After being shut out for seven innings, the Braves erupted for four runs in the seventh and beat the Dodgers, 4-3, to give Denny McLain his second victory in an Atlanta uniform. McLain gave up two runs, including a homer by Bill Buckner.

Dusty Baker and Felix Millan opened the Braves' rally in the seventh with singles off Claude Osteen and Darrell Evans doubled to drive in Baker. Pete Richert, relieving, retired Marty Perez and Larvell Blanks, who batted for McLain, but Oscar Brown tripled to score Millan and Evans. Ralph Garr followed with a single, sending Brown home with the Braves' deciding run. [The Sporting News]



Atlanta Braves 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 3
Game Played on Monday, July      31, 1972 (Night game) at Atlanta Stadium
Dodgers      0  0  1    1  0  0    0  0  1  -   3  7  0
Braves       0  0  0    0  0  0    4  0  x  -   4  8  1


Dodgers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Braves               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Lacy 2b               5   1   1   0     0   1   .286      Brown rf              4   1   1   2     0   0   .211
Buckner lf,1b         4   1   2   1     1   0   .327      Garr lf               4   0   2   1     0   0   .331
Davis cf              3   0   0   1     1   1   .285      Aaron 1b              3   0   0   0     1   1   .253
Robinson rf           5   0   1   0     0   0   .259      Williams c            3   0   1   0     0   0   .272
Parker 1b             2   1   0   0     2   0   .271        Casanova c          1   0   0   0     0   0   .221
  Richert p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .600      Baker cf              4   1   1   0     0   0   .319
Cannizzaro c          3   0   1   0     1   1   .262      Millan 2b             4   1   1   0     0   0   .252
Russell ss            3   0   1   0     1   1   .269      Evans 3b              3   1   1   1     0   0   .248
Wills 3b              3   0   0   0     0   0   .117      Perez ss              3   0   1   0     0   0   .217
  Garvey ph,3b        1   0   0   0     0   0   .265      McLain p              2   0   0   0     0   1   .000
Osteen p              3   0   1   1     0   1   .269        Blanks ph           1   0   0   0     0   1   .421
  Crawford lf         1   0   0   0     0   0   .212        Hardin p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .071

Totals               33   3   7   3     6   5             Totals               32   4   8   4     1   3

Time of Game: 2:20   Attendance: 10,023
Left on Base: Dodgers 10, Braves 5
DP: Dodgers 0, Braves 1
Errors: Aaron
Doubles: Evans (8)
Triples: Brown (1)
Home Runs: Buckner (3)
Sacrifice Flies: Davis (3)
GIDP: Robinson (6)


Dodgers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Osteen L(11-8)          6     6   3   3   1   2   0  25   2.37
Richert                 2     2   1   1   0   1   0   8   2.16
Totals                  8     8   4   4   1   3   0  33

Braves                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
McLain W(2-1)           7     5   2   2   6   5   1  32   5.32
Hardin SV(1)            2     2   1   0   0   0   0   8   3.38
Totals                  9     7   3   2   6   5   1  40

Balks: McLain (1)

Umpires: HP - Lee Weyer, 1B - Bob Engel, 2B - John McSherry, 3B - Ken Burkhart


DODGERS 1ST: Lacy struck out; Buckner made an out to third;
Davis struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 0, Braves 0.

BRAVES 1ST: Brown popped to first in foul territory; Garr
singled to center; Aaron walked [Garr to second]; Williams flied
out to center; Baker flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Dodgers 0, Braves 0.

DODGERS 2ND: Robinson lined to center; Parker walked; Cannizzaro
struck out; Russell walked [Parker to second]; Wills forced
Russell (shortstop to second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 0,
Braves 0.

BRAVES 2ND: Millan flied out to right; Evans grounded out
(second to first); Perez singled to center; McLain forced Perez
(second to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 0, Braves
0.

DODGERS 3RD: Osteen struck out; Lacy grounded out (third to
first); Buckner homered; Davis walked; McLain balked [Davis to
second]; Robinson grounded out (third to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Dodgers 1, Braves 0.

BRAVES 3RD: Brown made an out to second; Garr grounded out
(first unassisted); Aaron struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Dodgers 1, Braves 0.

DODGERS 4TH: Parker walked; Cannizzaro singled to right [Parker
to second]; Russell struck out; Wills flied out to left; Osteen
singled to center [Parker scored, Cannizzaro to second]; Lacy
flied out to right; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 2, Braves 0.

BRAVES 4TH: Williams singled to left; Baker flied out to center;
Millan forced Williams (third to second); Evans lined to right;
0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 2, Braves 0.

DODGERS 5TH: Buckner singled to center; Davis flied out to
center; Robinson singled to left [Buckner to second]; Parker
flied out to right; Cannizzaro walked [Buckner to third,
Robinson to second]; Russell lined to third; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3
LOB.  Dodgers 2, Braves 0.

BRAVES 5TH: Perez flied out to left; McLain struck out; Brown
flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 2, Braves 0.

DODGERS 6TH: Wills grounded out (first unassisted); Osteen
grounded out (second to first); Lacy lined to shortstop; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 2, Braves 0.

BRAVES 6TH: Garr grounded out (second to first); Aaron grounded
out (shortstop to first); Williams grounded out (shortstop to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 2, Braves 0.

DODGERS 7TH: CASANOVA REPLACED WILLIAMS (PLAYING C ); Buckner
walked; Davis flied out to center; Robinson flied out to center;
Parker forced Buckner (second to shortstop); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Dodgers 2, Braves 0.

BRAVES 7TH: Baker singled to second; Millan singled to right
[Baker to third]; Evans doubled to right [Baker scored, Millan
to third]; RICHERT REPLACED PARKER (PITCHING); CRAWFORD REPLACED
OSTEEN (PLAYING LF); BUCKNER CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 1B);
Perez grounded out (third to first); BLANKS BATTED FOR MCLAIN;
Blanks struck out; Brown tripled to right [Millan scored, Evans
scored]; Garr singled to center [Brown scored]; Aaron popped to
first in foul territory; 4 R, 5 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 2,
Braves 4.

DODGERS 8TH: HARDIN REPLACED BLANKS (PITCHING); Cannizzaro
grounded out (shortstop to first); Russell singled to center;
GARVEY BATTED FOR WILLS; Garvey grounded out (third to first)
[Russell to second]; Crawford grounded out (first unassisted); 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 2, Braves 4.

BRAVES 8TH: GARVEY STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 3B); Casanova flied
out to center; Baker popped to first in foul territory; Millan
grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 2,
Braves 4.

DODGERS 9TH: Lacy singled to center; Buckner reached on an error
by Aaron [Lacy to third, Buckner to first]; Davis hit a
sacrifice fly to center [Lacy scored (unearned)]; Robinson
grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first)
[Buckner out at second]; 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers
3, Braves 4.