Redbirds take 2 of 3 from slumping LA

Game 1 in St. Louis; Los Angeles 5, St. Louis 3

The 1964 Los Angeles Dodgers came to Busch Stadium in St. Louis for a quick two game series, before heading out west where they would host the Cardinals in the finale of a three game set.

The Dodgers were looking to get on track, having started off poorly losing 5 of their first 6 games. When the Cardinals saw the legendary number 32 warming up, they knew the Dodgers had called on the right man to get them back on a winning note, and that it could be a long day for the Redbird hitters.

The Cardinals sent Murry Dickson to the hill, seeking his second win in as many starts. The Dodgers played small ball in the first and quickly put a run on the board in typical fashion. Maury Wills singled to lead off the game, was bunted to third by Willie Davis, and scored on a sac fly by Tommy Davis.

LA added another run in the third on a Nate Oliver double, a sacrifice bunt by Koufax, and after Wills stuck out, W. Davis singled to plate Oliver. St. Louis tallied lone runs in the fourth and fifth innings, while the Dodgers plated their third run in the top half of the fifth.

Sandy Koufax was not quite as dominant as he can be, giving up the two runs and not striking out a lot of batters, but he was still Sandy and that was enough to keep the Redbirds at bay.

The score remained 3-2 Dodgers into the 8th, when the Dodgers put two more on board to effectively nail down the win. The inning was helped by Dickson’s wildness, walking Roseboro and Howard, both of whom later scored on a single by Junior Gilliam. 

The Cardinals managed an unearned run in the ninth, but that was all as LA took the opener 5-3 to notch their second win of the season. 

Game 2 in St. Louis, Los Angeles 4, St. Louis 6

With the loss in the series opener, the Cardinals had dropped three of four after an impressive opening series sweep against the Cubs. Manager Bicycle Mike Roberts looked to Willard Schmidt to come through with a second straight strong performance to get his club back in the win column. The Dodgers called on Phil Ortega to try and make it two in a row in the Mound City.

Once again it was the Dodgers who scored first, tallying two runs in the second inning on a single by Johnny Roseboro, and Ron Fairly connecting for LA’s first home run of the season. 

The Cardinals got one back in the third on a solo shot by Bill Virdon, then grabbed the lead in the fourth when Kenny Boyer connected for his second home run of the season, this time with hot hitting Al Dark on board.

The Redbirds then took a 6-2 lead in the sixth when Dark doubled, Stan the Man Musial connected for his first home run of the year, and after a Boyer fly out, Wally Moon and Rip Repulski hit back to back doubles.

Roberts went to his bullpen in the seventh after a tiring Schmidt was removed for a pinch-hitter in the 6th. Jim Konstanty and lefty Jackie Collum each gave up a run to Dodgers, one in the seventh and one in the eighth, to put LA back within striking distance. Meanwhile Ron Perranoski had come on to keep the Cardinals off the board.

Bicycle Mike kept Collum in to start the ninth, despite a shaky eighth inning in which he had given up Ron Fairly’s second homer of the game, and walked a man. But with lefties Willie Davis and John Roseboro due up in the inning, Bike wanted to stick with the lefthander a little longer. He got Davis to start the inning, but then Tommy Davis singled. He then bore down on Roseboro and got him to pop up to Musial at first. 

Bike then went to the bullpen one more time for rookie Larry Jackson, who came in and struck out huge Frank Howard in a dramatic at-bat to the end the game. For Howard it was his fourth strike out of the game. 

Game 3 in Los Angeles; St. Louis 5, Los Angeles 0

The rubber match of the series moved out to beautiful Chavez Ravine, as the two clubs resumed the series in Dodger Stadium. The Cardinals sent Lindy McDaniel to the hill, making his first start of the season. McDaniel is primarily a reliever, but manager Bike Mike wanted to give his rotation a little more rest and hoped that McDaniel could pitch deep into the game. The Dodgers countered with righthander Howie Reed. 

Both pitchers were fairly sharp early on, especially Reed, as neither team scored in the first three innings. The Cardinals bats came alive in the fourth however, as hot hitting Al Dark lead off the frame with a double, moved to third on a Musial single, and scored on a single off the bat of Ken Boyer. Wally Moon then launched a ball to deep center to plate Musial, followed by a single by Rip Repulski. Ray Katt, the Cardinals third different starting catcher in the three games, then plated both Boyer and Repulski with a ringing double to the alley in left center. 

That was all the scoring McDaniel needed as he cruised to a complete game shutout, notching seven strikeouts to only one walk, and surrendering just five hits. Bobby Del Greco’s solo homer in the ninth gave the Cardinals some insurance, as they took the finale 5-0. 

The Dodgers were without sparkplug Maury Wills for most of the game two and all of game, as he went down with an injury early in the second game. Replacements Dick Tracewski and Bart Shirley each went 2 for 4 in Wills’ stead, but Maury’s speed and ability to disrupt a pitcher were sorely missed.

--submitted by Michael Roberts--