Steve Blass needed only one more victory to enter the charmed circle for the first time in his major league career after the Pirates' righthander defeated the Phillies, 5-1. Wayne Twitchell, who started for the Phillies, was hlt on the hand by a batted ball in the first inning. Billy Champion took over in the second and suffered his 11th straight defeat when the Pirates exploded for all their runs in the sixth. Al Oliver batted in two with a double and Manny Sanguillen drove in another pair with a single. [The Sporting News]



Pittsburgh Pirates 5, Philadelphia Phillies 1
Game Played on Tuesday, September 26, 1972 (Night game) at Veterans Stadium
Pirates      0  0  0    0  0  5    0  0  0  -   5 12  0
Phillies     0  0  0    0  0  0    0  1  0  -   1  8  1


Pirates              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Phillies             AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Cash 2b               5   0   2   0     0   0   .280      Doyle 2b              3   0   1   0     1   0   .250
Stennett lf           5   1   1   0     0   2   .286      Bowa ss               4   1   2   0     0   0   .247
Clemente rf           5   1   2   0     0   1   .311      Montanez 1b           4   0   0   0     0   0   .247
Stargell 1b           5   1   0   0     0   0   .301      Luzinski lf           4   0   1   1     0   0   .274
  Robertson 1b        0   0   0   0     0   0   .193      Hutton rf             3   0   0   0     1   0   .262
Oliver cf             4   1   1   2     0   0   .315      B. Robinson cf        4   0   2   0     0   0   .248
Hebner 3b             3   1   1   0     1   0   .302      Schmidt 3b            3   0   0   0     0   1   .174
Sanguillen c          4   0   2   2     0   1   .295        Terlecki p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Alley ss              4   0   2   0     0   0   .245        Stone ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .173
Blass p               2   0   1   1     0   0   .185      Boone c               4   0   2   0     0   0   .258
                                                          Twitchell p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .077
                                                            Champion p          2   0   0   0     0   1   .147
                                                            Wilson p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Money ph,3b         1   0   0   0     0   0   .216

Totals               37   5  12   5     1   4             Totals               33   1   8   1     2   2

Time of Game: 2:09   Attendance:  8,472
Left on Base: Pirates 8, Phillies 7
DP: Pirates 2, Phillies 2
Errors: Schmidt
Doubles: Oliver (25)
Sacrifice Hits: Blass 2 (12)
GIDP: Alley (6), B. Robinson (8)


Pirates                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Blass W(19-7)           9     8   1   1   2   2   0  35   2.37
Totals                  9     8   1   1   2   2   0  35

Phillies               IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Twitchell               1     0   0   0   0   0   0   3   4.07
Champion L(4-14)        4     6   4   4   0   1   0  20   5.00
Wilson                  2     3   1   1   1   2   0   9   3.81
Terlecki                2     3   0   0   0   1   0   8   4.76
Totals                  9    12   5   5   1   4   0  40

Wild Pitches: Champion (7)

Umpires: HP - John Kibler, 1B - Frank Pulli, 2B - Doug Harvey, 3B - Shag Crawford


PIRATES 1ST: Cash popped to shortstop; Stennett grounded out
(first unassisted); Clemente grounded out (pitcher to first); 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 0, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 1ST: Doyle singled to center; Bowa popped to third;
Montanez popped to shortstop; Luzinski grounded out (second to
first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 0, Phillies 0.

PIRATES 2ND: CHAMPION REPLACED TWITCHELL (PITCHING); Stargell
grounded out (second to first); Oliver grounded out (first to
pitcher); Hebner grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Pirates 0, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 2ND: Hutton walked; B. Robinson grounded into a double
play (second to shortstop to first) [Hutton out at second];
Schmidt was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Pirates 0, Phillies 0.

PIRATES 3RD: Sanguillen grounded out (first to pitcher); Alley
singled to left; Blass out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to
second) [Alley to second]; Cash flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 0, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 3RD: Boone flied out to left; Champion struck out;
Doyle grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Pirates 0, Phillies 0.

PIRATES 4TH: Stennett popped to first in foul territory;
Clemente reached on an error by Schmidt; Champion threw a wild
pitch [Clemente to second]; Stargell popped to third in foul
territory; Oliver flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.
Pirates 0, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 4TH: Bowa singled to left; Montanez lined into a double
play (second to first) [Bowa out at first]; Luzinski grounded
out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Pirates 0, Phillies
0.

PIRATES 5TH: Hebner singled to center; On a bunt Sanguillen
struck out; Alley singled to third [Hebner to second]; Blass out
on a sacrifice bunt (third to second) [Hebner to third, Alley to
second]; Cash grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Pirates 0, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 5TH: Hutton flied out to right; B. Robinson singled to
right; Schmidt flied out to center; Boone singled to left [B.
Robinson to second]; Champion flied out to right; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E,
2 LOB.  Pirates 0, Phillies 0.

PIRATES 6TH: Stennett singled to center; Clemente singled to
center [Stennett to third]; Stargell reached on a fielder's
choice [Clemente to second]; Oliver doubled to right [Stennett
scored, Clemente scored, Stargell to third]; WILSON REPLACED
CHAMPION (PITCHING); Hebner was walked intentionally; Sanguillen
singled to right [Stargell scored, Oliver scored, Hebner to
second]; Alley grounded into a double play (shortstop to second
to first) [Hebner to third, Sanguillen out at second]; Blass
singled to right [Hebner scored]; Cash singled to center [Blass
to second]; Stennett struck out; 5 R, 6 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Pirates
5, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 6TH: Doyle grounded out (first unassisted); Bowa
singled to right; Montanez flied out to right; Luzinski forced
Bowa (shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 5,
Phillies 0.

PIRATES 7TH: Clemente struck out; Stargell grounded out (first
to pitcher); Oliver flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Pirates 5, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 7TH: Hutton grounded out (second to first); B. Robinson
singled to center; Schmidt flied out to right; Boone singled to
right [B. Robinson to third]; MONEY BATTED FOR WILSON; Money
forced Boone (third to shortstop to second); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Pirates 5, Phillies 0.

PIRATES 8TH: TERLECKI REPLACED SCHMIDT (PITCHING); MONEY STAYED
IN GAME (PLAYING 3B); Hebner grounded out (second to first);
Sanguillen singled to center; Alley grounded out (second to
first) [Sanguillen to second]; Blass grounded out (shortstop to
first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 5, Phillies 0.

PHILLIES 8TH: Doyle walked; Bowa forced Doyle (second to
shortstop); Montanez grounded out (second to first) [Bowa to
second]; Luzinski singled to right [Bowa scored]; Hutton flied
out to center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Pirates 5, Phillies 1.

PIRATES 9TH: Cash singled to right; Stennett struck out while
Cash was picked off first (catcher to first); Clemente singled
to third; Stargell flied out to left; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Pirates 5, Phillies 1.

PHILLIES 9TH: ROBERTSON REPLACED STARGELL (PLAYING 1B); B.
Robinson flied out to right; STONE BATTED FOR TERLECKI; Stone
flied out to left; Boone popped to pitcher; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Pirates 5, Phillies 1.