The Week (aug. 18-24)

Philadelphia and Montreal were both 2-4. Phillie Mike Schmidt smashed four homers to tie Dick Allen of the White Sox for the major league lead at 32. Ron Hunt, angered because the Padres had intentionally walked Ken Singleton to pitch to him, singled in the winning run of an 8-7 Expo victory.

For New York Manager Yogi Berra it was a frustrating week in which his stratagems backfired. Four intentional walks he ordered were immediately followed by disaster: Dave Concepcion hit a three-run homer for a 6-5 Red win; Milt May singled in the 11th for a 2-1 Astro victory; Mike Lum singled in the 10th for a 4-3 Brave triumph; and with the score tied at 3-all in the 10th in another game with Atlanta, Berra had Lum walked to load the bases. Bob Miller promptly fouled up that tactic by walking Norm Miller to force in the deciding score.

Chicago split six games, beating San Diego 14-6, using five pitchers to hold off San Francisco 2-1 and downing the Giants 1-0 behind Rick Reuschel.

ST. L 66-61 PITT 64-61 PHIL 63-63 MONT 58-65 NY 53-70 CHI 52-71

AL WEST

"This is the real draggy time of the season," said Oakland Manager Alvin Dark. Feeling some of his A's did not give 100% on the field after sipping 100-proof in the sky, he banned hard liquor on team flights. It was a decision that left some A's up in the air. Dark hoped his edict would create a thirst for winning, but his A's merely split six games.

Kansas City, which trailed Oakland by 8� at the end of July, reduced the deficit to four games with a 4-3 week. Apparently, what turned the Royals around was a group faultfinding session. "It got heated at times, but it cleared the air," one Royal revealed last week. There was little fault to find with the pitching of Steve Busby, who won for the 19th time, or Al Fitzmorris, who blanked Cleveland 2-0 with help from Lindy McDaniel and then went all the way to top Milwaukee 4-0.

Former National Leaguers Ferguson Jenkins and Jim Bibby became 18-game winners for Texas with home-run support from Toby Harrah and Jeff Burroughs, who now has 104 RBIs.

"That togetherness, that thing we had going, just isn't there anymore," said Dick Allen during a 2-4 week for Chicago. Larry Hisle grand-slammed Baltimore 9-5, but Minnesota lost four of six.

California's Nolan Ryan was at it again, striking out 19 Detroit batters before losing 1-0 in the 11th. That gave him another record—a three-game total of 47 whiffs. Said Ryan, who will not be 28 until January, "Within the next year or two I should reach maturity."