May 1, 1964

Riding a three-game winning streak, the Phillies (9-2) traveled from Cincinnati to Milwaukee to begin a three-game set with the Braves (8-5).

The date was May 1, 1964.

In 1953, the Boston Braves relocated its franchise to Milwaukee and began playing in brand new Milwaukee County Stadium ─ usually just shortened to County Stadium. The ballpark was built not only for the Braves, but also in the hopes of luring the Green Bay Packers to Milwaukee.

The lure was so tempting that the town of Green Bay responded with a referendum to construct a new stadium of its own. Green Bay named its facility City Stadium, which was changed to Lambeau Field in 1965 after the death of Packers founder Curley Lambeau.

The Braves were in third place and trailed the Phillies by two games, and they represented a real challenge. They were coming off back-to-back victories over the Pirates.

Under manager Bobby Bragan, the Braves finished in sixth place in 1963, a full 15 games out of first place. But the team looked stronger this year.

Mixed in with perennial All-Stars Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews were Joe Torre, Rico Carty, and Felipe Alou, all of whom Bragan hoped would bolster the offensive production. He planned to use a four-man rotation of Tony Cloninger, left-handers Denny Lemaster and Warren Spahn, along with Hank Fischer. But his bullpen was suspect.

Jim Bunning (2-0) versus Warren Spahn (1-1) in the opening game of the series. So far, Bunning had given up only one earned run in two complete-games to fashion a flashy 0.50 ERA.

On the other hand, Warren Spahn, now 43 years old, was coming off a sparkling 23-7 record in 1963 that included 22 complete games and seven shutouts. Spahn had been a 20-game winner 12 times, and Braves manager Bobby Bragan hoped to get one more similar season out of his aging star.

Despite missing three full seasons to serve in the military from 1943 to 1945, Warren Spahn racked up 350 wins in his 18 seasons with the Boston and Milwaukee Braves.

Spahn and Bunning battled each other through three scoreless innings.

In the Phillies fourth, Gus Triandos led off with a walk. After a pair of ground outs to the mound, Triandos wound up on second with two outs. Tony Taylor singled Triandos home to make it 1-0 Phillies.

No more scoring through the bottom of the fifth.

• In the Phillies sixth, Danny Cater doubled with one out to raise his rookie batting average to .400. Gus Triandos followed with a single to move Cater to third. That put runners on first and third with one out. But Braves catcher Ed Bailey caught Cater leading too far off third and picked him off for the second out. Triandos moved to second on the play. Two outs.

Spahn walked Bobby Wine intentionally to get to Bunning, but Bunning foiled the strategy by stroking a single to right. Triandos scored to make it 2-0 Phillies, and Wine advanced to third on the throw to the plate. Still two outs.

With Tony Taylor batting, Spahn uncorked a wild pitch and Wine scored to up the count to 3-0. Bunning moved to second. Still two outs. Taylor got an infield single that moved Bunning to third. First and third. Two outs.

Johnny Callison singled and Bunning scored to open the lead to 4-0.

And that’s the way it stood through eight innings.

• In the Phillies ninth, Richie Allen homered with one out – his sixth – to make it 5-0 Phillies. Allen’s 2-for-4 on the day upped his average to .431 and gave him 13 RBIs.

With Bunning pitching a seven-hit shutout, the game looked to be over. But Bunning ran into trouble in the bottom of the ninth.

• Ed Bailey led off with his third home run of the season ─ the first of the season allowed by Bunning.

One out later, Frank Bolling singled to left. Bunning got pinch-hitter Gus Bell looking for the second out, and the game seemed to be in the bag. But Mike de la Hoz singled. And Bunning hit Lee Maye to load the bases with two outs.

Not wanting to risk the 5-1 lead, Gene Mauch replaced Bunning with lefty Chris Short (0-0) to face Eddie Mathews. Short had already thrown three innings of scoreless relief, striking out eight of the 11 batters he faced, and picking up a save.

But Short walked Mathews to force home a run and make it a 5-2 game.

Bases still loaded. Still two outs.

Playing the percentages, Mauch replaced Short with right-hander Ed Roebuck (0-0) to face Hank Aaron. This was Roebuck’s third outing since joining the Phillies. He’d yet to give up a hit and already notched a save.

Aaron stroked a single to center and the runners moved up a base. Mike de la Hoz scored on the hit to make it a two-run game at 5-3. Bases still loaded, and still two outs.

But Roebuck knuckled down to get Joe Torre to ground out to preserve the win.

Jim Bunning (3-0) got the win and Ed Roebuck picked up his second save in three relief outings. Warren Spahn (1-2) took the loss.

The Phillies winning streak extended to four straight and gave them 10 wins in the first 12 games.

In Los Angeles, the Giants lost to the Dodgers 7-1 on the strength of a five-hit complete game by Don Drysdale (2-1). The loss dropped the Giants two games behind the first-place Phillies.