Alas, it was not Don Drysdale's night. The Dodger ace gave up three runs in the bottom of the first, another run in the third (Bill White's double in the first, and single in the third being key blows), and fell apart completely in the fourth. Ron Perranoski did not clean things up very well in that inning, allowing all three inherited runners to score. When the fifth inning lurched into being, LA found itself trailing 8-2.
Perranoski got slapped around some more in the fifth before the lesser lights took over--with one exception. In the seventh, trailing 11-2, Walt Alston let Sandy Koufax mop up in order to give him more mound time. Sandy was still wild in the seventh, walking the first two guys and giving up a run when Curt Flood singled, but he was a little sharper in the eighth. Larry Jackson scattered twelve hits in going the distance for the Cards; Drysdale's record fell to 25-8. Final score: Cardinals 12, Dodgers 2.
IN Houston, the Giants took an early lead behind solid pitching from Billy O'Dell, then broke the game open with seven runs in the sixth, capped by Willie McCovey's three-run homer. Matty Alou, getting some playing time in left with Harvey Kuenn moving to third to spell the slumping Jim Davenport, batted third and hit like he belonged there, slapping three singles and a double, driving in three runs. O'Dell tired in the ninth, but he had plenty of cushion and Dark was able to avoid making a call to the bullpen. Final score: Giants 10, Colts 3.
SEASON RECORDS: LAD 100-56, SF 97-59
