IN THE NEWS: Nate Colbert ties one major-league record with five home runs, and sets another with 13 RBI, as the Padres take a doubleheader from the Braves 9–0 and 11–7. At age 8, on May 2, 1954, Colbert had been at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis to witness Stan Musial hitting five home runs in a doubleheader.
Trailing by several runs in a game threatened by rain, Billy Martin has his Detroit Tigers employ stalling tactics while the opposing Milwaukee Brewers try to speed the game up. The game lasts six innings, with Del Crandall's Brewers winning 6–0. Umpire Frank Umont recommends a fine of $1,000 for both managers.
IN THE NEWS: The Tigers purchase P Woodie Fryman from the Phillies. Two days later the Bengals will purchase C Duke Sims from the Dodgers. Fryman, just 4-10 for Philadelphia, will go 10-3 for Detroit, while Sims will hit .316 for Detroit in 38 games. The two veterans will spark Detroit to the American League Eastern Division title.
Houston's Cesar Cedeno hits for the cycle in a 10–1 win over the Reds.
IN THE NEWS: Cubs pitcher Bill Hands allows one hit, by Ken Singleton, in beating the Expos, 3–0, in the nitecap. The Cubs lose the opener, 2–1, as Jack Aker absorbs his 3rd loss in his last five save opportunities.
IN THE NEWS: The Angels beat the Royals, 4–3, in 10 innings. Vada Pinson shows the way home with five hits and three RBIs.
Bobby Murcer's grand slam in the 7th clinches the Yankees 9–4 win over the Brewers. Murcer also scores twice on walks.
Luis Aparicio returns after a 6-week layoff with a broken finger and drives in a run as the Red Sox win, 2–0 over Baltimore. Marty Pattin allows two hits in beating Pat Dobson.
IN THE NEWS: During a 4–3 win over Cleveland, Detroit SS Ed Brinkman commits an error; this ending his ML-record streak of 72 games and 331 total chances without a miscue.
IN THE NEWS: Hank Aaron hits his 660th and 661st home runs for the Braves, the most ever hit by one player for the same franchise. Ruth had 659 with the Yankees, 49 with the Red Sox and six with the Braves. Hank's 2nd circuit blast comes in the 10th inning off Don Gullett to beat the Reds, 4–3. Phil Niekro evens his record at 10–10. Phil will go 6–0 against the Reds this year.
IN THE NEWS: When Cleon Jones misses a shoestring catch in the bottom of the 13th inning, Ted Sizemore races around with an inside-the-park homer to give the Cards a 3–2 win over the 2nd place Mets. Diego Segui, in relief of Bob Gibson who pitches 10 innings, is the winner. Mets 2B Ken Boswell has no chances to tie a major-league record for an extra inning game.
Ron Allen hits three home runs as the Yankees beat the Dodgers 8–3 in the annual Hall of Fame game. The contest is preceded by inductions of eight new members.
IN THE NEWS: The Yankees and New York City sign a 30-year lease on Yankee Stadium that will keep the team in the Bronx till 2002. The City agrees to spend $24 million on renovations, but the actual costs will approach $100 million.
At Riverfront Stadium, the Reds beat the Dodgers, 2–1, in 19 innings. The
Dodgers use 5 pitchers and the first four (John, Brewer, Richert, and
Perranoski) strike out 22 batters to tie a NL record. The 5th, Pete Mikkelson, fans no one in the defeat to Pedro Borbon. Joe Hague’s single
drives in pinch runner Ted Uhlaender to end the marathon.
IN THE NEWS: The Cardinals Ted Simmons finally signs his 1972 contract, although he had been playing all season. He is believed to be the first ML player to play without a contract.
IN THE NEWS: The A's defeat the White Sox 5–3 on Joe Rudi's 2-run home run in the 19th inning. The game had been renewed after a 3–3 tie in 17 frames the night before.
IN THE NEWS: The White Sox top the A's 3–1 in 11 innings. The Sox, who were eight 1/2 games behind Oakland on July 18th, take over first place in the American League West.
IN THE NEWS: Bengals manager Billy Martin literally picks his starting lineup out of a hat in an attempt to halt the Tigers' 4-game losing streak. The ploy works as Detroit defeats Cleveland 3–2. Using a regular lineup in the nightcap, the Tigers lose 9–2.
IN THE NEWS: Striking out 14, Don Wilson pitches the Astros to a 3–1 win over the Phils. Greg Luzinski accounts for the lone Quaker run with a homer. Still without a win this year, Ken Reynolds absorbs his 11th loss.
The Angels score nine runs in the 4th inning but Detroit counters with eight runs in the 6th to win the wild affair, 11–9. Aurelio Rodriguez touches off the comeback with a double and ends the scoring with another extra base hit, a 3-run homer. In between are six singles and a sac fly.
IN THE NEWS: Phil Niekro and the Braves beat the Phillies 2–1 in 11 innings to snap Steve Carlton's 15-game winning streak. After retiring 19 batters in a row, Carlton (20–7) puts two runners on in the 11th, before Mike Lum singles home the winner.
IN THE NEWS: Jim Beauchamp hits a home run and drives in all the Mets run in a 4–2 win over the Astros. Yesterday, Beauchamp celebrated his birthday with a pair of home runs as the Mets beat the Astros by the same score.
IN THE NEWS: Chicago's Dick Allen becomes the 4th ML player (Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, and Alex Johnson are the others) to hit one into the CF bleachers in Comiskey Park when he connects off New York's Lindy McDaniel. The 2-run homer in the 7th ices the 5–2 win for the Sox. In 1972, all the Chicago Wednesday games are in the afternoon, and Harry Caray announces them while sitting in the CF bleachers. Allen's drive misses Caray by just a few rows.
Kansas City's Roger Nelson shuts out the Red Sox, 3–0. Ben Oglivie's single in the 8th is the only hit off Nelson.
IN THE NEWS: Phillie Ken Reynolds ties a dubious National League record with his 12th straight losing decision from the start of the season after dropping a 6–1 decision to the Reds. Reynolds is knocked out in the 4th and loses to Don Gullett.
IN THE NEWS: Leo Durocher, formerly of the Cubs, replaces Harry Walker as manager of the Astros. It is only the 2nd time someone has managed two National League teams in the same season. The first was in 1948, when Durocher piloted the Dodgers and the Giants.
At Wrigley Field, Ron Santo records his 2,000th career hit, a 3-run home run off Ron Bryant. Santo's hit, driving in his 1,200th run, is the margin of victory as the Cub top the Giants, 10–9.
The Red Sox score five in the 9th to top Texas, 7–6.
IN THE NEWS: The Cardinals trade .314 hitter Matty Alou to the A's for two players, Bill Voss and minor leaguer Steve Easton. The A's will send Matty on to the Yanks in November.
The Tigers Willie Horton clouts an 11th-inning 2-run home run to beat Minnesota 5–3 in the opener of 2. In the nightcap, Joe Coleman pitches 11 shutout innings against Minnesota before Aurelio Rodriguez's home run gives him the 1–0 win. This is the 3rd win in a row for the Tigers on 11th-inning homers. Rodriguez hit one to start the streak.
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