1971 FOUNDER'S CUP

West Division Sweeps Semifinal Spots
Toppers, Texans Take Groups; Reggie Wows Home Fans
DETROIT (July 8) -- The two teams battling for supremacy in the West Division dominated group play at the 10th, and final, Founder's Cup.  The Atlanta Hilltoppers and Dallas Texans both swept their four round robin games to advance to the semifinals, where they will face St. Louis and San Francisco, respectively.  It marks the first time that one division claimed all four semifinal berths.

Atlanta routed Cleveland 11-1 in their opening game, then shut down Boston behind Ron Reed's four-hitter.  After a bye on Day 3, the Toppers qualified with a 5-4 squeaker over San Francisco, and wrapped up the group behind Tom Timmermann's 7-2 win over Los Angeles, the only participating West Division team not to advance.

Dallas won its first two games by one run, with Willie Crawford and Cesar Cedeno each hitting game-winning singles in the ninth to beat the two New York teams.  After a rest day, Rod Carew fell just a double shy of hitting for cycle in an 8-3 win over St. Louis than clinched advancement, and the Texans' bullpen bailed out the injured Gaylord Perry with five shutout innings in a 4-1 win over Detroit.

San Francisco and Boston faced off on the final day of the group stage with identical 2-1 records and a semifinal spot on the line.  The Spiders prevailed after a four-run fifth blew open a tight 2-2 contest.  In Group B, St. Louis overcame four unearned runs with an uncharacteristic slugging display to conquer Manhattan 8-4 for second place.

In another strange twist, all four likely starters for the semifinal games have exactly .500 records.  The probable pitching matchups for the semifinals are:
STL Don Sutton (5-5, 4.39) vs. ATL Steve Carlton (8-8, 3.60)
SF Dick Bosman (6-6, 3.72) vs. DAL Jim McAndrew (7-7, 3.52) 
 

GROUP A	GROUP B
Jul 2 BOS 8, LA 6 Rico Petrocelli homered twice and Chuck Hinton tripled and homered to overcome Ken Henderson's 5-RBI game. ATL 11, CLE 1 Ray Foster's grand slam off Steve Mingori in the fifth and Joe Torre's 3-run double the next inning punctuated a rout in which Alan Foster took his 10th loss of the year. ATL 1-0  BOS 1-0  SF 0-0  LA 0-1  CLE 0-1	Jul 2 DAL 4, BRO 3 Willie Crawford was 3-for-4 with 3 RBI, including the game-winning single in the seventh off George Stone.  Reggie Cleveland notched his league-leading 20th save. DET 13, MAN 5 Reggie Jackson homered three times in his own park, and Dick Allen, Frank Howard, and Bobby Bonds also homered, as Bruce Kison improved to 3-0. DET 1-0  DAL 1-0  STL 0-0  BRO 0-1  MAN 0-1
Jul 3 ATL 4, BOS 1 Ron Reed pitched a 4-hit complete game and Joe Torre drove in three of Atlanta's four runs to beat Jerry Koosman. SF 9, CLE 1 Tom Griffin pitched six innings of stellar relief for the injured Fergie Jenkins and John Mayberry homered twice. ATL 2-0  SF 1-0  BOS 1-1  LA 0-1  CLE 0-2	Jul 3 STL 6, BRO 1 Don Sutton tossed a 4-hit complete game and Curt Flood doubled twice, driving in two runs. DAL 7, MAN 6 Cesar Cedeno hit a game-winning single off Buzz Capra in the ninth.  Vada Pinson drove in four runs for the Gray Sox. DAL 2-0  DET 1-0  STL 1-0  BRO 0-2  MAN 0-2
Jul 4 BOS 6, CLE 1 Bobby Tolan had four hits and Chuck Hinton had four RBIs as the Feds routed Steve Kline. SF 2, LA 0 Mike Hedlund bested Larry Dierker in a battle of West Coast rivals.  Thurmon Munson and Mike Andrews drove in the game's only runs with back-to-back hits in the fourth. ATL 2-0  SF 2-0  BOS 2-1  LA 0-2  CLE 0-3	Jul 4 STL 11, DET 2 The Maroons treated the hosts to a 16-hit barrage with five home runs, including two by Boog Powell, chasing Pedro Ramos after just four innings. MAN 3, BRO 1 Phil Niekro and Jay Ritchie combined for a one-hitter in the battle of the Big Apple.  Ellie Rodriguez had three hits and Vada Pinson drove in a pair of runs and improved to 6-for-11 with 8 RBI in the tournament. STL 2-0  DAL 2-0  DET 1-1  MAN 1-2  BRO 0-3
Jul 5 LA 4, CLE 1 Fritz Peterson beat Jim Palmer, as both went the distance with 5-hitters.  Mike "Superjew" Epstein's 2-run homer in the second put the Outlaws up for good. ATL 5, SF 4 Eddie Watt pitched into, then out of, a jam to stymie a Spiders rally and clinch a spot in the semifinals for the Toppers.  Felix Mantilla drove in four runs; Bruce Dal Canton allowed just one hit, but seven walks; and Lou Brock stole three bases. *ATL 3-0  SF 2-1  BOS 2-1  LA 1-2  CLE 0-4	Jul 5 DAL 8, STL 3 Rod Carew fell a double short of a cycle and Cesar Cedeno doubled twice to pace an 11-hit barrage that clinched qualification for the knockout round. BRO 5, DET 4 Hank Aaron tripled to set up the game-winning run in the ninth.  Willie McCovey drove in three runs, and Aaron and Ted Sizemore each had three hits.  Dock Ellis struck out a season-high 13 in the losing effort. *DAL 3-0  STL 2-1  DET 1-2  MAN 1-2  BRO 1-3
Jul 6 SF 7, BOS 3 Thurman Munson's two-run triple capped a four-run fifth, as the Spiders pulled away from Boston in an elimination game.  Lou Brock drove in three runs with four hits, including three doubles. ATL 7, LA 2 Atlanta finished a perfect 4-0 behind Tom Timmermann's solid eight innings with one earned run.  Felix Mantilla was 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs. *ATL 4-0  *SF 3-1  BOS 2-2  LA 1-3  CLE 0-4	Jul 6 STL 8, MAN 4 The Dark Reds pounded Manhattan with five doubles and two homers and Nolan Ryan got his second win of the year despite gifting four unearned runs to secure St. Louis' place in the last four. DAL 4, DET 1 Sparky Lyle, Gary Gentry, and Reggie Cleveland pitched five shutout innings in relief of Gaylord Perry, who left early with back spasms.  Billy Consolo doubled twice and Rod Carew drove in a pair. *DAL 4-0  *STL 3-1  DET 1-3  MAN 1-3  BRO 1-3