Aug. 12, 1963 - Frustrated and almost futile for seven innings as they tried desperately to break their losing streak, the Phillies came battling back on the strength of Johnny Callison’s home run to beat the second-place Giants, 3-1, tonight at Connie Mack Stadium. Southpaw Chris Short (pictured), pitching as fine a game as he has hurled in his four-year major league career, held off the powerful Giants for seven innings, gave up a run in the eighth, and then stopped them in the ninth after Callison’s two-run homer and a run-scoring single by Roy Sievers finally gave the 20,671 fans something to cheer in the eighth. The win ended a four-game Phillie losing streak, which included three straight to the surging Giants, who have won 15 of their last 20 games and now trail the first-place Dodgers by four games. Phillies’ manager Gene Mauch, who may be more used to Callison’s heroics than he is to Short’s, praised the southpaw in the Philadelphia dressing room. “He was ahead of more hitters than in any game I’ve ever seen him pitch,” the manager said. Short said: “I was mad at myself for the way I ran the bases in the seventh [when he was thrown out at second after reaching first on a wild throw], but once I got back on the mound, I forgot about it. I guess I was a little winded, but it didn’t last. I had a good fastball that was tailing away and a good curve that I threw in certain spots. The big thing is getting the ball over the plate. It’s taken me a long time to learn that, but I think I finally have.” Callison said of his home run: “I hit a high fastball, but I didn’t get it all, and at first I wasn’t sure if it was going out.” When Willie Mays singled to center in the fourth inning, he extended his batting streak to 14 games. On this road trip, Willie has batted at a .391 clip.
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