MLB standings through games of September 21, 1978

MLB standings at the end of September 21, 1978

	GP	W	L	T	PCT	GB	RF	RA	HOME	ROAD	LAST 10	STRK
A.L. East
New York Yankees	153	93	60	0	.608		694	547	50-25	43-35	7-3	Won 2
Boston Red Sox	153	91	62	0	.595	2.0	745	637	53-22	38-40	4-6	Won 1
Milwaukee Brewers	154	87	67	0	.565	6.5	759	630	51-27	36-40	4-6	Lost 1
Baltimore Orioles	151	85	66	0	.563	7.0	624	603	47-27	38-39	6-4	Lost 1
Detroit Tigers	152	81	71	0	.533	11.5	686	615	45-33	36-38	4-6	Lost 1
Cleveland Indians	150	66	84	0	.440	25.5	607	661	40-35	26-49	6-4	Won 1
Toronto Blue Jays	152	58	94	0	.382	34.5	574	728	36-42	22-52	2-8	Lost 2

	GP	W	L	T	PCT	GB	RF	RA	HOME	ROAD	LAST 10	STRK
A.L. West
Kansas City Royals	152	86	66	0	.566		711	607	52-23	34-43	8-2	Won 1
California Angels	153	81	72	0	.529	5.5	642	626	46-29	35-43	4-6	Won 1
Texas Rangers	150	76	74	0	.507	9.0	622	597	45-29	31-45	7-3	Won 1
Minnesota Twins	152	69	83	0	.454	17.0	633	644	36-41	33-42	7-3	Lost 1
Oakland A's	154	68	86	0	.442	19.0	508	640	38-39	30-47	2-8	Lost 2
Chicago White Sox	152	67	85	0	.441	19.0	589	678	36-39	31-46	7-3	Won 2
Seattle Mariners	148	55	93	0	.372	29.0	585	766	32-45	23-48	3-7	Lost 2

	GP	W	L	T	PCT	GB	RF	RA	HOME	ROAD	LAST 10	STRK
N.L. East
Philadelphia Phillies	151	83	68	0	.550		662	549	51-27	32-41	5-5	Won 1
Pittsburgh Pirates	152	82	70	0	.539	1.5	642	603	49-25	33-45	8-2	Won 1
Chicago Cubs	152	75	77	0	.493	8.5	627	675	42-36	33-41	4-6	Lost 1
Montreal Expos	153	71	82	0	.464	13.0	601	584	39-39	32-43	4-6	Lost 1
St. Louis Cardinals	154	66	88	0	.429	18.5	572	630	35-40	31-48	4-6	Won 1
New York Mets	153	63	90	0	.412	21.0	582	654	32-43	31-47	5-5	Lost 1

	GP	W	L	T	PCT	GB	RF	RA	HOME	ROAD	LAST 10	STRK
N.L. West
Los Angeles Dodgers	153	92	61	0	.601		690	532	52-26	40-35	7-3	Lost 1
Cincinnati Reds	152	84	68	0	.553	7.5	661	651	43-31	41-37	6-4	Won 1
San Francisco Giants	153	83	70	0	.542	9.0	587	573	45-30	38-40	2-8	Lost 1
San Diego Padres	154	80	74	0	.519	12.5	565	573	48-30	32-44	7-3	Won 1
Houston Astros	152	69	83	0	.454	22.5	578	607	48-30	21-53	2-8	Won 1
Atlanta Braves	153	68	85	0	.444	24.0	574	710	38-37	30-48	6-4	Lost 1

Today's scores and summaries:

Red Sox 5, Tigers 1 at Detroit (night game):
Staying in the chase for the East divisional crown, the Red Sox swept past the Tigers, 5-1, on the wings of a three-run first inning. A single by Rick Burleson opened the game and two outs later, Carl Yastrzemski walked. Carlton Fisk then broke an 0-for-11 slump with a run-scoring single. After a wild pitch and a walk to Fred Lynn, a single by Butch Hobson plated a pair of markers. Lynn drove in a run with a single in the fifth and George Scott added the last tally for the Red Sox with a single in the eighth. Jason Thompson homered for the Tigers' run off Dennis Eckersley.

Royals 8, Brewers 4 at Kansas City (night game):
Reducing their magic number to five for clinching the West division championship, the Royals beat the Brewers, 8-4, behind the pitching of Dennis Leonard. The score was 3-3 going into the bottom of the sixth inning when George Brett snapped the tie with a homer. In the next frame, the Royals picked up two more runs on a grounder by Frank White and an error by Brewer second baseman Jim Gantner. The final pair came in the eighth on singles by Amos Otis, Willie Wilson, Darrell Porter and Hal McRae.

Rangers 6, Twins 3 at Minnesota (night game):
The Rangers got five-hit pitching from Jon Matlack and defeated the Twins, 6-3. Bobby Bonds scored the first three Ranger runs after walking in the first and third innings and hitting a single in the fifth. Al Oliver hit a sacrifice fly and a single to plate Bonds twice. Bonds counted his other run on two wild throws. The Rangers scored their deciding trio in the eighth, two runs crossing the plate on a double by pinch-hitter Johnny Grubb.

Yankees 7, Blue Jays 1 at Toronto (night game):
Continuing their drive toward the East division championship, the Yankees defeated the Blue Jays, 7-1, as Catfish Hunter got credit for his ninth victory in his last 11 decisions. The Yankees got rolling with three runs in the fifth inning. A walk to Bucky Dent, double by Mickey Rivers and walk to Willie Randolph loaded the bases before a sacrifice fly by Thurman Munson scored Dent. A double by Reggie Jackson then produced two more tallies. The Yankees added four markers in the seventh on a walk to Rivers, triple by Randolph, single by Munson and doubles by Lou Piniella and Chris Chambliss.

Pirates 3, Cubs 2 at Chicago (day game):
Scoring the winning run without the benefit of a base hit, the Pirates edged the Cubs, 3-2, in 14 innings to move within one and a half games of the East division-leading Phillies. The score was 2-2 entering the 14th when pinch-hitter Rennie Stennett drew a leadoff walk. Matt Alexander, running for Stennett, stole second, continued to third when catcher Dave Rader's throw went into center field and scored when center fielder Bobby Murcer's throw got by third baseman Rodney Scott. The Cubs had tied the contest in the bottom of the ninth when Pirate second sacker Phil Garner threw wildly to first attempting to complete a double play. The Cubs used 27 players, tying the N. L. record set September 13, 1971, by Philadelphia in a 17-inning game against St. Louis.

Astros 2, Braves 0 at Houston (night game):
A five-hitter by Ken Forsch carried the Astros to a 2-0 whitewashing of the Braves. The shutout foiled Phil Niekro's bid to win his 20th game, although the veteran righthander went the route for the 20th time, tops in the league this season. The Astros scored a run in the sixth inning on a single by Jeff Leonard and a double by Jose Cruz and added another in the seventh on singles by Bruce Bochy, Julio Gonzalez and Leonard.

Padres 5, Giants 1 at San Diego (night game):
Gaylord Perry became a 20-game winner for the fifth time in his career when the Padres defeated the Giants, 5-1. The forty-year-old righthander, who pitched seven innings before yielding to Rollie Fingers, allowed only four hits and fanned five batters, raising his strikeout total to 2,985, third on the all-time list. The victory also gave Perry a triumph over every N.L. club this season. Gene Richards, who boosted his batting average to .301 with four singles, figured in two Padre runs, including one in the seventh when San Diego tallied four times. A two-run single by Jerry Turner highlighted the outburst.

Cardinals 6, Mets 2 at St. Louis (night game):
A triple by Ted Simmons was the key in a three-run first inning that propelled the Cardinals to a 6-2 triumph over the Mets. Ken Oberkfell began the Redbirds' first turn at bat by drawing a base on balls. Dane Iorg followed with a single and after George Hendrick fanned, Simmons smashed a triple high off the right field wall. A single by Keith Hernandez plated Simmons. An error by Met shortstop Tim Foli helped the Cards to three more runs in the sixth stanza.