Tuesday, July 21

The Phillies moved to Milwaukee for three games with the Braves with Art Mahaffey (8-4) facing Wade Blasingame (2-1) in the series opener.

The Phillies and Braves split four games thus far, but the Braves were currently on the rise – having won 11 of their last 15 games to move into fourth place. The surge placed them 5½ games behind the Phillies and Giants.

In contrast, the Phillies went 8-9 over that same period.

Play Ball:

After a scoreless first inning, the Phillies took the lead in the top of the second:

• With one out, Bobby Wine homered (#3).

No change in score until the Phillies made it 3-0 in the sixth:

• Tony Taylor homered (#3).
• Richie Allen doubled.
• One out later, Tony Gonzalez doubled to score Allen.

The Braves trimmed the gap to 3-2 in the seventh:

• Hank Aaron singled.
• One out later, Ed Baily reached first on an error – Aaron taking third.
• Art Mahaffey threw a wild pitch – Aaron scored and Bailey moved to second.
• Rico Carty singled – Bailey stopping at third.
• Mahaffey tried to pick Carty off at first, but his throw bounced. Danny Cater blocked the ball and kept it in front of him. Bailey couldn’t score, but Carty moved to second.
• Frank Bolling flew out to deep center. Both runners tagged and tried to move. Bailey scored before Cookie Rojas threw Carty out at third.

The Phillies answered with a run in the top of the eighth:

• Tony Taylor doubled.
• Richie Allen hit a ground ball to short. Woody Woodward fielded the ball and gunned Taylor out at third. Allen was safe at first.
• Billy Hoeft threw a wild pitch to move Allen to second.
• Danny Cater grounded out to third – Allen holding second.
• Hoeft walked Tony Gonzalez intentionally.
• Bobby Wine singled to score Allen and make it 4-2.

The Braves scored a run of their own in the bottom half:

• Eddie Mathews walked.
• Gene Oliver took over first when he forced Mathews at second – but was replaced by pinch-runner Gary Kolb.
• Mike de la Hoz and Lee Maye singled to load the bases.

Gene Mauch replaced Mahaffey with Jack Baldschun (3-4).

• Kolb scored when Hank Aaron forced de la Hoz at second to close to 4-3.

But the Phillies added a pair of insurance runs off Bobby Tiefenauer (3-4) in the ninth:

• With one out, Cookie Rojas singled.
• Johnny Callison reached first on Frank Bolling’s error – Rojas moving up to third.
• Tony Taylor singled to score Rojas – Callison stopping at second.
• Richie Allen forced Taylor at second – Callison moving to third to put runners on first and third.
• Ruben Amaro singled to score Callison and end the scoring at 6-3.

Jack Baldschun retired the Braves 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth to get the save (#10).

Mahaffey (9-4) got the win and Wade Blasingame (2-2) the loss.

Around the League:

The Giants lost to 2-1 to Bob Buhl (12-5) and the Cubs – allowing the Phillies to move into sole possession of first place by one game.

In addition to being the official Eagles Outsider for BlameMyFather.com – Barry Bowe is also the author of:

• Born to Be Wild
• 1964 – The Year the Phillies Blew the Pennant
• 12 Best Eagles QBs
• Birth of the Birds
• Soon-to-be-published sexy, police procedural Caribbean Queen
• Soon-to-be-published novel Stosh Wadzinski
• Soon-to-be-published novel Polish Widow
• Work-in-Progress A Fuckin All-American