IN THE NEWS: The Red Sox take an 8–1 lead at Fenway, but Detroit rallies to win 10–9. The Sox take the lead on a Mike Andrews homer and a grand slam by Tony Conigliaro. The Tigers then use the long ball as well, collecting four homers, including a grand slam by Jim Price, to win. Patterson is the winner over Siebert.
IN THE NEWS: Detroit's Gene Lamont homers in his first ML at bat, but the Red Sox this time hold the lead and beat the Tigers 10–1 in the nitecap. Cal Koonce is the CG winner, adding two RBIs with his 2nd hit of the year. The Tigers win the opener, 6–4, scoring two unearned runs in the 8th.
In the first six innings, Rangers starter Sam McDowell walks six Nats batters, five intentionally. Three of the intentional passes go to Frank Howard in his first three at bats, twice when he leads off the inning. McDowell moves to 1B in the 6th inning, with two on and no outs, and Dean Chance comes in allowing both runners to score. McDowell comes back to the mound to finish, losing 4–1 to Dick Bosman.
That old black magic works for Gary Nolan as he outpitches Juan Marichal to beat the Giants, 2–0. Before the game Reds teammate Angel Bravo gives Nolan a rubber ball to carry during the game, assuring him that he'll pitch a low-hit game as a result. Nolan allows three hits.
IN THE NEWS: After an National League record 1,117 consecutive games, Billy Williams asks to sit one out. Without Williams, the Cubs beat the Phillies 7–2.
The Twins Leo Cardenas hits a Wally Bunker pitch in the 8th inning off the foul pole, but the umps rule it a foul ball. Manager Bill Rigney and Bob Allison argue that is should be a homer and get tossed for their efforts. Cardenas then strikes out. Phil Roof and Roberto Pena homer to lead the Brewers, to an 8–3 victory.
IN THE NEWS: Blue Moon Odom yields two hits and smashes a home run as the Athletics beat the Royals, 7–1. Reggie Jackson and Gene Tenace also homer for the A's.
IN THE NEWS: The White Sox use a major-league record 41 players in a doubleheader with Oakland, but lose both games 7–4 and 7–5.
Houston sweeps a doubleheader from San Diego 10–5 and 9–4. In the first game Astro Bob Watson and Padre Ramon Webster each hit grand slams.
Brant Alyea drives in all seven Twins runs on two homers in game 1, then drives in two more in the nitecap as the Twins sweep the Brewers, 7–6, and 8–3. Stan Williams (9-0) wins his 9th straight to set a Twins record. In game 2, Hal Haydel makes his first ML appearance a good one, pitching five innings of relief to win, and also hitting his first ML home run.
IN THE NEWS: Bowie Kuhn hands Denny McLain his third suspension of the year, this one is for carrying a gun, plus other unspecified charges, and ends McLain's season with a 3-5 record.
California's Alex Johnson becomes the 3rd player in history to put one into the CF bleachers at Comiskey Park when he connects in the 6th against Chicago's Billy Wynne in a 2–1 loss in eight innings. The Sox also win the opener, 11–4, to break their eight game losing streak. Bill Melton leads to 5-homer offense with a pair and five RBIs.
Pitching in his 2nd ML game, Reds rookie Milt Wilcox pitches a 5–0 shutout over the Dodgers in LA.
IN THE NEWS: Cleveland whips the Senators, 13–4. Frank Howard, with no walks today, hits two homers for Washington. Cleveland pitchers will walk Howard 30 times this season, 12 intentionally.
Lee May hits a 1st inning grand slam, off Joe Moeller, and the Reds roll to a 13–4 win over the host Dodgers.
IN THE NEWS: Twenty-one-year-old Vida Blue, recalled from the minors just eight days earlier, hurls a one-hit shutout as the A's beat the Royals 3–0. Pat Kelly's 8th-inning single is the only hit off the fireballing lefty.
Sonny Siebert and Jim Palmer each pitch 12 innings, but Eddie Watt gets the win for Baltimore by pitching the 13th in the 3–2 win. Boston's Sparky Lyle is the loser giving up hits to the two batters he faces.
IN THE NEWS: At Wrigley, the Pirates lead the Cubs, 2–1 with two outs and no on in the 9th when Willie Smith hits a routine fly to Matty Alou. Alou drops it and three singles later the Cubs have a 3–2 win. The victory puts the Cubs a game behind the Buc and a half-game behind the Mets.
Kansas City sweeps a pair from Oakland, winning both by 8–7 scores. In the 11-inning opener, A's SS Bert Campaneris sets an American League record by participating in six DPs. It will be tied in the National League.
IN THE NEWS: The White Sox hire manager Chuck Tanner from the Pacific Coast League. He replaces Don Gutteridge, who had been fired on September 3rd. Coach Bill Adair ran the team in the interim.
Ken Holtzman wins his 15th, and the Cubs top the Cardinals, 5–3. Chicago moves into 3rd place, just a game behind the first-place Mets and Pirates.
IN THE NEWS: Clyde Wright joins Dean Chance (1964) as the Angels 2nd twenty-game winner as he beats the Twins, 5–1. Bert Blyleven, 19-year old rookie, ties an American League record by striking out the first six batters. He strikes out 10 in six 2/3 innings.
IN THE NEWS: Sudden Sam McDowell wins his 20th game as the Indians beat the Tigers, 6–2. Niekro (21-13) is the loser.
With the Yankees losing to Boston, the Orioles clinch the American League East despite losing to Washington, 2–0. Bosman is the winner, allowing five hits.
The Dodgers lose to the Astros, 10–5, clinching the National League West for the idle Reds.
IN THE NEWS: The Cubs sweep a pair from Montreal, winning 3–2 and 5–4. Fergie Jenkins wins his 20th in game 1, helped by Billy Williams' 40th homer of the year. Phil Regan is the victor in game 2.
Boston's Billy Conigliaro connects for a 4th inning home run off Washington's Jim Hannan, and in the 7th frame, brother Tony Conigliaro wallops a solo shot off Joe Grzenda. The Red Sox win 11–3 after taking the first game, 7–3. The brothers also homered in the same game on July 4. Billy will end the year with 18 home runs, while Tony will connect for 36. Frank Howard is frustrated with five strikeouts in game 1.
The Giants Gaylord Perry retires the first 19 batters and settles for 3-hitter in beating the Padres, 3–0. It is Perry's 4th straight shut out.
IN THE NEWS: Jim Palmer wins his 20th game, defeating the Indians, 7–0. The Orioles are the first club since 1956 to have three 20-game winners.
Bill Melton sets a White Sox club record with his 30th home run (Eddie Robinson had the mark with 29) leading Chicago to an 8–4 win over the Royals in game 1. Kansas City's Jim York makes his ML debut in the nitecap, pitching four 2/3 innings of relief in winning his first game, 8–2. Paid attendance at Comiskey is 672.
IN THE NEWS: The A's Vida Blue no-hits the Twins 6–0, becoming the youngest pitcher to perform the feat since Paul Dean, 36 years ago to the day. The only base runner against Blue is Harmon Killebrew, who walks in the 4th inning. Bert Campaneris, who helps Blue with a leaping catch on Mitterwald in the 5th, adds a triple and home run. An Oakland crowd of only 4,284 watches Blue's 2nd ML start.
The Braves trade veteran Hoyt Wilhelm to the Cubs. In December the Cubs will trade him back to Atlanta.
IN THE NEWS: Tommy Harper hits his 30th home run to lead the Brewers to a 4–2 win over the Angels. Harper has 33 stolen bases and becomes the 5th major leaguer to go 30-30 in the same season. It is Milwaukee's 60th win of the year.
The Twins clinch their 2nd straight American League West title, beating the A's 5–3. Tony Oliva starts the scoring with a 2-run home run in the 1st.
The Reds score six runs in the 8th to beat Houston, 6–5. Tommy Helms drives in the last two runs with a single.
IN THE NEWS: The Dodgers knock out starter Gaylord Perry with five runs in four innings, but the Giants come back to win 14–10. SF scores nine in the 6th, featuring a 2-run home run by Hart and a grand slam by Dietz. The Dodgers tie the game at 10-10 in the 8th, but the Giants score four in the 9th to clinch. Henderson belts a 3-run home run.
The Cardinals dent the pennant aspirations of the Cubs, stopping them twice by identical 2–1 scores. Bob Gibson and Jerry Reuss are the hurlers for the Birds.
IN THE NEWS: The Cubs stop the Cards, 7–1, behind Ken Holtzman's 7-hitter, and stay two 1/2 games in back of the Pirates. Chicago will lose its next two games and Pittsburgh will clinch the divisional title on the 27th.
IN THE NEWS: In the White Sox 5–1 win over the Brewers in game 1, Luis Aparicio sets a major-league record for most games at shortstop, 2,219. Ed Herrmann hits a 3-run home run for the Sox. The Brewers win game 2, 3–2.
At Pittsburgh, Willie Stargell throws out a runner in the 8th and singles home the winner in the 9th to give the Pirates a 4–3 win over the Mets. The Bucs increase their National League East lead to three 1/2 games over the Mets and Cubs, losers to the Phils.
IN THE NEWS: The Red Sox smash four homers to reach a club-record 201 homers in handing the Senators their 10th straight loss, 10–1. Winning pitcher Gary Peters hits a 3-run homer, Conigliaro, and George Scott with two homers and five RBIs are the leaders. The previous Sox high for homers was 197 last season.
The Orioles rally for two runs in the 8th inning to beat the Indians Sam McDowell, 4–3. Dick Ha
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