The Week (august 6-12)

California got back-to-back victories from Frank Tanana (15-7) and Nolan Ryan (6-10) for the first time in four weeks. Despite yielding five runs to Oakland in seven innings, Tanana won 16-5. Ryan beat Seattle 3-1 and struck out 10 to regain the league strikeout lead (184) from New York's Ron Guidry. In the first game of Saturday's doubleheader in Seattle, Dave LaRoche (9-5) won in relief, 7-5, as Danny Goodwin, a onetime No. 1 draft choice who was called up from El Paso to be the Angels' designated hitter, singled in the 10th to drive home the deciding runs after he had tied the game in the ninth with a home run.

Four wins and four losses kept Oakland in its place—third. Rick Langford (6-7) won his fifth in a row, beating Minnesota 2-0 on a three-hit shutout. Earlier, the 26-year-old righthander pitched a five-hit, 4-3 win over Seattle. Matt Keough (7-9), who has been 1 and 5 since the All-Star break, gave up five runs in 1? innings in the 16-5 loss to the Angels. "If I don't get going right away, I'm gone," said Keough, who has bursitis in his right knee. Keough was referring to owner Charlie Finley's decision to send Wayne Gross and Dwayne Murphy to the minors. But Dell Alston—who told the owner, "If you want a pinch-runner, get someone from the AAU, I want to play"—arrived from Vancouver and batted in the winning run in a 4-3 decision over Seattle. Mike Edwards became the first second baseman since 1899 to make two unassisted double plays in one game.

Jon Matlack (10-9) won twice for Texas (4-1), beating Cleveland 3-2 and 8-2. Al Oliver began the week a fraction more than one point behind Rod Carew for the league batting lead, but despite extending his hitting streak to 18 games, he fell seven points back of Carew—.334 to .327.

Minnesota (3-4) Manager Gene Mauch was hospitalized for three games with an infected right foot, but he missed only one of the Twins' victories—a 10-2 wipeout of Seattle (3-5). The Mariners' .364 percentage is the worst in the major leagues.

Age made no difference in Chicago (2-5). Wilbur Wood, 36, and Britt Burns, 19, both lost 7-3, Wood to Toronto, Burns to Detroit.

KC 63-50 CAL 65-54 OAK 61-58 TEX 55-57 MINN 49-65 CHI 47-67 SEA 43-75

NL EAST

It was an unsettling week for Philadelphia (6-3) both on the field and in the clubhouse. Following a doubleheader loss to last-place St. Louis, Manager Danny Ozark held a closed-door team meeting and threatened his players with fines if they continued to commit bonehead plays and failed to hustle. In his six years as a major league manager, Ozark had never before issued such an ultimatum. Reacting to Ozark's threats, the Phillies won four in a row and gained 2� games on second-place Chicago (3-4). While things were looking up on the field, back in the clubhouse Larry Bowa allegedly hit a writer who had written a story critical of the shortstop. After the incident, Bowa went 8 for 16, including three doubles and a triple, had four RBIs, and scored five runs.

The bumbling Pirates (1-7) lost five games to the Phillies and dropped from third to fourth place, 11� games behind Philadelphia. Following a 3-1 loss to the Phillies' Dick Ruthven, Pittsburgh pitchers yielded 29 hits and 25 runs while losing to Philadelphia by scores of 15-4 and 10-1. Willie Stargell, who batted .318 and had seven RBIs, also struck out six times to break Mickey Mantle's major league career strikeout record of 1,710. With 63 strikeouts so far this season, Stargell, a 17-year veteran, has a good chance of adding to his own major league record for 100-plus strikeout years. He's going for No. 13.

The second-place Cubs were still not hitting, and one pitcher in particular is paying the price. Dennis Lamp (5-12) started twice and lost twice to Montreal even though he allowed only three runs, losing 2-1 and 1-0. Lamp, a 25-year-old rookie, has been on the wrong end of a shutout five times this season. Of the season-long starters, only Rick Reuschel (10-10) is pitching .500 for Chicago.