Pilots sweep twin-bill from Pale Hose

Pilots 3, White Sox 2 (11 inn)
W - Lockwood 1-0, L - Murphy 2-2

Seattle turns a first inning triple play then wins the game in 11 on a John Donaldson RBI single to take the first game of the twin bill.  Tommy Harper went 2 for 3 with 2 walks and stole his 69th, 70th and 71st bags of the season.  Bill Melton hit his 24th roundtripper for the Pale Hose in a losing effort.









Pilots 5, White Sox 2
W - Fuentes (1-0), L - Peters

A 3 run pinch hit homer by Jerry McNertney off Chisox starter Gary Peters turned a 1 run deficit into a 2 run advantage.  Reliever Bob Locker came on and made it interesting, but still found a way to wiggle out of trouble and notch his 5th save as the Pilots found a way to sweep this twi-light double header.

Royals take 3 of 4 from reeling Pilots

KCR 2, SEP 1 (16 inn)

W - Cisco (2-0, 2.13), L - Segui (8-9, 4.39)

Luis Alcaraz' infield single scored Lou Piniella in the top of the 16th for what turned out to be the eventual winning run.  Piniella led the inning off with a single, but reached second on a error by centerfielder Steve "Orbit" Hovley.  Seattle made 5 errors on the day with the final one contributing to this heartbreaking extra inning loss.

SEP 4, KCR 3

W - Brabender (6-13, 4.41), L - Butler (11-9, 3.01), S - Locker (4)

Mike Hegan's two run blast in the bottom of the 5th handed Gene Brabender a 1 run lead.  The big righthander struggled all day with his control before yielding to reliever Bob Locker in the 8th.  Locker set the Royals down 1-2-3 in the 8th, but ran into trouble in the 9th by loading the bases.  In a mano y mano battle with Lou Piniella Locker narrowly escaped as the 1969 ROY candidate hit a bullet to short that luckily found Ray Oyler's glove for out number 3.

KCR 8, SEP 3

W - Bunker (6-14, 3.50), L - Meyer (0-2, 6.60)

KC jumped all over the Pilots and got an 11 strikeout performance from Wally Bunker.  The offensive highlight for the Royals was an inside the park homer off the bat of light hitting shortstop (.214) Jackie Hernandez.

KCR 2, SEP 1

W - Rooker (7-9, 2.85), L - Brunet (2-4, 5.40)

A sac fly by Joe Foy and a RBI double by Buck Martinez in the top of the 1st were all the runs that Jim Rooker would need.  Lefty Rooker went the distance scattering 8 hits and allowing just 1 run vs the anemic Pilot offense.  His opposing number, George Brunet, held the Royals scoreless for the following 7 innings, but all his teammates could do was rally for a solo run in the bottom of the 3rd, when Tommy Harper worked out a walk and stole 2nd followed by an RBI single by Jim Hegan.

Sox-OBirds Split

GAME ONE – Jim Palmer (8-3) and Dave Leonhard combined on a 4-hit, 6-0 shutout of the White Sox. Merv Rettenmund (2) had 3 RBI with one long hit. Frank Robinson banged out 3 hits.

GAME TWO – Bill Melton’s (23) 2-run 5^th inning homer turned out to be the game winner in a 6-3 Pale Hose victory. Gary Peters (10-10) evened his season mark with 8 strong innings. 

Bucs Ransack Atlanta

GAME ONE – Al Oliver (12,13) banged out two home runs including a grand slam in the T9 to lift Pittsburgh to a 8-5 win over Atlanta.

GAME TWO – After a rain out the day before, the Braves hosted the Pirates again on a drippy day and played like it. Dock Ellis (15-6) took a no-hitter into the 6^th and finished off a complete-game 9-1 win. Offensively, Ellis contributed 3 hits to a 19-hit Buc attack. Roberto Clemente collected 4 to raise his average to .384. Willie Stargell (18,19) mashed a pair of taters.

Pale Hose Corral Tribe

GAME ONE – Cleveland plates runners in the 8^th and 9^th to come from behind and nip the White Sox 4-3. Vern Fuller (4) and “Hawk” Harrelson (19) earlier “put it on the board” with solo homers for the Indians. Ed Herrman (5) went yard for the Pale Hose.  

GAME TWO – ChiSox even the series with a 4-2 victory. Bobby Knoop’s (8) 4^th inning 2-run bomb was the biggest blow. Wilber Wood tossed the 9^th for his 15^th save.

GAME THREE – Tommy John (7-15) fired a complete game shutout as Chicago won the finale of the series and of August, 5-0. Luis Aparicio and Ron Hanson banged out 3 hits each. John himself contributed 2 hits and an RBI

Cubs Swoon; Braves Pow-wow

GAME ONE – Rico Carty and Bob Didier smacked 3 hits apiece to lead Atlanta to a 6-2 win. Jim Hickman’s (16) 2-run HR plated both runs for the Cubs.

GAME TWO – Hank Aaron’s (33) 2-run HR powered the Braves to another 6-2 win – their 7^th straight. It also gave the “Hammer” hiss 100^th and 101^st RBI on the year.

GAME THREE – Cubs explode for 6 runs in the 9^th for a come-from-behind 7-4 win. They did it with 6 singles, a walk and an HBP. Randy Hundley drove in Billy Williams and Ernie Banks with his knock. Phil Niekro (18-9) had a no-hitter going until Ron Santo’s (15) solo tater with 2 outs in the 7^th. Aaron hit his 34^th and Carty (11) extended a hitting streak to 12 with 2 hits, including a round tripper.

Braves Clip Redbirds

GAME ONE – Bob Gibson (7-16) yielded 6 runs to Atlanta in the first two innings, then got nasty. He blanked the Braves for next 6 innings before tiring in the 9^th and giving way to Mudcat Grant (3). Meanwhile, the Cardinals bats went into high gear eventually leading to an 11-7 St. Louis win. Joe Torre drove in 5 with 3 2Bs. Lou Brock rang up 4 hits.

GAME TWO – Rico Carty’s (10) 3-run bomb in the T9 sealed the deal for another victory for Phil Niekro (17-8). The Braves had earlier come roaring back with 5 runs in the7th to overcome a 4-run deficit. Torre (17) had gone deep for the Redbirds.

GAME THREE – Hank Aaron and Clete Boyer each drove in a pair to make Pat Jarvis (10-8) a 4-2 winner in the rubber game of the series. Vada Pinson (13) clouted a 2-run HR for the St. Louis runs.