Dick Drago hits Sal Bando and Catfish Hunter to deliver a win
On August 7, 1972 Catfish Hunter’s six-game winning streak came to an end on the same night that his counterpart, Kansas City Royals starter Dick Drago, ended a 26-at-bat hitless string. Drago’s surprising RBI single helped lift Kansas City to a 4-2 victory at Royals Stadium.
The A’s took an early lead against Drago, scoring runs in each of the first two innings. The Royals then broke through in the fourth, bunching three singles, two walks, a double, and a sacrifice fly in denting Hunter for four runs. Hunter recovered to pitch a scoreless fifth and sixth inning before departing the game for a pinch-hitter. In the meantime, Drago shut the A’s down over the final seven innings to win only his eighth game against 13 losses.
Drago also had another moment in the sun as he hit Sal Bando in the Achilles heal. Bando said something to Ed Kirkpatrick and a fight commenced between the two.
Joe Rudi accounted for one of Oakland’s runs with his 14th home run of the season… Mike Epstein doubled and tripled in four at-bats… Reggie Jackson missed his fourth consecutive game with a ribcage injury. In his absence, the A’s have used Bill Voss in center field and Angel Mangual in right field, weakening both their hitting and their outfield defense
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