IN THE NEWS: At Houston, Hal McRae pinch hits a 6th inning grand slam to spark the Reds to a win, 103. The Astros had taken a 30 lead on homers by Cesar Cedeno and Doug Rader. Johnny Bench hits his 4th homer in three games in the 7th, and Tony Perez adds a homer in the 9th.
IN THE NEWS: In Philadelphia, the Reds win a 17-inning marathon over the Phils, 63. Both teams score in the 16th to make it 22, but Bench's 3-run homer in the 17th finally finishes it.
In a face off at Shea between Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, both with 648 career homers, each come up hitless as the Braves beat the Mets, 61. Aaron, who hit his 648th on May 31, will collect his next home run June 10.
IN THE NEWS: The Reds spot the host Phils a 50 lead, then score three runs in the 7th, and one each in the 9th, 9th, and 10th to win, 65. Julian Javier starts the Reds scoring with a 2-run homer and ends it with an RBI single. Johnny Bench also homers, his 7th in the last five games to tie an National League record.
Rusty Staub of the Mets is struck in the right hand by a George Stone pitch during a game with the Braves. Staub, who missed seven games in the past four seasons, will miss 90 games this year.
Bobby Murcer and Thurman Munson crack 3-run home runs in the Yankees' 8-run 13th inning to beat the White Sox 1810. Murcer scores five runs on four hits.
IN THE NEWS: A major league record eight shutouts are pitched in 16 ML games5 in the American League, three in the National League. Two are recorded by the Oakland A's, who sweep a pair from the Orioles by identical 20 scores.
In game two of a doubleheader in Chicago, pinch hitter Dick Allen connects with two on and two out in the 9th inning and drives a Sparky Lyle pitch into the LF upper deck for a dramatic 54 White Sox win over the Yankees.
IN THE NEWS: Shortstops are the first two picks in the June draft. The Padres make Dave Roberts the number one selection and the Indians pick Rick Manning number 2. Roberts will make his ML debut in two days. The Phils take high school pitcher Larry Christenson with the 3rd pick, with the Rangers taking high schooler Roy Howell 4th: they'll wait till the 25th round to take Mike Hargrove. The Dodgers use their #1 on SS John Harbin but he will tear up his knee and be gone next year. The Rangers will have 13 from this draft to make the majors. Picking 5th, the Expos take Memphis high school catcher Bobby Goodman, but do better on the 3rd round when they take catcher Gary Carter.
IN THE NEWS: Hank Aaron hits his 14th career grand slam, tying Gil Hodges's National League record, as the Braves defeat the Phillies 153. It is career home run 649 for Aaron, enabling him to pass Willie Mays for 2nd place on the all-time list.
IN THE NEWS: In Montreal, the Reds conclude their 12-game road trip with their 11th win, a 124 pasting behind the pitching of Gary Nolan. The Reds will go 53-25 this year on the road.
IN THE NEWS: In another tight pitching duel, the Orioles Dave McNally wins, 21, over the A's Catfish Hunter when Bobby Grich hits a 10th inning homer. The O's have now won seven straight.
The Phillies send C Tim McCarver to Montreal for C John Bateman. Bateman will play 82 games in Philley in this his final season.
IN THE NEWS: Larry Bowa's 9th-inning double is the Phillies' only hit as the Astros Jerry Reuss hurls a 100 shutout. Tomorrow, Houston's Larry Dierker will also spin a one-hitter.
By a 5-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court confirms lower court rulings in the Curt Flood case, upholding baseball's exemption from antitrust laws and the legitimacy of its reserve clause. Its decision is narrowly construed, however, and leaves the way open for legislation or collective bargaining to undercut the reserve system. By the year's end the ML owners will destroy it themselves by agreeing to salary arbitration.
IN THE NEWS: Larry Dierker fires Houston's 2nd straight one-hitter, tying a ML record, beating the Mets, 30. He walks Willie Mays twice but Duffy Dyer's single in the 3rd is the only hit. The last pair of consecutive one-hitters were Gary Gentry and Tom Seaver on May 1315, 1970.
IN THE NEWS: Randy Hundley caps the scoring in the 1st inning with a grand slam as the Cubs score 7, all off Don Carrithers, enroute to a 158 pasting of the Giants. The first three runs come on three walks, two wild pitches and three singles. Hundley singles in another run in the 5-run 4th as the Cubs win their 7th straight.
IN THE NEWS: Rico Petrocelli and Carl Yastrzemski lead the Red Sox to 11-inning, 109 win over Texas. Yaz collects five hits and score four times, while Rico drives in six runs, four with a grand slam. Frank Howard is 4-for-4 for Texas. Luis Tiant wins with an inning of shutout relief.
Bob Gibson wins his 211th, passing Jess Haines as the Cards' biggest winner, in St. Louis's 143 win over the Padres. Gibson cracks a 3-run homer in the 7th before exiting.
IN THE NEWS: Following up a 2-hitter against the Pirates in his previous start, San Diego's Steve Arlin allows just one hit in beating San Francisco, 41. Garry Maddox triples in the 2nd inning for the lone hit. Nate Colbert's three run homer, off Sam McDowell, is the deciding blow.
IN THE NEWS: Culminating a long battle to reach pro baseball, Bernice Gera umpires the first game of a doubleheader between Auburn and Geneva (New York-Pennsylvania League). Several disputes take place and she ejects the Auburn manager. Gera resigns before the 2nd game, leaving in tears, saying resentment from the other umps was a factor in her decision. She will later work in the Mets PR department.
IN THE NEWS: The Reds take over first place in the National League West for good with a 54, 10-inning win over the Astros. Denis Menke's double in the 10th against his old team wins it.
IN THE NEWS: Detroit's Bill Slayback makes his ML debut a good one, allowing no hits for seven innings against the Yankees. Johnny Callison's single in the 8th is the first hit, but Detroit hangs on to a 43 win.
Brewer Billy Conigliaro jumps his club for the comfort of a Massachusetts island retreat.
IN THE NEWS: Mickey Lolich is staked to 40 lead when the Tigers hit three consecutive first-inning home runs against New York's Wade Blasingame, making his American League debut. Tony Taylor leads off with a walk before Aurelio Rodriguez, Al Kaline, and Willie Horton wade in with homers to finish Blasingame. Lolich, pitching on two days rest, notches his 12th, winning 52. Bobby Murcer's home run accounts for one of the Yank runs.
Continuing his slugging, John Mayberry belts a home run, double and two singles to lead the Royals to a 64 win over the White Sox. Mayberry has driven in 20 runs in his last 11 games.
Nolan Ryan (8-5) triples and scores the go-ahead run in the 7th as California beats the Twins, 31. Poor base-running in the 4th doesn't help the Twins cause: With Harmon Killebrew on 3B and Steve Braun on 2B with no outs, Nettles flies out to Spencer in left field. Killebrew fakes a dash to the plate and Braun starts from 2B. A relay catches Braun at 2B and another throw nips Killebrew at 3B for a triple play.
IN THE NEWS: Jim Palmer's 8-game win streak ends as the Yanks chase the ace in the 2nd inning of a 43 win. Mel Stottlemyre, with relief from Sparky Lyle, gains his 7th win.
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