27 * 61 Replay 39: 61 Yankees at 72 A’s

Editor’s note: The 27 * 61 Yankees Replay games are being played with Strat-o-Matic cards and dice. The designated hitter will not be used for any games. Injuries will only be used during the game when they occur.

The 1961 New York Yankees needed a second comeback to finally get the job done.

With four runs in the eighth inning, the Yankees went on to a 7-4 victory over the 1972 Oakland A’s.

Down 4-3, New York went to work against Oakland starter Ken Holtzman.

Clete Boyer led off the eighth with a single. After Holtzman retired Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, Elston Howard singled to put runners at first and third.

Yogi Berra tied the affair for the second time with a double before Bill Skowron put the Yankees on top for good with his eighth homer of the season, which was a three-run blast. Oakland’s Bob Locker came on for Holtzman to get the last out of the inning to end the rally.

In Oakland’s half of the eighth, New York starter Jim Coates (4-1) worked out of a jam after he walked a batter and gave up a double to Tim Cullen.

Coates slammed the door in the ninth to earn the win in his first start of the season for the Yankees. Overall, he gave up 10 hits and fanned four. Holtzman allowed seven hits with eight strikeouts.

The A’s got out to an early advantage in the second inning when Cullen drove in the first run of contest on a ground out.

Mike Epstein‘s solo homer in the third made it 2-0, before Joe Rudi‘s RBI single in the fifth added to the margin.

The Yankees compeleted their initial comeback in the sixth. Clete Boyer walked and then two outs later Howard reached on a error by Epstein at first.

Berra delivered for New York with a three-run bomb to tie the game at 3-3.

Reggie Jackson‘s run-scoring single put the A’s in front in the bottom of the seventh to set the stage for New York’s game-winning rally in the eighth.

Tex Clevenger (0-1) makes his first start of the season in the second contest of the five-game series, while Blue Moon Odom gets the ball for the A’s.

27 * 61 Replay Standings

1927 New York Yankees (25-14)
1961 New York Yankees (20-19)

1948 Cleveland Indians (6-2)
1968 Detroit Tigers (3-1)
2005 Chicago White Sox (3-3)
1972 Oakland A’s (6-10)
1970 Baltimore Orioles (3-5)
2004 Boston Red Sox (5-9)
1924 Washington Senators (7-15)

27 * 61 Home Run Totals

Roger Maris 18
Lou Gehrig 15
Babe Ruth 13
Mickey Mantle 11