July 23, 1963 - Willie Mays was too much for the Mets’ pitchers today as he cracked two home runs. But even before he clubbed his first of the evening, the Giants were well on their way to a 9-1 victory that lengthened three of the Mets’ losing streaks. What the Mets accomplished was that Roger Craig suffered his 15th straight defeat, the team lost its 17th consecutive road game and its sixth game in a row. But the majority of the 14,878 fans at cool Candlestick Park didn’t care whether the opposition was sub-par. They were just happy to see their heroes snap out of their bad habits with an 11-hit attack. San Francisco’s Harvey Kuenn, swinging a red hot bat, began a three-run first with a single, started the four-run second inning splurge with another hit, and banged a two-out double for another run in the fifth. Kuenn, who has collected 10 hits in his last 16 trips to the plate, is hitting .314 and could be on his way to a National League batting title. He won the American League crown with .353 at Detroit in 1959. Nobody has ever won championships in both leagues. Mays cracked his 20th with Willie McCovey on first in the second inning. This finished Craig and increased the Giants’ lead to 7-0. In the sixth, Mays got the Giant’s final run with his 21st off Ken MacKenzie. The only reason the fans stuck around after that was to see if Mays would belt another, but the Giants didn’t get another man on base after Willie’s second homer. Nevertheless, all those runs made the night’s work rather simple for Juan Marichal, who scored his 16th victory. The high-kicking right-hander permitted only four hits and the Mets’ run was unearned.
Comments