The Athletics, after losing the first game of a doubleheader, 4-2, scored an unearned run in the ninth inning of the second game to defeat the Royals, 2-1. As a result of the split, the A's lead was shaved to 3½ games over the White Sox in the West Division race. The Royals had a homer by Paul Schaal in the third inning of the opener and added their three other runs on singles by John Mayberry, Lou Piniella, Carl Taylor, Cookie Rojas and Bobby Floyd in the seventh. The A's rallied for their pair in the ninth before Ted Abernathy came in for Monty Montgomery and retired Sal Bando for the final out.

In the nightcap, Matty Alou singled for the A's in the ninth but was out trying for third on a single by Reggie Jackson. After stealing second, Jackson also pilfered third while Mike Epstein was taking ball four on an intentional pass. The Royals then walked Gene Tenace on purpose. Bando followed with a fly to Steve Hovley and when the right fielder threw poorly to the plate, Jackson scored the A's winning run. [The Sporting News]

Kansas City Royals 4, Oakland Athletics 2 (Game 1)

Game Played on Sunday, September 24, 1972 (Day game) at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Royals 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 - 4 7 1 A's 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 - 2 7 2 Royals AB R H RBI BB SO AVG A's AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Schaal 3b 4 1 1 1 0 0 .228 Campaneris ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .243 Otis cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .292 Rudi lf 4 1 2 0 0 0 .312 Scheinblum rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .308 Alou rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .305 Hovley rf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .267 Jackson cf 4 1 2 1 0 1 .264 Mayberry 1b 3 1 1 0 1 2 .293 Epstein 1b 4 0 1 1 0 0 .276 Piniella lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 .308 Bando 3b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .235 Kirkpatrick c 0 0 0 0 2 0 .269 Duncan c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .222 Taylor ph,c 2 1 1 1 0 0 .280 Green 2b 2 0 0 0 0 1 .229 Rojas 2b 4 0 1 1 0 1 .262 Hegan ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .315 Floyd ss 3 0 1 0 0 0 .173 Cullen 2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .254 Montgomery p 3 0 0 0 0 3 .188 Odom p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .127 Abernathy p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Marquez ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .429 Lewis pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 Knowles p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .273 Locker p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Mincher ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .216 Horlen p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .133 Totals 31 4 7 3 3 7 Totals 32 2 7 2 1 4 Time of Game: 2:33 Left on Base: Royals 3, A's 4 DP: Royals 2, A's 2 Errors: Floyd, Jackson, Bando Doubles: Rudi (30), Epstein (18) Home Runs: Schaal (6) Stolen Bases: Kirkpatrick (3), Lewis (6) Caught Stealing: Hovley (3) GIDP: Piniella (25), Rojas (16), Alou (1), Epstein (6) Royals IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Montgomery W(3-2) 8.2 7 2 2 1 4 0 32 2.42 Abernathy SV(5) 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1.73 Totals 9 7 2 2 1 4 0 33 A's IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Odom L(14-6) 6 1 1 1 3 5 1 20 2.43 Knowles 0.1 2 2 2 0 0 0 3 1.41 Locker 1.2 4 1 1 0 2 0 8 2.15 Horlen 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2.67 Totals 9 7 4 4 3 7 1 34 Umpires: HP - Red Flaherty, 1B - Bill Haller, 2B - Jerry Neudecker, 3B - Bill Kunkel ROYALS 1ST: Schaal made an out to second; Otis grounded out (catcher to first); Scheinblum flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 0, Athletics 0. ATHLETICS 1ST: Campaneris flied out to center; Rudi popped to catcher in foul territory; Alou popped to first in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 0, Athletics 0. ROYALS 2ND: Mayberry walked; Piniella grounded into a double play (shortstop to first) [Mayberry out at second]; Kirkpatrick walked; Kirkpatrick stole second; Rojas struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Royals 0, Athletics 0. ATHLETICS 2ND: HOVLEY REPLACED SCHEINBLUM (PLAYING RF); Jackson grounded out (second to first); Epstein flied out to left; Bando walked; Duncan struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Royals 0, Athletics 0. ROYALS 3RD: Floyd grounded out (third to first); Montgomery struck out; Schaal homered; Otis was called out on strikes; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 1, Athletics 0. ATHLETICS 3RD: Green grounded out (third to first); Odom grounded out (shortstop to first); Campaneris was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 1, Athletics 0. ROYALS 4TH: Hovley grounded out (pitcher to first); Mayberry struck out; Piniella flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 1, Athletics 0. ATHLETICS 4TH: Rudi flied out to left; Alou singled to shortstop [Alou to second (error by Floyd)]; Jackson struck out; Epstein flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Royals 1, Athletics 0. ROYALS 5TH: Kirkpatrick walked; Rojas grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Kirkpatrick out at second]; Floyd grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 1, Athletics 0. ATHLETICS 5TH: Bando popped to third in foul territory; Duncan flied out to center; Green was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 1, Athletics 0. ROYALS 6TH: Montgomery was called out on strikes; Schaal grounded out (second to first); Otis made an out to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 1, Athletics 0. ATHLETICS 6TH: MARQUEZ BATTED FOR ODOM; On a bunt Marquez singled to third; LEWIS RAN FOR MARQUEZ; Lewis stole second; Campaneris flied out to right; Rudi singled to shortstop [Lewis stayed at second]; Alou grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Rudi out at second]; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Royals 1, Athletics 0. ROYALS 7TH: KNOWLES REPLACED LEWIS (PITCHING); Hovley grounded out (pitcher to first); Mayberry singled to center; Piniella singled to left [Mayberry to second]; TAYLOR BATTED FOR KIRKPATRICK; LOCKER REPLACED KNOWLES (PITCHING); Taylor singled to center [Mayberry scored, Piniella scored (error by Jackson) (no RBI), Taylor to third]; Rojas singled to left [Taylor scored]; Floyd singled to right [Rojas to third]; Bando dropped a foul fly hit by Montgomery for an error; Montgomery struck out; Schaal grounded out (second to first); 3 R, 5 H, 2 E, 2 LOB. Royals 4, Athletics 0. ATHLETICS 7TH: TAYLOR STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING C ); Jackson singled to right; Epstein grounded into a double play (second to first to shortstop) [Jackson out at second]; Bando grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 4, Athletics 0. ROYALS 8TH: Otis flied out to left; Hovley singled to right; Hovley was caught stealing second (catcher to second); Mayberry struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 4, Athletics 0. ATHLETICS 8TH: Duncan flied out to left; HEGAN BATTED FOR GREEN; Hegan grounded out (second to first); MINCHER BATTED FOR LOCKER; Mincher flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 4, Athletics 0. ROYALS 9TH: HORLEN REPLACED MINCHER (PITCHING); CULLEN REPLACED HEGAN (PLAYING 2B); Piniella grounded out (second to first); Taylor grounded out (shortstop to first); Rojas grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 4, Athletics 0. ATHLETICS 9TH: Campaneris flied out to right; Rudi doubled to left; Alou lined to right; Jackson singled to center [Rudi scored]; Epstein doubled to left [Jackson scored]; ABERNATHY REPLACED MONTGOMERY (PITCHING); Bando lined to right; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Royals 4, Athletics 2.

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