May 6, 1964

After a 3-and-4 road trip, the Phillies returned home on for nine games against the Braves, Reds, and Cardinals. The Braves had taken 2-of-3 from the Phillies in their recent meeting in Milwaukee.

It was Ray Culp (1-2) in the series opener against Bob Sadowski (2-2) on May 6, 1964 . Sadowski pitched an overpowering 11-2 victory against Culp and the Phillies four days earlier in Milwaukee.

On the other side of the ledger, Culp didn’t make it through the first inning his last time out.

Ray Culp made it through the first inning by working his way out of a bases-loaded jam.

Batting second and with one out, Richie Allen singled, Allen moved to third when Johnny Callison followed with a single to put runners on first and third with one out.

Tony Gonzalez singled and Allen scored to make it 1-0 Phillies. There was a play at the plate, allowing Callison to take third and Gonzalez to move up to second. It was the 10th and 11th RBIs for Gonzalez.

With runners on second and third and still one out, Sadowski walked Wes Covington intentionally to load the bases.

John Herrnstein cleared the bases with a double to the deepest part of centerfield to make it 4-0 Phillies.

In the top of the second, Bob Sadowski was lifted for a pinch-hitter and replaced on the mound by lefty Billy Hoeft (0-0). Hoeft was a starter at one time, going 20-14 with the Tigers in 1956, but he’d been relegated to the bullpen for the past two years.

No more scoring until the Braves third.

Eddie Mathews led off with a double and scored when Hank Aaron tripled to put the Braves on the scoreboard 4-1. Aaron scored when Joe Torre grounded out to third to cut the Phillies lead to 4-2.

Moving to the Braves fifth, with one out, Eddie Mathews hit his second straight double. Hank Aaron singled, but Mathews had to stop at third. That’s when Joe Torre delivered his fourth home run of the season and suddenly put the Braves on top 5-4. The three runs bumped Torre’s RBI total to 14.

Gene Mauch replaced Ray Culp with Johnny Klippstein (2-0) ─ who making his fourth outing.

Ed Bailey greeted Klippstein with a single. One out later, Frank Bolling doubled and Bailey moved to third. With second and third and two outs, Klippstein walked Denis Menke on purpose to load the bases and get to the pitcher. Still two outs.

Billy Hoeft, batting for himself, negated the strategy by walking and forcing home a run to make it 6-4 Braves.

With the bases still loaded, Klippstein got Lee Maye ground out to the mound to end the inning.

Needing some catching up, Richie Allen tripled with one out in the bottom of the fifth ─ his third triple of the year. When Johnny Callison grounded out, Allen scored to trim the lead to 6-5.

In the top of the sixth, Rick Wise (0-0) replaced Klippstein ─ the first outing for Wise in 13 days.

In the bottom of the sixth, Bob Tiefenauer (1-0) replaced Hoeft.

Wise and Tiefenauer faced the minimum six batters over the next two innings to hold the score at 6-5 Braves going into the bottom of the seventh.

Bobby Wine singled to start the inning. Don Hoak pinch-hit for Wise and sacrificed Wine to second. But Tony Taylor lined into a double-play to end the inning

In the top of the eighth, Ed Roebuck (0-0) took over on the mound. Roebuck notched two saves in his first three relief appearances since being purchased from the Washington Senators.

Roebuck pitched a strong eighth.

In the bottom of the eighth, Richie Allen led off with a walk; advanced to second on a wild pitch; and moved to third on a ground out to the mound.

Tiefenauer fanned Tony Gonzalez for the second out.

With Allen on third and two outs, Wes Covington crushed his second home run over the rightfield wall to put the Phillies back on top 7-6.

Ed Roebuck got the Braves three up and three down to close out the game. This time, instead of a save, Roebuck (1-0) picked up the win.

Bob Tiefenauer (1-1) blew the save and took the loss.

The win put the Phillies (11-6) in a virtual tie with the Braves (12-7) for second place.

Later that night in San Francisco, Larry Jackson pitched a five-hit, complete-game victory as the Cubs beat the Giants 4-2. The Giants’ loss enabled the Phillies and Braves to move within one game of the Giants.