Tuesday, August 25

Rick Wise (5-1) versus Tony Cloninger (12-12).

Play Ball:

The teams traded runs in the second inning.

Phillies second:

• With one out, Frank Thomas homered (#7) – his fourth since joining the Phillies.

Braves second:

• Rick Wise hit Gene Oliver.
• Denis Menke doubled – Oliver stopping at third.
• Woody Woodward singled to score Oliver.

The Braves took the lead in the third:

• With one out, Eddie Mathews and Joe Torre singled.
• Gene Oliver made it three straight singles to score Mathews and put the Braves on top 2-1.

The Braves opened up in the fifth:

• Hank Aaron tripled.
• Eddie Mathews homered (#20) to make it 4-1 Braves.
• Joe Torre doubled.

Gene Mauch had seen enough. Not wanting the game to slip away any further, he went to the bullpen and replaced Wise with Ed Roebuck (4-2).

• Gene Oliver singled off Roebuck to make it 5-1.

Roebuck finally ended the inning with two ground outs and a strikeout.

But the Braves scored again in the sixth:

• With Bobby Shantz now pitching for the Phillies, Lee Maye homered (#8).
• Hank Aaron doubled and Eddie Mathews walked.
• Joe Torre reached on an error by Ruben Amaro to load the bases.
• One out later, Shantz uncorked a wild pitch that enabled Aaron to score and make it 7-1.

The Phillies rallied in the seventh and eighth.

Phillies seventh:

• With one out, Wes Covington homered (#12).

Phillies eighth:

• With one out, John Herrnstein pinch-hit for Bobby Shantz, singled, moved to second on a wild pitch.
• Tony Gonzalez singled – Herrnstein stopping at third.
• When Richie Allen hit a ground ball to short, the Braves went for two. They forced Gonzalez at second, but Allen beat the relay to first – Herrnstein scoring.
• Johnny Callison homered (#22) to close within 7-5.

Braves manager Bobby Bragan went to his bullpen and replaced Cloninger with left-hander Billy Hoeft (3-0) – and Hoeft struck out pinch-hitter Cookie Rojas to end the inning.

Hoeft then retired the Phillies in order in the ninth to pick up the save (#4).

Tony Cloninger (13-12) got the win and Rick Wise (5-2) took the loss.

Around the League:

Even with Juan Marichal (15-6) on the mound, the Giants lost to the Dodgers 3-1 and failed to pick up any ground on the Phillies. They remained 6½ games back.

The Reds beat the Mets 7-2 to pick up a game on the Phillies and move past the Giants into second place – six games behind.

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