Steve Blass, who pitched an 11-hit shutout of the Cardinals May 17, gave up 11 more hits in a return appearance but was a winner again when the Pirates batted their way to a 6-2 victory. Oddly, the Pirates were able to win although Willie Stargell and Al Oliver went hitless nine times between them and Roberto Clemente grounded into three double plays.

However, Clemente collected two hits and drove in one run. The Pirates bunched four hits with an error and a sacrifice for three runs in the second inning and added three others on two singles, a walk and two errors in the fourth. [The Sporting News]



Pittsburgh Pirates 6, St. Louis Cardinals 2
Game Played on Tuesday, May       23, 1972 (Night game) at Busch Stadium II
Pirates      0  3  0    3  0  0    0  0  0  -   6 12  0
Cardinals    0  1  1    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   2 11  3


Pirates              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Cardinals            AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Cash 2b               4   1   2   1     1   0   .311      Brock lf              5   0   1   0     0   0   .306
Davalillo lf          4   1   3   1     0   0   .396      Sizemore 2b           4   1   3   0     0   0   .270
Clemente rf           5   0   2   1     0   0   .316      Alou 1b               4   0   3   0     0   0   .354
Stargell 1b           5   0   0   0     0   1   .279      Torre 3b              4   0   2   1     0   0   .377
Oliver cf             4   0   0   0     1   0   .326      Simmons c             4   0   0   0     0   0   .268
Hebner 3b             2   1   1   0     2   0   .327      Carbo rf              3   0   1   0     1   0   .147
Sanguillen c          5   1   1   0     0   1   .350      Melendez cf           4   1   1   1     0   0   .204
Alley ss              4   1   2   1     1   0   .333      Crosby ss             3   0   0   0     0   0   .270
Blass p               3   1   1   0     0   0   .227        Anderson ph         1   0   0   0     0   0   .083
  Robertson ph        0   0   0   0     0   0   .125      Cleveland p           1   0   0   0     0   0   .053
  May ph              1   0   0   0     0   0   .294        Martinez ph         1   0   0   0     0   1   .429
  R. Hernandez p      0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Higgins p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Fiore ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .143
                                                            Grzenda p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Cloninger p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Clendenon ph        1   0   0   0     0   1   .143

Totals               37   6  12   4     5   2             Totals               36   2  11   2     1   2

Time of Game: 2:17   Attendance: 11,795
Left on Base: Pirates 12, Cardinals 8
DP: Pirates 2, Cardinals 3
Errors: Sizemore, Melendez, Crosby
Doubles: Torre (7)
Home Runs: Melendez (2)
Sacrifice Hits: Blass (1)
GIDP: Clemente 3 (10), Alou (7), Crosby (5)
Hit by Pitch: Davalillo (2,by Cleveland), Hebner (1,by Grzenda)


Pirates                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Blass W(5-1)            8    11   2   2   1   1   1  34   2.76
R. Hernandez SV(3)      1     0   0   0   0   1   0   3   0.77
Totals                  9    11   2   2   1   2   1  37

Cardinals              IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Cleveland L(3-3)        5     9   6   3   2   2   0  28   4.33
Higgins                 2     1   0   0   1   0   0   7   4.38
Grzenda                 1.2   2   0   0   2   0   0   9   8.68
Cloninger               0.1   0   0   0   0   0   0   1   5.63
Totals                  9    12   6   3   5   2   0  45

Hit by Pitch: Cleveland (1), Grzenda (2)

Umpires: HP - Harry Wendelstedt, 1B - Bruce Froemming, 2B - Ed Vargo, 3B - Paul Pryor


PIRATES 1ST: Cash popped to first in foul territory; Davalillo
was hit by a pitch; Clemente singled to center [Davalillo to
third]; Stargell struck out; Oliver grounded out (second to
first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Pirates 0, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 1ST: Brock singled to center; Sizemore singled to
third [Brock to second]; Alou grounded into a double play
(second to shortstop to first) [Brock stayed at second, Sizemore
out at second]; Ted Sizemore called for interference;
Torre grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Pirates 0, Cardinals 0.

PIRATES 2ND: Hebner singled to right; Sanguillen reached on an
error by Crosby [Hebner to second, Sanguillen to first]; Alley
singled to center [Hebner scored, Sanguillen to second]; Blass
out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Sanguillen to
third, Alley to second]; Cash singled to center [Sanguillen
scored (unearned), Alley to third]; Davalillo singled to right
[Cash to third, Alley scored]; Clemente grounded into a double
play (shortstop to second to first) [Davalillo out at second]; 3
R (2 ER), 4 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 3, Cardinals 0.

CARDINALS 2ND: Simmons lined to right; Carbo grounded out (third
to first); Melendez homered; Crosby grounded out (first
unassisted); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 3, Cardinals 1.

PIRATES 3RD: Stargell flied out to center; Oliver grounded out
(first unassisted); Hebner walked; Sanguillen was called out on
strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 3, Cardinals 1.

CARDINALS 3RD: Cleveland grounded out (third to first); Brock
grounded out (shortstop to first); Sizemore singled to left;
Alou singled to left [Sizemore to second]; Torre doubled to left
[Sizemore scored, Alou to third]; Simmons popped to third in
foul territory; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Pirates 3, Cardinals 2.

PIRATES 4TH: Alley grounded out (third to first); Blass singled
to right; Cash walked [Blass to second]; Davalillo reached on an
error by Sizemore [Blass scored (no RBI), Cash scored (error by
Melendez) (unearned) (no RBI), Davalillo to second]; Clemente
singled to right [Davalillo scored (unearned)]; Stargell popped
to third; Oliver forced Clemente (shortstop to second); 3 R (1
ER), 2 H, 2 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 6, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 4TH: Carbo singled to center; Melendez popped to
shortstop; Crosby grounded into a double play (first to
shortstop) [Carbo out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates
6, Cardinals 2.

PIRATES 5TH: Hebner popped to shortstop; Sanguillen singled to
second; Alley singled to right [Sanguillen to third]; Blass
popped to first in foul territory; Cash forced Alley (shortstop
to second); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Pirates 6, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 5TH: MARTINEZ BATTED FOR CLEVELAND; Martinez struck
out; Brock grounded out (second to first); Sizemore singled to
left; Alou singled to left [Sizemore to second]; Torre forced
Alou (third to second); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Pirates 6,
Cardinals 2.

PIRATES 6TH: HIGGINS REPLACED MARTINEZ (PITCHING); Davalillo
singled to third; Clemente grounded into a double play (second
to shortstop to first) [Davalillo out at second]; Stargell lined
to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 6, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 6TH: Simmons grounded out (pitcher to first); Carbo
grounded out (shortstop to first); Melendez grounded out
(pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 6, Cardinals
2.

PIRATES 7TH: Oliver popped to second; Hebner walked; Sanguillen
popped to second in foul territory; Alley grounded out (second
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 6, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 7TH: Crosby popped to first; FIORE BATTED FOR HIGGINS;
Fiore grounded out (pitcher to first); Brock flied out to
center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 6, Cardinals 2.

PIRATES 8TH: GRZENDA REPLACED FIORE (PITCHING); Blass popped to
second; Cash singled to center; Davalillo singled to center
[Cash to third]; Clemente grounded into a double play (second to
shortstop to first) [Davalillo out at second]; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Pirates 6, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 8TH: Sizemore grounded out (third to first); Alou
singled to left; Torre singled to left [Alou to second]; Simmons
flied to right in foul territory; Carbo walked [Alou to third,
Torre to second]; Melendez lined to shortstop; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3
LOB.  Pirates 6, Cardinals 2.

PIRATES 9TH: Stargell flied out to center; Oliver walked; Hebner
was hit by a pitch [Oliver to second]; Sanguillen grounded out
(pitcher to first) [Oliver to third, Hebner to second]; Alley
was walked intentionally; ROBERTSON BATTED FOR BLASS; CLONINGER
REPLACED GRZENDA (PITCHING); MAY BATTED FOR ROBERTSON; May flied
out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Pirates 6, Cardinals 2.

CARDINALS 9TH: R. HERNANDEZ REPLACED MAY (PITCHING); ANDERSON
BATTED FOR CROSBY; Anderson popped to shortstop; CLENDENON
BATTED FOR CLONINGER; Clendenon was called out on strikes; Brock
grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates
6, Cardinals 2.