18, but he posted a 1.96 ERA for the remainder of the season and went 12–2, with the Orioles winning 14 of the 17 games he appeared in thereafter. From July 26 through August 29, he won nine consecutive games. On August 21, 1970, McNally threw a shutout in a 5–0 victory over the Angels. Four days later, he allowed 10 hits in a complete game against the Athletics, but only one run, and he picked up his 20th win of the season as Baltimore defeated Oakland by a score of 5–1. On August 29, he gave up only one run in a complete game, 6–1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers; the run was unearned. During the 1970 season, the Orioles never lost more than two straight games in which Palmer, Cuellar, and McNally started. The two times they lost two games in a row, it was McNally who ended the streak. McNally's 24 wins at the end of the year tied with teammate Cuellar and Jim Perry for the AL lead. McNally ranked seventh with 185 strikeouts, tied with four others for the lead with 40 starts, and ranked fourth with 296 innings pitched. After the season, he finished second to Jim Perry in AL Cy Young Award voting and ranked 16th in AL MVP voting. For the second year in a row in 1970, the Orioles faced the Twins in the ALCS. Starting Game 2 for the Orioles, McNally held the Twins hitless for the first three innings as the Orioles scored three runs. In the fourth inning, McNally made the score 4–0 with an RBI single against Tom Hall. After walking Leo Cárdenas to lead off the bottom of the inning, he allowed back-to-back home runs to Killebrew and Oliva to make it 4–3. McNally never let the Twins score again, and the Orioles cruised to an 11–3 victory before ultimately sweeping the ALCS. This year in the World Series, the Orioles faced the Cincinnati Reds. Starting Game 3 of the series, McNally gave up a run in the second inning but held the Reds to just that through the first six innings of the game; meanwhile, Baltimore gave him for runs of support. After Tony Cloninger of the Reds walked Paul Blair with one out in the sixth, Cloninger was replaced with Wayne Granger, who allowed a double to Brooks Robinson and intentionally walked Davey Johnson