Then Curt Motton, pinch-hitter hero of a '69 Oriole playoff victory (Game 2) over Minnesota, stepped up to bat for McNally. Curt slammed a double to the left-field corner, plating Brooks Robinson and tying the score. Center fielder Paul Blair followed with the blow that doomed Blue, a two-run double to left. Reliever Eddie Watt blanked the A's the last two innings and Oakland was one game down. Skipper Williams was subjected to further sharpshooting for his failure to remove Blue, or even visit the mound, during the seventh-inning barrage. Dave Johnson's error in the sixth inning was the only miscue between both teams in the series. Game 2 Catfish Hunter held Baltimore to seven hits, but unfortunately for him, four of them were home runs. Boog Powell walloped two, Brooks Robinson and Elrod Hendricks the others. Cuellar displayed his usual pitching artistry, a baffling assortment of curves and change-ups which the A's solve for a mere six hits. Typical of the A's super-cautious approach to their task was an incident in the sixth inning when they were trailing, 2–1. Reggie Jackson led off against Cuellar with a double. Cleanup hitter Tommy Davis was up next and to the surprise of everyone in the park, he bunted. The next two hitters were easy outs. Davis' sacrifice, it turned out, was not ordered by Williams. Game 3 Jim Palmer's performance in the deciding game was not among his most noteworthy—he permitted three home runs, two of them by the slugging Jackson and the other by Sal Bando. But all three shots were struck with the bases empty, and Palmer had more than enough to pitch Baltimore's pennant clincher for the third straight year. Loser of his only two starts against Baltimore during the season, Diego Segui reached the fifth inning of Game 3 with the score 1–1. Then he met his "Waterloo". The crusher was Brooks Robinson's two-run single. It came after Williams ordered an intentional pass to Hendricks. loading the bases. Bando's homer cut the A's deficit to 3–2 in the sixth. But in the seventh, Frank Robinson's double and Darold Knowles' wild pitch put Baltimore out of danger. The Orioles collected 12 hits off Segui and his four successors, with Don Buford's triple and two singles leading the way. Composite box 1971 ALCS (3–0): Baltimore Orioles over Oakland A's References External links 1971 ALCS at Baseball-Reference.com American League Championship