Led by Reggie Smith, the Red Sox rallied to defeat the Indians, 4-3, and retain first place in the hot East Division race. Graig Nettles was a one-man show for the Indians, driving in all of their runs with a single in the first inning and a double in the fifth.

The Red Sox began their comeback with a two-run homer by Smith in the sixth. Before the inning ended, Rico Petrocelli doubled and Carlton Fisk tripled for a run to tie the score. Then with two out in the ninth, Carl Yastrzemski was safe on an error by Milt Wilcox and Smith doubled to drive in the winning run. [The Sporting News]

Boston Red Sox 4, Cleveland Indians 3

Game Played on Friday, September 15, 1972 (Night game) at Fenway Park

Indians 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 - 3 10 1 Red Sox 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 - 4 9 2 Indians AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Red Sox AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Bell cf 5 0 0 0 0 3 .257 Harper cf 5 0 1 0 0 0 .264 Brohamer 2b 5 1 1 0 0 3 .242 Aparicio ss 5 0 1 0 0 0 .255 Chambliss 1b 5 2 3 0 0 0 .275 Yastrzemski 1b 2 2 1 0 3 0 .267 Nettles 3b 5 0 2 3 0 1 .252 Smith rf 4 1 2 3 1 2 .266 McCraw lf 2 0 1 0 2 0 .249 Petrocelli 3b 4 1 1 0 0 1 .248 Fosse c 3 0 0 0 1 1 .239 Fisk c 4 0 2 1 0 0 .299 Unser rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .232 Oglivie lf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .241 Wilcox p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 Griffin 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .264 Duffy ss 4 0 3 0 0 0 .218 Pattin p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .153 Dunning p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .241 Cooper ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .143 Foster rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .218 Lee p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .083 Gagliano ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .267 Veale p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 36 3 10 3 3 9 Totals 34 4 9 4 5 7 Time of Game: 2:46 Attendance: 19,880 Left on Base: Indians 10, Red Sox 10 DP: Indians 1, Red Sox 1 Errors: Wilcox, Smith, Griffin Doubles: Chambliss 2 (25), Nettles (23), Fisk (26), Petrocelli (15), Smith (21) Triples: Fisk (9) Home Runs: Smith (20) Sacrifice Hits: Dunning (3), Griffin (14) GIDP: Foster (5) Indians IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Dunning 6.2 7 3 3 5 7 1 31 2.91 Wilcox L(7-13) 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 9 3.19 Totals 8.2 9 4 3 5 7 1 40 Red Sox IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Pattin 5 8 3 3 2 5 0 25 3.53 Lee 3 2 0 0 1 3 0 12 3.49 Veale W(2-0) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 3.95 Totals 9 10 3 3 3 9 0 40 Umpires: HP - Jim Honochick, 1B - Lou DiMuro, 2B - Bill Deegan, 3B - Larry McCoy INDIANS 1ST: Bell struck out; Brohamer grounded out (second to first); Chambliss doubled to left; Nettles singled to right [Chambliss scored]; McCraw singled to right [Nettles to second]; Fosse forced McCraw (shortstop to second); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Indians 1, Red Sox 0. RED SOX 1ST: Harper grounded out (third to first); Aparicio flied out to right; Yastrzemski singled to center; Smith was called out on strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Indians 1, Red Sox 0. INDIANS 2ND: Unser grounded out (second to first); Duffy singled to left; Dunning out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Duffy to second]; Bell grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Indians 1, Red Sox 0. RED SOX 2ND: Petrocelli lined to center; Fisk doubled to left; Oglivie struck out; Griffin flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Indians 1, Red Sox 0. INDIANS 3RD: Brohamer struck out; Chambliss singled to center; Nettles reached on an error by Smith [Chambliss to third, Nettles to second]; McCraw was walked intentionally; Fosse was called out on strikes; Unser popped to catcher in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 3 LOB. Indians 1, Red Sox 0. RED SOX 3RD: Pattin was called out on strikes; Harper singled to center; Aparicio lined into a double play (third to first) [Harper out at first]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Indians 1, Red Sox 0. INDIANS 4TH: Duffy grounded out (pitcher to first); Dunning was called out on strikes; Bell struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Indians 1, Red Sox 0. RED SOX 4TH: Yastrzemski walked; Smith struck out; Petrocelli struck out; Fisk grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Indians 1, Red Sox 0. INDIANS 5TH: Brohamer singled to left; Chambliss doubled to center [Brohamer to third]; Nettles doubled to left [Brohamer scored, Chambliss scored, Nettles out at third (left to third)]; McCraw walked; Fosse made an out to shortstop; Unser grounded out (first unassisted); 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Indians 3, Red Sox 0. RED SOX 5TH: Oglivie popped to left; Griffin grounded out (second to first); COOPER BATTED FOR PATTIN; Cooper struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Indians 3, Red Sox 0. INDIANS 6TH: LEE REPLACED COOPER (PITCHING); Duffy singled to right; On a bunt Dunning forced Duffy (catcher to shortstop); Bell forced Dunning (second to shortstop); Brohamer struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Indians 3, Red Sox 0. RED SOX 6TH: Harper lined to third; Aparicio popped to first in foul territory; Yastrzemski walked; Smith homered [Yastrzemski scored]; Petrocelli doubled to center; Fisk tripled to right [Petrocelli scored]; Oglivie was walked intentionally; Griffin struck out; 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Indians 3, Red Sox 3. INDIANS 7TH: Chambliss reached on an error by Griffin; Nettles struck out; McCraw grounded out (second to first) [Chambliss to second]; Fosse was walked intentionally; Unser flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 2 LOB. Indians 3, Red Sox 3. RED SOX 7TH: Lee grounded out (second to first); Harper flied out to left; Aparicio singled to left; Yastrzemski walked [Aparicio to second]; Smith walked [Aparicio to third, Yastrzemski to second]; WILCOX REPLACED UNSER (PITCHING); FOSTER REPLACED DUNNING (PLAYING RF); Petrocelli grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 3 LOB. Indians 3, Red Sox 3. INDIANS 8TH: Duffy singled to right; Foster grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Duffy out at second]; Bell was called out on strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Indians 3, Red Sox 3. RED SOX 8TH: Fisk grounded out (shortstop to first); Oglivie singled to right; Griffin out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to first) [Oglivie to second]; GAGLIANO BATTED FOR LEE; Gagliano flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Indians 3, Red Sox 3. INDIANS 9TH: VEALE REPLACED GAGLIANO (PITCHING); Brohamer struck out; Chambliss grounded out (second to first); Nettles flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Indians 3, Red Sox 3. RED SOX 9TH: Harper grounded out (second to first); Aparicio popped to center; Yastrzemski reached on an error by Wilcox (assist by Chambliss); Smith doubled to right [Yastrzemski scored (unearned)]; 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Indians 3, Red Sox 4.

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