June 21, 1963 - Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched 8 innings of shutout ball tonight then needed help to weather a St. Louis Cardinal rally in the ninth to win, 5-3, at Busch Stadium and gain his 11th victory of the season. Koufax seemed to have his third consecutive shutout, allowing only four hits until the ninth. Then a single, a walk, and Tim McCarver’s two-out homer drove him out of the game and brought on Ron Perranoski, who retired the side. “My shoulder tightened, and I started to throw harder because of it,” explained Koufax, whose scoreless-inning string ended at 26-and-two-thirds as he came within one out of the shutout. “I started thowing instead of thinking.” No Dodger pitcher has managed three consecutive shutouts since Don Newcombe did it in 1956. Sandy already has packed away six shutouts this season, a total unsurpassed in the National League since Harry (The Cat) Brecheen collected seven while winning 20 games for the Cardinals in 1948. Today’s winning wallop was a two-run homer by Tommy Davis off loser Curt Simmons in the eighth following a bunt single by Willie Davis. Tommy’s jolt enabled him to remain the National League’s leading batter at .338. The victory before 28,423 fans in St. Louis moved the Dodgers within one and a half games of the league-leading Cardinals. The loss ended a four-game winning streak for the Cards, who lead the San Francisco Giants by a half game.
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