The Orioles' hopes of repeating as East Division champions suffered a severe blow with 9-1 and 4-0 losses to the Red Sox in a twi-night doubleheader. As a result of the sweep, the Red Sox slightly expanded their division lead to one game over the Tigers, while the Orioles fell 3½ off the pace. The rain-idled Yankees were 3½ behind.

The Red Sox, after taking a 2-1 lead, clinched the opener by exploding for seven runs in the fourth inning. Doug Griffin led off with a single and when Marty Pattin bunted, Jim Palmer threw wildly to first. Tommy Harper fouled out, but Luis Aparicio singled for one run and Carl Yastrzemski doubled for another to chase Palmer. Doyle Alexander, in relief, walked Reggie Smith to load the bases and passed Rico Petrocelli to force in the third run of the inning, Carlton Fisk and Dwight Evans followed with singles, each driving in two tallies to wrap up the scoring. The Orioles' lone run of the night counted in the fourth on a double by Terry Crowley and single by Palmer.

Luis Tiant pitched his sixth shutout of the season for the Red Sox in the second game, allowing only four hits. The Red Sox batting included Evans' first major league homer. [The Sporting News]



Boston Red Sox 9, Baltimore Orioles 1 (Game 1)
Game Played on Wednesday, September 20, 1972 (Night game) at Fenway Park
Orioles      0  0  0    1  0  0    0  0  0  -   1  5  1
Red Sox      0  0  2    7  0  0    0  0  x  -   9 10  1


Orioles              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Red Sox              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Rettenmund cf         4   0   0   0     1   2   .234      Harper cf             4   0   1   0     0   0   .263
Grich ss              4   0   0   0     0   1   .279        Miller cf           1   0   0   0     0   1   .213
Baylor lf,rf          4   0   2   0     0   0   .258      Aparicio ss           5   2   2   1     0   1   .256
Powell 1b             4   0   0   0     0   0   .245      Yastrzemski 1b        4   1   1   1     1   1   .265
  Leonhard p          0   0   0   0     0   0  1.000      Smith rf              3   2   0   0     2   1   .264
Crowley rf,1b         4   1   1   0     0   0   .239      Petrocelli 3b         2   1   0   2     2   2   .248
Robinson 3b           3   0   1   0     0   0   .252      Fisk c                4   1   3   3     1   0   .304
  Matchick 3b         1   0   0   0     0   1   .000      Evans lf              4   0   2   2     0   2   .444
Oates c               3   0   0   0     1   0   .257      Griffin 2b            1   1   1   0     3   0   .262
Johnson 2b            2   0   0   0     2   1   .223      Pattin p              3   1   0   0     0   1   .147
Palmer p              2   0   1   1     0   1   .228
  Harrison p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .077
  Reynolds p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Shopay ph,lf        2   0   0   0     0   0   .229

Totals               33   1   5   1     4   6             Totals               31   9  10   9     9   9

Time of Game: 2:39
Left on Base: Orioles 9, Red Sox 9
DP: Orioles 2, Red Sox 0
Errors: Palmer, Aparicio
Doubles: Robinson (23), Crowley (9), Harper (27), Aparicio (24), Yastrzemski (15), Fisk (27)
Sacrifice Hits: Pattin (7)
Sacrifice Flies: Petrocelli (4)
GIDP: Pattin (2)


Orioles                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Palmer L(20-9)          3.1   7   6   5   3   5   0  21   1.97
Harrison                0     2   3   3   2   0   0   4   2.49
Reynolds                2.2   1   0   0   4   1   0  11   1.86
Leonhard                2     0   0   0   0   3   0   6   4.50
Totals                  8    10   9   8   9   9   0  42

Red Sox                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Pattin W(15-12)         9     5   1   1   4   6   0  37   3.43
Totals                  9     5   1   1   4   6   0  37

Wild Pitches: Palmer (4)

Umpires: HP - Hank Soar, 1B - Frank Umont, 2B - Jim Odom, 3B - Don Denkinger


ORIOLES 1ST: Rettenmund struck out; Grich was called out on
strikes; Baylor grounded out (pitcher to second to first); 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 0, Red Sox 0.

RED SOX 1ST: Harper doubled to left; Aparicio struck out;
Yastrzemski grounded out (pitcher to first); Smith made an out
to first; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 0, Red Sox 0.

ORIOLES 2ND: Powell flied out to right; Crowley grounded out
(pitcher to first); Robinson doubled to left; Oates walked;
Johnson walked [Robinson to third, Oates to second]; Palmer
struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Orioles 0, Red Sox 0.

RED SOX 2ND: Petrocelli struck out; Fisk walked; Evans singled
[Fisk to third, Evans to second]; Griffin was walked
intentionally; Pattin struck out; Harper grounded out (pitcher
to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Orioles 0, Red Sox 0.

ORIOLES 3RD: Rettenmund walked; Grich flied out to right; Baylor
forced Rettenmund (shortstop to second); Powell flied out to
right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 0, Red Sox 0.

RED SOX 3RD: Aparicio doubled to left; Yastrzemski struck out;
Smith walked; Palmer threw a wild pitch [Aparicio to third,
Smith to second]; Petrocelli hit a sacrifice fly to center
[Aparicio scored]; Fisk singled to center [Smith scored]; Evans
struck out; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 0, Red Sox 2.

ORIOLES 4TH: Crowley doubled to left; Robinson flied out to
right; Oates grounded out (second to first) [Crowley to third];
Johnson walked; Palmer singled to left [Crowley scored, Johnson
to second]; Rettenmund flied out to center; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Orioles 1, Red Sox 2.

RED SOX 4TH: Griffin singled to right; Pattin reached on an
error by Palmer on a sacrifice bunt [Griffin to second]; On a
bunt Harper popped to third in foul territory; Aparicio singled
to left [Griffin scored, Pattin to second]; Yastrzemski doubled
to left [Pattin scored (unearned), Aparicio to third]; HARRISON
REPLACED PALMER (PITCHING); Smith was walked intentionally;
Petrocelli walked [Aparicio scored, Yastrzemski to third, Smith
to second]; Fisk singled to right [Yastrzemski scored, Smith
scored, Petrocelli to third, Fisk to second]; Evans singled to
right [Petrocelli scored, Fisk scored]; REYNOLDS REPLACED
HARRISON (PITCHING); Griffin walked [Evans to second]; Pattin
grounded into a double play (third to first) [Evans out at
third]; 7 R (6 ER), 5 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 1, Red Sox 9.

ORIOLES 5TH: Grich made an out to second; Baylor singled to
left; Powell flied out to right; Crowley flied out to right; 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 1, Red Sox 9.

RED SOX 5TH: Harper flied out to center; Aparicio grounded out
(third to first); Yastrzemski walked; Smith flied out to center;
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Orioles 1, Red Sox 9.

ORIOLES 6TH: MILLER REPLACED HARPER (PLAYING CF); Robinson
grounded out (shortstop to first); On a bunt Oates made an out
to first; Johnson flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Orioles 1, Red Sox 9.

RED SOX 6TH: MATCHICK REPLACED ROBINSON (PLAYING 3B); Petrocelli
walked; Fisk doubled to left [Petrocelli to third]; Evans struck
out; Griffin was walked intentionally; Pattin flied into a
double play (center to catcher) [Petrocelli out at home]; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Orioles 1, Red Sox 9.

ORIOLES 7TH: SHOPAY BATTED FOR REYNOLDS; Shopay reached on an
error by Aparicio; Rettenmund was called out on strikes; Grich
forced Shopay (shortstop to second); Baylor singled to second
[Grich to second]; Powell grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1
H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Orioles 1, Red Sox 9.

RED SOX 7TH: SHOPAY STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); BAYLOR CHANGED
POSITIONS (PLAYING RF); CROWLEY CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 1B);
LEONHARD REPLACED POWELL (PITCHING); Miller struck out; Aparicio
flied out to left; Yastrzemski grounded out (second to first); 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Orioles 1, Red Sox 9.

ORIOLES 8TH: Crowley flied out to right; Matchick struck out;
Oates grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Orioles 1, Red Sox 9.

RED SOX 8TH: Smith struck out; Petrocelli struck out; Fisk
grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Orioles 1, Red Sox 9.

ORIOLES 9TH: Johnson struck out; Shopay flied out to left;
Rettenmund grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Orioles 1, Red Sox 9.