'79 Buccos Take 2-1 Lead Into the 4th as Live Blog Continues

BALTIMORE, Md. / October 11, 1979

Top of the 4th
8:23 - Stargell, Milner and Madlock to start the 4th.
8:24 - There's Doug DeCinces checking a swing in the last at-bat. And the Pirates start the inning with the three guys who got consecutive hits in the 2nd. Let's get Palmer out of the game here.
8:25 - Willie Stargell golfs a pitch that's almost in the dirt and it's home run distance but foul. Can't believe he even hit it let alone that far.
8:25 - Diving catch in left by John Lowenstein and Stargell is robbed of a hit! One out.
8:27 - Disappointing inning. John Milner pops out to first and Bill Madlock grounds out. Still 2-1.
8:28 - Palmer looked to be struggling and now he is getting the Pirates out. Looks like a pitcher's duel again.

Bottom of the 4th
8:31 - John Lowenstein leads off the bottom of the inning.
8:32 - Base hit for Lowenstein on a tough hop at second base.
8:34 - That ball must have had eyes like Lowenstein's specs there. Billy Smith up.
8:34 - Billy Smith grounds into a double play! Great takeout slide by Lowenstein but Scrap Iron, Phil Garner, gets the second out.
8:35 - And now Rick Dempsey grounds out to shortstop. 2-1 after four innings.

Top of the 5th
8:38 - Ed Ott bunts at a changeup and is thrown out. One away.
8:39 - Totally legit move for your slow catcher to bunt for a base hit.
8:40 - Can't believe the Federal government still hasn't given Chrysler the $1 billion loan it needs to stay in business. Just a great American company who fell on hard times due to some temporary problems in the Middle East. Help them out here and they'll be profitable for 100 years.
8:41 - Scrap Iron singles, and now Blyleven will probably be up to bunt.
8:42 - Blyleven bunts into a double play! Beautiful play by Murray at first, who throws to Belanger and then a quick relay back to Jim Palmer covering first. The last two men on that play are Gold Glove winners.

Bottom of the 5th
8:44 - We're back in Baltimore now. A pitcher's duel of a game, and a pitcher's duel at0bat right now as Jim Palmer leads off the inning against Bert Blyleven.
8:45 - Bert really has had great stuff. Apart from a mistake over the plate to Eddie Murray, he's been pretty hard to hit.
8:46 - I'm keeping up with current fashion while also paying homage to the Punk movement tonight. Although I'm wearing my customary brown, tan, orange, yellow, light brown and white outfit, I'm sitting on a black leather couch.
8:47 - Palmer flies out and Al Bumbry is the one out hitter.
8:48 - Bumbry grounds out sharply to Bill Madlock at third. Bumbry is just 3 for 31 against Bert Blyleven in his career.
8:49 - Earl Weaver loves those batter vs. pitcher statistics and uses them to form his lineups. But he needed Bumbry's glove in the lineup anyway in center field.
8:49 - And Mark Belanger flies out to center field. 2-1 Pirates after 5 still. What a game for Bert Blyleven.


Top of the 6th
8:52 - Omar Moreno leads off the 6th now with Palmer dealing following a shaky start.
8:53 - Moreno, first pitch swinging, grounds out. Tim Foli is up now, 1 for 2 tonight.
8:54 - Earl Weaver smokes a cigarette in the tunnel by the dugout every time his team is in the field. And with Jim Palmer on the mound sometimes he doesn't finish it before the side's retired. Foli flies out on the second pitch.
8:55 - Dave Parker is up looking to atone for his earlier error. He hit .310 but can't do as much damage with nobody on base.
8:56 - And Parker lines to center field. Just a great pure hitter. Willie Stargell up with a chance to make this game 4-1.
8:56 - Howard Cosell visited with Tommy Lasorda before the game. One of the most re-maah-kah-ble people in the game.
8:57 - Amazing to see Stargell still such a threat at 39 years of age. You might never see another 39 year old hit as many as 32 home runs.
8:58 - Soft grounder to third and Pittsburgh is gone in the sixth inning. Pirates still lead 2-1.

Bottom of the 6th
9:01 - Bottom of the 6th and the Baltimore fans really know how to look classy while supporting their O's.
9:02 - Ken Singleton leads off with Murray and DeCinces coming up.
9:03 - This is a huge inning for Bert Blyleven as he nurses just a 2-1 lead. He's pitching like a Hall of Famer tonight.
9:03 - Singleton loops a base hit to left. Hope this isn't the start of a rally.
9:04 - Sorry, hate to keep bringing up politics, but this Marxist Sandinista government can't be good for U.S. interests in our hemisphere. Isn't there some way to secretly fund rebels in Nicaragua or something?
9:05 - Big time clutch hit for Eddie Murray as he doubles to the wall scoring Ken Singleton. 2-2 tie. DeCinces is up and he'll probably bunt.
9:06 - Grant Jackson and Enrique Romo are warming up now. Blyleven has thrown 80 pitches so far and is in danger of letting Baltimore take the lead.
9:06 - Swinging away, and a great play by Tim Foli on a ground ball to barely throw DeCinces out at first. One out but the go-ahead run Murray moves to third. Infield comes in now and a real tight situation with Johnny Lowenstein up.
9:07 - It's time for Bert Blyleven's money pitch. Look for mostly curveballs the rest of this frame.
9:08 - Lowenstein thinking the same thing and Bert blows a fastball by him, 0-2.
9:10 - Fly ball to right field caught by Dave Parker, and he throws out Murray at the plate! Just an amazing play by Parker.
9:11 - The ball is seemingly out of his hand before he catches it. Parker has the quickest release I've seen other than Clemente. And Murray doesn't even slide or try to knock over Ed Ott, runs right into the out.
9:12 - Cosell comparing Eddie Murray to the Marquis de Sade. Yes, they're virtually indistinguishable.