Is there any better pitcher on the planet right now than Tom Seaver?

Working on three days’ rest, the man they call The Franchise notched his seventh victory in seven starts - all complete games – and his ninth in his last nine decisions.  Seaver allowed just one run on four hits to the visiting St. Louis Cardinals, and he also drove in a run with his seventh-inning single.  Art Shamsky had an RBI single and Jerry Grote went 2 for 3 for New York.

With the Cubs idle on Monday, the Mets’ magic number for clinching the division is down to 2. 

Mets 3, Cardinals 1.  W: Seaver (24-7)  L: Briles (15-13)

NL EAST                               W    L    T   PCT    GB    M#
New York Mets                   94   61    0  .606     -     3
Chicago Cubs                     89   66    1  .574   5.0    -

BONUS GAME

The Minnesota Twins claimed the crown in the American League West with a 4-3 victory over the Royals in Kansas City. Leadoff man Cesar Tovar went 3 for 5 and drove in two runs. Veteran hurler Bob Miller carried a three-run lead into the ninth, but an Ed Kirkpatrick single and a double from Lou Piniella brought the tying run to bat with no outs. On came reliever Al Worthington, who got Joe Foy on a fly to center for out number one. Jerry Adair and Buck Martinez punched one safely into rightfield, but a quick-thinking Tony Olivia fired to second to nab pinch-runner Scott Northey. Worthington then got Paul Schaal to ground to first base for the final out.

Twins 4, Royals 3.  W: Miller (5-4)  L: Rooker (4-15)

Elsewhere in the majors, the Baltimore Orioles have clinched the American League East and the San Francisco Giants hold a slim half-game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the National League West.

AL WEST                          W    L    T   PCT    GB
Minnesota Twins                 92   61    0  .601     -
Oakland Athletics               81   71    0  .533  10.5
California Angels               68   85    1  .444  24.0
Chicago White Sox               64   88    0  .421  27.5
Kansas City Royals              64   89    1  .418  28.0
Seattle Pilots                  60   93    1  .392  32.0

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