Sept. 10, 1963 - Sandy Koufax strengthened his bid for the Cy Young award by breaking his own National League strikeout record and setting a new victory total for Dodger southpaws tonight. As Los Angeles protected its 3-game lead over St. Louis and trimmed its magic number to 15, the incredible Mr. Koufax stifled the Pirates, 4-2, before a crowd of 11,152 at Forbes Field. With nine strikeouts, Sandy boosted his season total to 276, breaking the record of 269 he set in 1961. And his 23 wins are the most by a southpaw in Dodger annals. The 28-year-old star previously was tied with Nap Rucker (1911) and Preacher Roe (1951). Wally Moon’s two-run homer off Don Cardwell in the seventh provided L.A.’s margin of victory. Beating the Bucs gave Koufax another measure of personal satisfaction, for Pittsburgh was the only team he hadn’t licked this year. Sandy’s religious faith could complicate the Dodgers’ pitching in the stretch drive. In the staff’s pitching rotation, he is scheduled to work Saturday in Philadelphia and again next Wednesday in St. Louis. However, the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur, falls on the latter date, and he won’t even put on a uniform on such an occasion. “If everything goes well, I’d like to pitch in St. Louis Tuesday with only two days’ rest,” Sandy said today. Another holiday, Rosh, Hashanah, falls on Sept. 27, but he isn’t slated to pitch then.
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