midseason, he was selected to the AL All-Star Team for the second year in a row. Wood entered in the eighth with the AL up 3–2 but blew the lead in the ninth when he gave up an RBI-groundout to Lee May in the AL's 4–3, 10-inning loss. In August, he won five straight decisions, not losing until his ninth and final start of the month. On August 9, he threw a six-hit shutout against the Angels, supplying the only run with an RBI single against Nolan Ryan in the seventh inning. Three days later, he pitched 11 innings against the Athletics, allowing a career-low two hits in a 3–1 victory, his 20th. He began September with two straight shutouts, boosting his record to 24–12. However, he was winless in his last seven starts, losing five of the games. Wood's success in 1972 helped the White Sox, not projected to do well that season, take the AL West lead in August, though they finished the season 5.5 games back of the eventual World Series champion Athletics. Wood set career highs in starts and innings pitched in 1972. His innings pitched were the highest AL total since Ed Walsh pitched 393 in 1912, and his 49 starts were the most in the league since Walsh started the same amount in 1908. Though his 17 losses tied with three others for third in the league, he tied Gaylord Perry for the AL lead with 24 wins. He led the AL with 105 earned runs allowed, but his 2.51 ERA was .01 outside the top 10 in the league. With 20 complete games, he tied Ryan for third in the league (behind Perry (29) and Lolich (23)), and his eight shutouts were second to Ryan's nine. He finished seventh with 193 strikeouts. After the season, he was named a Sporting News AL All-Star. He finished second in Cy Young voting to Perry, who edged him 64 to 58 in vote points, and he finished seventh in AL MVP voting. The Sporting News named him its AL Pitcher of the Year. After a 1–2 start to 1973, Wood won 12 of his next 13 starts. From April 25 to May 2, he threw three straight shutouts. Facing Ryan in a matchup that pitted one of baseball's hardest thrower's versus one of baseball's softest on May 24, 1973, Wood held the Angels scoreless for eight