-6) suffered the loss while going the distance for the Tigers. Game 2 started much the same way as Game 1.  Baltimore jumped out quickly with 2 in the 1st but the Tigers kept it close with 1 in the 2nd. The Orioles added 1 in the 3rd to take a 3 to 1 lead.  Pitching took over at the point as Pat Dobson and Les Cain performed brilliantly over the next 5 innings.  The Tigers scored 2 in the 9th to send the game into extra innings.  The game stayed tense but the Tigers won it the 12th.  Despite going 11 plus innings Dobson (8-4) took the loss while Dean Chance (4-3) came in for relief and got the win. Final score Tigers 4 Orioles 3 Game 3 started just as the other 2 games had with the Orioles jumping out quickly with 1 run in the 1st and 3 in the 2nd.  But the Tigers showed their spirit by getting 2 in the 2nd.  The game then settled down into a pitching duel between the Tigers' Joe Coleman and the Orioles' Mike Cuellar.  The Tigers scored a run in the 4th while Don Buford hit a homer for the Orioles in the 8th giving us a final score of 5 to 3.  Mike Cuellar (12-5) got the win while Joe Coleman (10-3) took the loss.  Don Buford was the game MVP.