Toppers Ride Run Barrage
Atlanta in First After 12-5 Run
ATLANTA (June 1) -- The Atlanta Hilltoppers unleashed an offensive outburst to extend their West Division lead.  The Toppers scored at least five runs in 14 of their last 17 games, winning games by counts of 7-0, 12-6, 11-1, 11-7, 7-1, and 9-3.  Five Atlanta batters hit better than .327 in the month of May, but the offense was led by Batter of the Month Joe Torre (.339-8-25) and 3B Sal Bando (.327-7-23), who has emerged as the league's third best hitter.

Highlights of the run included:
Rocky Colavito homered twice and was 4-for-4 in a 12-6 over Washington on May 16.
Torre homered and drove in four runs in a 11-7 win over St. Louis on May 21.
Bando was 4-for-5 with a home run on May 27, and 3-for-5 with 4 RBI on May 31.
Ron Reed pitched 8 shutout innings in a 7-1 win at Boston May 28.

Maroons Lose Three Outfielders on Memorial Day
ST. LOUIS (May 1) -- Just three weeks after Boston lost three pitchers in the same game, St. Louis lost three outfielders on Memorial Day and lost 7-6 in 12 innings, capping one of the worst weeks in Maroons history.  CF Curt Flood was injured on a defensive play in the fifth and will miss 4-5 weeks, LF Roy White suffered a strained oblique running the bases and will be out 5-6 weeks, and Boog Powell hurt his shoulder throwing a ball in the 12th and will miss 3 weeks.  Exasperated Maroons manager Timothy J. Smith said after the game that Norm Siebern and Don Hahn would probably be called up from Denver, and that St. Louis would look to trade some of their depth at infield for additional outfielders.

St. Louis has lost seven games in a row, including five one-run decisions.  The Maroons were on the verge of ending the skid after chasing Sandy Koufax with a three-run eighth that put them ahead 6-3.  But Bob Locker gave up three runs on four hits in the ninth and was charged with his league-leading fifth blown save.  The scored held at 6-6 until the 12th, when Dick Allen reached on a Joe Morgan error and eventually scored on Denis Menke's sacrifice fly.  Powell hurt his arm on the throw in a futile effort to nip the go-ahead run at the plate.  But the run scored and Powell was replaced in left field by pitcher Luke Walker for one at bat.  Morgan's error came at shortstop, an position to which he is unaccustomed but was shifted to after the injury to starting shortstop Jim Fregosi on the 19th.

On the plus side of the injury ledger, the Dark Reds expect Nolan Ryan to return in the next week.  Ryan, 24, tore an elbow ligament last June that wiped out the balance of his 1970 season and the first two months of this year.  He was 7-5 with a 3.08 ERA and 9.6 strikeout rate in 16 starts. 
   

WEST DIVISION	EAST DIVISION
Bob Allison and Rocky Colavito are both hitting over .520 in their last 7 games, and are joined by Sal Bando and Joe Torre with double-digit home runs. . . Toppers are on pace for 917 runs and 222 home runs (league records are 907 and 223).	Reggie Jackson was 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs in a 9-5 win over San Francisco on May 17. . . Bobby Bonds snapped out of a 3-17 mini-slump with a 4-hit game against the Spiders May 19.
Wayne Simpson is 1-0 with a 2.49 ERA in three starts since joining the rotation on May 17, and gave up just three hits in 8.2 innings in a 4-1 win over the Colts on the 22nd. . . Gary Gentry, also new to the rotation, shut out San Francisco for six three-hit innings on the 24th.	Ellie Rodriguez hit a game-tying homer in the ninth and RF Jim Holt hit the game-winning single six innings later as the Sox edged the Feds 2-1 in a 15-inning marathon on May 20. . . Marcelino Lopez has the worst run support in the league (1.45).
Ken Singleton helped Joe Gibbon to his seventh win on May 18 with a 4-for-4 day, including a 3-run homer.	Gary Nolan anchored a 7-hit 3-0 shutout of Manhattan on May 22. . . Ray Crone already has his highest save total in four years, with eight saves in 21 appearances.
Lost 7 straight and 10 of their last 12, thanks to slumpy Reggie Smith (4 RBI in 12 games). . . Don Sutton tossed a four-hit complete game in a 5-1 win over the Gray Sox May 16.	The Mons flipped their 10-18 April record in May, after their offense came to life, averaging 6.3 runs a game since May 20. . . Bill Butler threw eight shutout innings May 19 and got his best run support of the year to end a 1-4 slump.
Larry Hisle took Rookie of the Month honors with a .346 average and 19 RBIs.  His best performance came on May 21, when he hit 3-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs.	Jim Palmer posted a 1.35 ERA in six May starts, including 0.70 in his last three. . . Frank "Crane" Reberger was 2-0, 1.57 in his last three starts.  Both rank in the top six in ERA and VORP.
The Colts continue to have trouble winning, despite having ERA leader Wilbur Wood (1.67), a hot Bill Singer (3-0, 0.72 in last 3 starts), and the league's best bullpen.  Chicago won their last four but were 13-15 overall in May.	Ted Sizemore won Player of the Week 5/31.  Ted exploded for a .524 (11-21) average after hitting just .152 in his first 25 games. . . After an 0-8 start, George Stone won back-to-back games, including a 1-0 shutout of St. Louis.