1985 Tournament chugs along and this matchup features the #5 seed Los Angeles Dodgers versus the #12 seed Baltimore Orioles. The Dodgers finished the regular season 95-67 and won the NL West Division, while the Orioles finished 83-78 good for 4th in the AL East.
The Orioles come to Chavez Ravine and send Scott McGregor (14-14 4.81 Grade 5Z) to the mound against stud lefty Fernando Valenzuela (17-10 2.45 Grade 19X).
The Dodgers would get the scoring started in the tournament matchup with a run in the 2nd. Mike Scioscia drives in Greg Brock. The Orioles would bounce back with a run in the 3rd courtesy of a Mike Young solo blast. With the score 1-1 the Dodgers would explode for a 4 spot in the 4th. Mariano Duncan and Pedro Guerrero driving in two apiece.
The score would remain 5-1 and Valenzuela seemingly in control until the 7th when the Orioles would storm back. Gary Roenicke would drill a 2 run shot to left and 3 batters later Rick Dempsey would line a 2 run shot of his own to tie the game. The Dodgers would turn to Tom Niedenfuer but not even that could stem the tide. Roenicke would again hit a 2 run shot in the 8th to give the Orioles the lead. Young would add a solo shot in the 9th and the Orioles would take the early 1-0 lead in this series.
Final Score: Orioles 8, Dodgers 6
WP: Don Aase (1-0)
LP: Fernando Valenzuela (0-1)
Save: Sammy Stewart (1)
HR’s: Orioles – Gary Roenicke 2 (2), Mike Young 2 (2), Rick Dempsey 1