May 24, 1963 - San Francisco drove Sandy Koufax from the box with 5 runs in the first inning today and went on to batter the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-1, in the opener of the 3-game series between the National League’s top teams. Juan Marichal (pictured) stopped the Dodgers on 4 hits, ended their 8-game winning streak, and ran his record to 6-3. He struck out 10. Asked afterward if he would classify the victory as the best of the season, Marichal nodded and explained: “Because it was against the Dodgers — they’re pretty good. And those five runs in the first made me feel rich. This Koufax pitched a no-hitter against me in Los Angeles, and this kind of evened things.” The victory put the defending champions two games ahead of Los Angeles. Koufax, who pitched a no-hitter against the Giants May 11, was greeted this time with singles by José Pagan and Willie McCovey. He walked Willie Mays, and Orlando Cepeda cleared the bases with a double before Felipe Alou smacked his ninth homer of the season. Koufax, now 6-2, finally registered a strikeout, but departed when Ed Bailey singled and moved to second on a wild pitch to Joe Amalfitano. “I just got hit,” Koufax said in the Dodger dressing room. “Maybe I wasn’t as sharp in my control as I had been. But they were really finding that ball.” Manager Walter Alston added: “You get hit once in a while in the major leagues, and Sandy was due to have one like this.” Marichal lost his shutout in the sixth when a pinch hitter, Don Zimmer, lined a home run off the left-field foul pole just above the fence.
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