Editor’s note: The 1980 Tournament games are being played with Strat-o-Matic cards and dice. The designated hitter will be used for any games involving American League teams. Injuries will only be used during the game when they occur. For this tournament, the rules include a three-man pitching rotation using the best lineups available.
A big inning made the difference as the Cleveland Indians came back to defeat the Texas Rangers 10-8 in the opening round of the 1980 American League Tournament.
With the victory, the Indians advance to meet the Baltimore Orioles on the road in the second round.
Cleveland trailed 7-4 heading into the bottom of the sixth when the Indians sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six times to take a 10-7 lead.
Bo Diaz began the rally with a single against Texas starter Jon Matlack.
Duane Kuiper followed with a walk and then Tom Veryzer singled to drive in Diaz.
After Alan Bannister lined out, Miguel Dilone reached on an error that produced a run and the Indians were down 7-6.
A single by Joe Charboneau loaded the bases and Toby Harrah walked to tie the contest.
John Henry Johnson took over on the mound for Matlack and didn’t fare much better as he walked Mike Hargrove to put the Indians on top by a run.
Rick Manning capped the outburst with a two-run single before Johnson was able to get out of the inning.
A solo homer by Texas catcher Jim Sundberg in the eighth was the last run of the contest.
Dan Spillner picked up the win in relief of Cleveland starter Len Barker. Spillner allowed six hits and the solo blast by Sundberg after entering the game with one out in the third.
Barker struggled early as the Rangers scored seven times in the first three frames.
Richie Zisk and Al Oliver had RBI singles in the first, while Buddy Bell added a run on a ground out.
The Indians also scored in the bottom of the first on run-scoring singles by Manning and Diaz.
Zisk drove in a pair of runs in the second with a single to give the Rangers a 5-2 advantage.
Mickey Rivers made it 7-2 with a two-run single in the third.
A RBI double by Veryzer and run-scoring single by Dilone closed the gap in the fourth to 7-4 as the Indians set the stage for the winning rally in the sixth.
1980 AL Tournament
First Round Pairings and Results
(1) New York Yankees (103-59), bye
(8) Oakland Athletics 8, (9) Minnesota Twins 2
(13) California Angels 11, (4) Milwaukee Brewers 4
(5) Boston Red Sox 9, (12) Toronto Blue Jays 3
(2) Baltimore Orioles (100-62), bye
(7) Cleveland Indians 10, (10) Texas Rangers 8
(14) Seattle Mariners (59-103) at (3) Kansas City Royals (97-65)
(11) Chicago White Sox (70-90) at (6) Detroit Tigers (84-78)
1980 NL Tournament
First Round Pairings
(1) Houston Astros (93-70), bye
(9) St. Louis Cardinals (74-88) at (8) San Francisco Giants (75-86)
(4) Montreal Expos (90-72), bye
(12) Chicago Cubs (64-98) at (5) Cincinnati Reds (89-73)
(2) Los Angeles Dodgers (92-71), bye
(10) San Diego Padres (73-89) at (7) Atlanta Braves (81-80)
(3) Philadelphia Phillies (91-71), bye
(11) New York Mets (67-95) at (6) Pittsburgh Pirates (83-79)