Two different types of "eighths" propelled the Dodgers and Giants (suddenly being pressed by the hard-charging Cincinnati Reds) into road wins on 8/23 while making their final East Coast road trip...
--In Philadelphia, the Dodgers broke up a southpaw pitching duel between Johnny Podres and the Phillies' Dennis Bennett with four runs in the eighth inning--with lefty batters providing key contributions in the rally. Johnny Roseboro led off with a triple, and scored the tying run when Maury Wills (switch-hitter batting right-handed) singled. After Jim Gilliam (same orientation as Wills) walked, Willie Davis singled to right, scoring Wills with the go-ahead run. Righty Jack Baldschun came in for Bennett and struck out Tommy Davis (righty batter), but Frank Howard (an even bigger right-handed menace) doubled to bring home the third and fourth runs in the inning.
Ex-Dodger Don Demeter continued to plague his former mates with a homer in the bottom of the eighth, but Ron Perranoski bailed out Ed Roebuck with two strikeouts with the tying runs on base in the ninth. Final score: Dodgers 4, Phillies, 2.
--In New York, reserve infielder Ernie Bowman got a rare start when the Mets put lefty Al Jackson on the mound. The light-hitting Bowman batted eighth in place of Chuck Hiller, and proved to be the key to a close win for the Giants, who amassed thirteen hits in the game but stranded nearly all of those baserunners due to a 1-for-12 performance with RISP. Bowman hit his only homer of the '62 season in the fifth, then singled in the go-ahead run in the tenth (the first and only Giant hit with RISP that day). Juan Marichal went all ten innings to pick up the win and improve his season record to 16-9. Final score: Giants 2, Mets 1 (ten innings)
SEASON RECORDS: LAD 83-45, SFG 79-48, CIN 79-49
