MLB standings through games of August 17, 1972

MLB standings at the end of August 17, 1972

	GP	W	L	T	PCT	GB	RF	RA	HOME	ROAD	LAST 10	STRK
A.L. East
Baltimore Orioles	112	60	52	0	.536		394	314	28-28	32-24	5-5	Lost 3
Detroit Tigers	113	60	53	0	.531	0.5	395	376	30-27	30-26	3-7	Lost 1
New York Yankees	111	58	53	0	.523	1.5	406	357	36-19	22-34	5-5	Lost 3
Boston Red Sox	110	56	54	0	.509	3.0	456	476	34-20	22-34	5-5	Won 1
Cleveland Indians	112	52	60	0	.464	8.0	342	365	31-24	21-36	5-5	Lost 2
Milwaukee Brewers	112	43	69	0	.384	17.0	350	449	25-31	18-38	2-8	Lost 5

	GP	W	L	T	PCT	GB	RF	RA	HOME	ROAD	LAST 10	STRK
A.L. West
Oakland A's	112	66	46	0	.589		427	333	32-22	34-24	4-6	Won 3
Chicago White Sox	111	65	46	0	.586	0.5	418	388	44-14	21-32	8-2	Won 3
Minnesota Twins	109	58	51	0	.532	6.5	399	388	31-19	27-32	6-4	Won 1
Kansas City Royals	110	54	56	0	.491	11.0	413	393	35-23	19-33	7-3	Won 3
California Angels	112	51	61	0	.455	15.0	345	415	29-28	22-33	5-5	Won 2
Texas Rangers	112	45	67	0	.402	21.0	359	450	27-31	18-36	4-6	Lost 1

	GP	W	L	T	PCT	GB	RF	RA	HOME	ROAD	LAST 10	STRK
N.L. East
Pittsburgh Pirates	111	69	42	0	.622		509	383	36-20	33-22	6-4	Lost 1
New York Mets	109	59	50	0	.541	9.0	370	381	31-25	28-25	5-5	Won 1
Chicago Cubs	114	59	54	1	.522	11.0	483	416	34-20	25-34	5-5	Won 1
St. Louis Cardinals	110	53	57	0	.482	15.5	417	447	27-25	26-32	4-6	Lost 1
Montreal Expos	110	50	60	0	.455	18.5	351	447	25-28	25-32	5-5	Lost 2
Philadelphia Phillies	111	42	69	0	.378	27.0	349	449	21-38	21-31	3-7	Won 1

	GP	W	L	T	PCT	GB	RF	RA	HOME	ROAD	LAST 10	STRK
N.L. West
Cincinnati Reds	111	68	43	0	.613		515	396	28-26	40-17	6-4	Lost 1
Houston Astros	114	64	50	0	.561	5.5	544	470	30-26	34-24	6-4	Won 2
Los Angeles Dodgers	110	59	51	0	.536	8.5	408	375	29-25	30-26	7-3	Won 1
Atlanta Braves	116	52	63	1	.452	18.0	460	536	28-27	24-36	5-5	Lost 1
San Francisco Giants	115	51	64	0	.443	19.0	493	496	23-37	28-27	5-5	Lost 1
San Diego Padres	111	44	67	0	.396	24.0	358	461	19-42	25-25	3-7	Won 1

Today's scores and summaries:

White Sox 6, Orioles 1 at Baltimore (day game):
Making up a game that was postponed earlier in the season, the Orioles played in drizzling weather and lost to the White Sox, 6-1, before only 655 paid, the smallest crowd in Baltimore's modern baseball history. Luis Alvarado and Pat Kelly each batted in two runs to lead the White Sox.

Angels 4, Indians 2 at Cleveland (night game):
Leroy Stanton hit two homers and Bob Oliver whacked one to account for all of the Angels' runs in a 4-2 victory over the Indians. Stanton started with a solo swat in the first inning, Oliver connected for the circuit after a single by Ken Berry in the fourth and Stanton wrapped it up with his other round-tripper in the ninth.

[DH] Tigers 12, Twins 2 (night game) / Twins 7, Tigers 6 at Detroit (night game):
A mental mistake by rookie catcher Glenn Borgmann enabled the Tigers to score seven runs in the second inning en route to a 12-2 victory in the opener of a twi-night doubleheader, but the Twins came back to win the nightcap, 7-6, in 10 innings. The Tigers had the bases loaded with one out in the second stanza of the lidlifter when Woodie Fryman grounded to Harmon Killebrew, who stepped on first and threw home. Borgmann stepped on plate instead of tagging the runner, who was safe because the force situation had been removed by Killebrew's putout at first. The Tigers then went on to score six more runs on two walks and four singles. Killebrew hit his 20th homer of the season and 535th of his career to move into sole possession of fifth place on the major league's all-time list ahead of Jimmie Foxx. Duke Sims homered for the Tigers. In the nightcap, a homer by Jim Nettles helped the Twins take a 6-0 lead, but the Tigers picked up a pair in the fourth and tied the score with a four-run rally in the ninth with the aid of a round-tripper by Jim Northrup. In the 10th, Nettles singled and was forced by Rod Carew, who then took third on a single by Steve Braun and scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Rich Reese.

Red Sox 4, Rangers 3 at Texas (night game):
Tommy Harper homered in the first inning and Reggie Smith connected for the circuit with two men on base in the eighth to power the Red Sox to a 4-3 victory over the Rangers. Harper's homer was the first given up by Paul in 100 innings. Smith's blow followed a single by Luis Aparicio and pass to Carl Yastrzemski.

Dodgers 4, Pirates 2 at Los Angeles (night game):
Willie Davis drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning and then singled and scored in the fourth and sixth to lead the Dodgers to a 4-2 victory over the Pirates. Lee Lacy walked and Bill Buckner singled ahead of Davis' sacrifice fly. Davis singled in the fourth and, after a pass to Wes Parker, scored on a single by Bill Russell. A single by Davis, triple by Parker and squeeze bunt by Bobby Valentine added the Dodgers' other runs in the sixth. Al Downing, making his first start since pulling a leg muscle August 1, was the winner, although rapped for 11 hits including a single and homer by Manny Sanguillen, who scored both Pirate runs. Pete Richert saved the game for Downing in the ninth.

Astros 17, Expos 5 at Montreal (night game):
The Astros piled up 20 hits and overwhelmed the Expos, 17-5, to set a record for the most runs scored against Montreal in the expansion club's four-year history. Lee May hit two homers and two singles and drove in four runs. Cesar Cedeno also accounted for four RBIs with a homer and two doubles. Doug Rader also hit for the circuit. After five Montreal pitchers had seen service, manager Gene Mauch brought infielder Hector Torres to the mound as a reliever with one out in the ninth inning. Torres gave up five singles and was charged with the Astros' last two runs before retiring the side.

Mets 2, Braves 1 at New York (day game):
Although failing to last the route for the 16th time in 25 starts, Tom Seaver gained the victory with the help of Tug McGraw when the Mets defeated the Braves, 2-1. McGraw relieved with one out in the ninth after Jim Breazeale singled and Dusty Baker doubled. McGraw passed pinch-hitter Hank Aaron intentionally and pitched out of the jam when Felix Millan grounded into a forceout at the plate and Marty Perez popped up.

Phillies 9, Reds 4 at Philadelphia (night game):
Steve Carlton became the N. L.'s first 20-game winner this season and posted his 15th straight victory when the Phillies defeated the Reds, 9-4. The Phils took a two-run lead in the second inning when Greg Luzinski singled and Deron Johnson homered, but the Reds rapped Carlton for three in the third on a single by Dave Concepcion, double by Bill Plummer, single by Pete Rose and double by Joe Morgan. The Phillies came back with three runs in the fifth. Terry Harmon singled, stole second, stopped at third on an infield hit by Larry Bowa and crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Don Money to tie the score. Willie Montanez then put Carlton ahead to stay with a two-run homer.

Padres 3, Cardinals 2 at San Diego (night game):
A pass to Derrel Thomas with the bases loaded in the fifth inning forced in the run that enabled the Padres to defeat the Cardinals, 3-2. Nate Colbert accounted for the Padres' first two tallies, plating one with an infield out in the first and producing the other with his 34th homer of the season in the third. Ron Allen, brother of Dick Allen of the White Sox, homered for his first major league hit for the Cardinals in the ninth.

Cubs 2, Giants 1 at San Francisco (day game):
A homer by Jose Cardenal following a single by Randy Hundley in the third inning carried the Cubs to a 2-1 victory over the Giants. Willie McCovey homered in the seventh for the Giants' run.