The1969American League Championship Series was the first ALCS held afterMajor League Baseball adopted the two-division format that season. It was the opening semifinal round on the American League side of the inaugural edition of theMLB postseason. It featured theBaltimore Orioles vs. theMinnesota Twins, with the Orioles winning the series 3–0 and advancing to the1969 World Series, where they would lose to theNew York Mets in five games. The Orioles and Twins would meet againthe following year, with similar results.

This was the first of three straight appearances in the ALCS for the Orioles.

Baltimore won the series, 3–0.

In the opener, eventual 1969 Cy Young Award winnerMike Cuellar faced off against 20-game winnerJim Perry, who would finish 3rd in voting.Frank Robinson's home run in the fourth put the Orioles up 1–0 off Perry, but the Twins tied the game in the fifth inning whenTony Oliva hit a leadoff double off Cuellar, went to third on Robinson's error and scored onBob Allison's sacrifice fly.Mark Belanger's home run in the bottom of the inning put the Orioles back in front 2–1, but Oliva's two-run home run in the seventh after a walk put the Twins up 3–2. In the ninth inning,Boog Powell tied the score with a home run over the right-field fence. RelieverRon Perranoski, who worked in all three games, shut off Baltimore's offense at that point. Then, with two down in the 12th and Belanger on third,Paul Blair stepped to the plate. Acting on his own, he bunted toward third. Neither third basemanHarmon Killebrew nor catcherJohn Roseboro could make the play as Belanger sped across the plate with the winning run.Dick Hall, who pitched2⁄3 of an inning, was the winner. Perranoski did not allow a ball to leave the infield in the 12th, but was the loser nonetheless.

Game 2 pittedDave McNally, winner of 15 games in a row during the season againstDave Boswell. Both pitchers pitched shutout baseball into the 10th inning, untilCurt Motton's pinch-hit single in the bottom of the 11th, scoredBoog Powell from second base for the only run of the game. Boswell was the losing pitcher with a line of10+2⁄3 innings, with 7 hits allowed, 7 walks, and 4 strikeouts with the lone earned run of the game. McNally pitched an eleven-inningcomplete gameshutout (the longest in MLB postseason history), struck out 11 Twins batters and yielded only three hits, none after the fourth inning.

In a pivotal Game 3, the Twins sent veteranBob Miller to the mound while the Orioles trotted out their young budding ace, future 3-time Cy Young winnerJim Palmer. The Twins struck first in the bottom of the first off Palmer onRich Reese's RBI single after a two-out double and intentional walk, butElrod Hendricks's two-run double after a double and error put the Orioles up 2–1 in the second. Two outs later,Don Buford's RBI single made it 3–1 Orioles and knocked Miller out of the game after only1+2⁄3 innings.Paul Blair's two-run double in the fourth offDick Woodson made it 5–1 Orioles. The Twins scored their last run of the series in the fifth whenHarmon Killebrew doubled with two outs and scored on Reese's single.Frank Robinson's RBI single with two on offAl Worthington made it 6–2 Orioles in the sixth. Blair's two-run home run in the eighth offDean Chance made it 8–2 Orioles. Next inning,Davey Johnson hit a leadoff single off Chance, then scored on Hendricks's double offRon Perranoski while Hendricks himself scored on an error.Mark Belanger singled and scored on Blair's two-out double. Palmer pitched a scoreless ninth to finish the series.

This Monday game at Metropolitan Stadium forced theNFL'sMinnesota Vikings to play their game against division rivalGreen Bay the previous day at theUniversity of Minnesota'sMemorial Stadium inMinneapolis. It was the first NFL game played in aBig Ten stadium. That same day, because theAtlanta Braves were hosting Game 2 of theNLCS, theAtlanta Falcons had to move their home game against theBaltimore Colts fromAtlanta Stadium toGrant Field on the campus ofGeorgia Tech.

1969 ALCS(3–0):Baltimore Orioles overMinnesota Twins

• 1969 ALCS at Baseball-Reference

• 1969 in sports in Maryland
• 1969 in sports in Minnesota
• 1960s in Baltimore
• 1960s in Minneapolis
• Baseball competitions in Baltimore
• 1969 Major League Baseball season
• American League Championship Series
• Baltimore Orioles postseason
• Minnesota Twins postseason
• October 1969 sports events in the United States

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