Saturday, August 22

Dennis Bennett (9-8) faced off against Frank Bork (1-0).

Play Ball:

The teams traded runs in the first inning.

In the Pirates first:

• Ducky Schofield doubled and moved to third on Manny Mota’s sacrifice.
• Roberto Clemente doubled to score Schofield.

In the Phillies first:

• Richie Allen homered (#21) with two outs.

The Phillies took the lead in the bottom of the second:

• Alex Johnson singled and Gus Triandos walked.
• After Tony Taylor flew out to right, Ruben Amaro singled to score Johnson and put the Phillies ahead 2-1.

The Pirates took the lead back in the top of the third:

• With one out, Manny Mota singled.
• Roberto Clemente doubled to deep center. Mota tried to score, but was thrown out at the plate 8-4-6-2.
• Gene Freese beat out an infield single – Clemente moving to third.
• Bob Bailey walked to load the bases.
• Dennis Bennett issued his second straight walk – this one to Donn Clendenon – forcing in the tying run.

Gene Mauch saw the game slipping away. So he replaced Bennett with Ed Roebuck (4-2).

• With Bill Mazeroski batting, Roebuck uncorked a wild pitch. Gene Freese scored to put the Pirates on top 3-2 – Bailey moving to third and Clendenon to second.

Roebuck struck out Mazeroski to end the threat.

But the Pirates added to the lead in the fifth:

• With Ray Culp (8-7) now pitching, Donn Clendenon singled.
• After Bill Mazeroski flew out, Orlando MacFarlane singled and Clendenon moved to second.
• After Culp struck out pitcher Frank Bork, Ducky Schofield singled to score Clendenon and make it 4-2.

Then the Pirates exploded in the seventh:

• With one out, Gene Freese hit a ground ball to third that Richie Allen couldn’t handle.
• Bob Bailey walked to make it first and second.
• Willie Stargell pinch-hit for Donn Clendenon and doubled – Freese scoring and Bailey moving to third.
• Culp walked Mazeroski intentionally to load the bases.

Mauch replaced Culp with Jack Baldschun (5-5) and Baldschun struck out pinch-hitter Jerry Lynch for the second out.

• But Baldschun gave up a single to pitcher Frank Bork that scored Bailey and Stargell and made it 7-2.
• Ducky Schofield singled to score Mazeroski.
• Manny Mota singled to score Bork and made it 9-2.

Baldschun struck out Clemente to end the frame.

The Phillies rallied – too little, too late – in the bottom of the seventh:

• Alex Johnson led off with a single.
• After Gus Triandos grounded into a 5-4-3 double-play, Tony Taylor singled.
• Ruben Amaro doubled to score Taylor.
• Bobby Wine batted for Baldschun and doubled to score Taylor and trim the gap to 9-4.

Danny Murtaugh replaced Frank Bork with Alvin O’Neal McBean (7-1), and Mc Bean retired pinch-hitter Tony Gonzalez to end the inning.

McBean – making his third outing of the series – pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings to record the save (#17).

Frank Bork – a 23-year-old rookie right-hander making his first start in the majors – picked up the win (2-0).

Dennis Bennett took the loss (9-10). After starting off with a 9-5 record, he’d lost his last five decisions. His last win came seven weeks earlier – a 2-1 win over the Giants on July 3.

Around the League:

The Reds beat the Dodgers 2-1 when Howard Reed (0-2) walked Leo Cardenas to force in the winning run in the top of the 15th. The win kept pace with the Phillies – 6½ games behind in second place.

The Giants beat the Cardinals 4-2 to pick up a game and trail the Phillies by 7½ games in third place.

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