The leader of the major leagues' firemen this season, Sparky Lyle allowed only one hit in 3 1/3 innings of relief and gained his 17th save as the Yankees defeated the Athletics, 6-2. The Yankees bunched four singles and a double by Felipe Alou for four runs in the fifth inning to take a 5-1 lead.

The A's, meanwhile, were held to one hit by Mike Kekich until two out in the sixth when they rallied for two runs and had two men on base with two out when Lyle took over to put out the fire. [The Sporting News]



New York Yankees 6, Oakland Athletics 2
Game Played on Thursday, July      6, 1972 (Night game) at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Yankees      0  1  0    0  4  0    1  0  0  -   6  9  0
A's          0  0  0    0  0  2    0  0  0  -   2  6  2


Yankees              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Clarke 2b             5   2   2   0     0   0   .251      Campaneris ss         4   0   1   0     0   1   .238
Munson c              4   1   2   1     1   0   .266      Rudi lf               4   1   1   0     0   0   .312
Murcer cf             5   1   1   0     0   1   .278      Tenace rf             4   1   1   0     0   0   .214
White lf              4   0   1   1     0   1   .269      Bando 3b              3   0   1   1     1   0   .260
Alou 1b               4   1   2   2     0   0   .282      Epstein 1b            4   0   1   1     0   0   .288
Sanchez 3b            3   0   0   0     1   1   .167      Hendrick cf           4   0   0   0     0   1   .173
Torres rf             3   0   0   0     1   1   .210      Duncan c              3   0   1   0     1   0   .228
Michael ss            3   1   1   1     0   0   .204      Cullen 2b             4   0   0   0     0   0   .174
Kekich p              2   0   0   0     0   1   .108      Hamilton p            1   0   0   0     0   1   .071
  Lyle p              1   0   0   0     0   0   .111        Horlen p            1   0   0   0     0   0   .200
                                                            Cepeda ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .291
                                                            Locker p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               34   6   9   5     3   5             Totals               33   2   6   2     2   3

Time of Game: 2:34   Attendance:  4,976
Left on Base: Yankees 6, A's 6
DP: Yankees 0, A's 0
Errors: Bando, Cullen
Doubles: Alou 2 (8), White (10), Rudi (18)
Caught Stealing: Munson (5)
Sacrifice Hits: Kekich (5)
Sacrifice Flies: Michael (3)


Yankees                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Kekich W(8-6)           5.2   5   2   2   1   2   0  23   2.54
Lyle SV(17)             3.1   1   0   0   1   1   0  12   0.91
Totals                  9     6   2   2   2   3   0  35

A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Hamilton L(5-3)         4.1   5   4   4   3   2   0  20   2.60
Horlen                  2.2   3   2   1   0   3   0  12   2.37
Locker                  2     1   0   0   0   0   0   7   1.72
Totals                  9     9   6   5   3   5   0  39

Umpires: HP - Bill Haller, 1B - Jerry Neudecker, 2B - Bill Kunkel, 3B - Red Flaherty


YANKEES 1ST: Clarke made an out to second; Munson walked; Murcer
struck out; Munson was caught stealing second (catcher to
second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Yankees 0, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 1ST: Campaneris was called out on strikes; Rudi flied
out to center; Tenace flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
 Yankees 0, Athletics 0.

YANKEES 2ND: White grounded out (third to first); Alou doubled
to center; Sanchez walked; Torres walked [Alou to third, Sanchez
to second]; Michael hit a sacrifice fly to center [Alou scored];
Kekich flied out to center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Yankees 1,
Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Bando made an out to third; Epstein flied out to
left; Hendrick flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Yankees 1, Athletics 0.

YANKEES 3RD: Clarke grounded out (shortstop to first); Munson
singled to left; Murcer lined to center; White forced Munson
(shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Yankees 1,
Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Duncan made an out to third; Cullen flied out to
center; Hamilton struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Yankees 1,
Athletics 0.

YANKEES 4TH: Alou grounded out (shortstop to first); Sanchez
grounded out (second to first); Torres struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Yankees 1, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 4TH: On a bunt Campaneris singled to catcher; Rudi
lined to left [Campaneris to second]; Tenace grounded out
(second to first) [Campaneris to third]; Bando grounded out
(shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Yankees 1,
Athletics 0.

YANKEES 5TH: Michael singled to left; Kekich out on a sacrifice
bunt (first to second) [Michael to second]; Clarke singled to
third [Michael scored (error by Bando) (no RBI), Clarke to
third]; Munson singled to left [Clarke scored]; HORLEN REPLACED
HAMILTON (PITCHING); Murcer singled to right [Munson to third];
White struck out; Alou doubled to center [Munson scored, Murcer
scored]; Sanchez was called out on strikes; 4 R, 5 H, 1 E, 1
LOB.  Yankees 5, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Epstein lined to center; Hendrick lined to
center; Duncan walked; Cullen lined to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Yankees 5, Athletics 0.

YANKEES 6TH: Torres popped to first in foul territory; Michael
flied out to left; Kekich struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Yankees 5, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Horlen lined to right; Campaneris grounded out
(second to first); Rudi doubled to left; Tenace singled to
shortstop [Rudi to third]; Bando singled to left [Rudi scored,
Tenace to second]; Epstein singled to left [Tenace scored, Bando
to third]; LYLE REPLACED KEKICH (PITCHING); Hendrick struck out;
2 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Yankees 5, Athletics 2.

YANKEES 7TH: Clarke reached on an error by Cullen; Munson
grounded out (pitcher to first) [Clarke to second]; Murcer
grounded out (second to first) [Clarke to third]; White doubled
to left [Clarke scored (unearned)]; Alou grounded out (third to
first); 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Yankees 6, Athletics 2.

ATHLETICS 7TH: Duncan singled to left; Cullen flied out to
center; CEPEDA BATTED FOR HORLEN; Cepeda lined to left;
Campaneris forced Duncan (shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Yankees 6, Athletics 2.

YANKEES 8TH: LOCKER REPLACED CEPEDA (PITCHING); Sanchez grounded
out (second to first); Torres grounded out (second to first);
Michael grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
 Yankees 6, Athletics 2.

ATHLETICS 8TH: Rudi grounded out (shortstop to first); Tenace
grounded out (second to first); Bando walked; Epstein flied out
to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Yankees 6, Athletics 2.

YANKEES 9TH: On a bunt Lyle grounded out (first to pitcher);
Clarke singled to right; Munson forced Clarke (second
unassisted); Murcer grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Yankees 6, Athletics 2.

ATHLETICS 9TH: Hendrick grounded out (pitcher to first); Duncan
flied out to left; Cullen grounded out (shortstop to first); 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Yankees 6, Athletics 2.