May 3, 1964

Art Mahaffey (1-0) versus Hank Fischer (2-0) in the rubber game of the series at County Stadium in Milwaukee.

For Mahaffey, it was his fourth start of the season. After two poor outings, he picked up his first win five days earlier against the Reds – giving up two runs on six hits over seven strong innings.

Hank Fischer, having already notched wins over the Colts and Dodgers, was trying to make it three straight wins.

After a scoreless inning-and-a-half, Joe Torre stepped to the plate for the Braves with one out in the bottom of the second.

The Braves signed Joe Torre as an amateur free agent in 1960 and planned to groom him to be veteran catcher Del Crandall’s eventual replacement behind the plate. But Crandall injured his throwing arm early in the 1961 season and Torre stepped into the breach. He caught on quickly – pun intended – and made the All-Star in 1963.

This season, 1964, would become Torre’s breakout season. He would go on to hit .321 with 20 HRs and 109 RBIs.

He played in the majors for 18 years with the Braves, Cardinals, and Mets and made the All-Star team nine times. In 1971, he led the NL in hits with 237, in batting at .363, in RBIs with 137 – and he was voted MVP.

He would go on to manage in both leagues for 24 seasons and won four World Series titles while managing the Yankees. Today, he works in the commissioner’s office as Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations.

Joe Torre smacked a double to left. Frank Bolling followed with a fly ball to deep right for the second out – deep enough to allow the slow-footed Torre to tag up and advance to third.

Gene Mauch ordered Mahaffey to walk Denis Menke intentionally to get to the pitcher – which put runners on first and third with two outs. But the strategy failed when Fischer singled up the middle and Torre scored to make it 1-0 Braves.

Mahaffey and Fischer locked up in a pitcher’s duel as the game moved through the first seven innings with the Braves still holding the 1-0 edge.

In the top of the eighth, Mahaffey was lifted for pinch-hitter Roy Sievers But Fischer retired Sievers and the Phillies in order.

In the bottom of the eighth, Chris Short (0-0) took the mound for the Phils. In five relief appearances thus far, Chris Short had given up no hits and no runs in five innings while striking out nine. This outing was no different. He retired the Braves 1-2-3 and he was starting to open Gene Mauch’s eyes about the possibility of promoting him to a starter’s role.

But the Phillies bats remained dormant for all nine innings and Hank Fischer (3-0) completed a two-hit, complete-game shutout. He not only shut out the Phillies, but he also drove in game’s lone run.

Art Mahaffey (1-1) deserved better. He gave up one run on four hits in seven innings but wound up taking the loss.

Out on the West Coast, the Giants beat the Dodgers 6-3 at Chavez Ravine behind Juan Marichal’s fourth winning effort of the season without a loss. The win pulled the Giants into a tie for first place with the Phillies.