Sept. 5, 1963 - Pistol Pete Richert and Larry Sherry ganged up on the Cubs to hurl a 4-0 shutout tonight as the Dodgers concluded a critical 18-game homestand with a five-game lead over the high-flying St. Louis Cardinals. With this 11th victory during the long stay in Dodger Stadium, the pennant-hungry Angelenos reduced their magic number to 18 with 22 games left. The blank job was the 21st posted by the Los Angeles staff this season, one shy of the club record set in 1906 and equaled in 1916. Tonight’s crowd of 35,296 ran the total for the last 17 dates to 689,787, which is a lot more than some clubs will draw all season. Richert had struck out seven Cubs and scattered five hits when Sherry relieved him with two aboard in the eighth and Ron Santo up. The last time Larry tackled Santo, the muscular Cub clouted two homers off him to beat the Dodgers. This time, however, Santo popped up, and so did Billy Williams as Chicago’s hopes went down the drain. Jim Gilliam all but stole the show with an inside-the-park homer off Bob Buhl in the fourth. It was the second such round-tripper of Jim’s career and the third at Dodger Stadium. Needing a three-game sweep to keep their faint pennant hopes alive, the Giants will host the Dodgers this weekend in Candlestick Park, with southpaws Sandy Koufax (21-5) and Billy O’Dell (12-6) clashing tomorrow. Sandy flew north tonight to get a good night’s rest. Don Drysdale was sent home before the Dodger-Cub finale. Don has an attack of the shingles, but is determined to take his turn against San Francisco Saturday. He had them when he pitched against Houston. Willie Mays, who collapsed of exhaustion last Monday, is expected to be back in the Giant lineup tomorrow.
Comments