In 1972, the Orioles raised McNally's salary once again, this time to $105,000. In the Orioles' second game of the year on April 17, he threw a shutout in a 4–0 victory over the Yankees. In fact, four of his first five starts were shutouts. The Orioles only scored one run for him on July 5, but that was enough for a win as McNally shut out the White Sox. McNally was selected to his third All-Star team in 1972, though he lost the game for the AL in the 10th inning when Joe Morgan drove in a run with a single. Through July 22, McNally had a 10–7 record, but he would win only three of his remaining 13 decisions. This was due in part to struggles by the Oriole offense. McNally's 2.95 ERA was lower than it had been in 1971, but the Orioles only scored 3.3 runs per game after scoring 4.7 the year before. Consequently, McNally finished with a losing record (13–17) for the first time since 1964, and his 17 losses tied with four other pitchers for third in the AL (behind Stottlemyre's and teammate Dobson's 18). He did manage to tie Tiant and Roger Nelson for fourth in the AL with six shutouts.