Given all that, it made sense: the Dodgers were playing the Cubs, a team almost at the opposite end of the standings (40-69 as play got underway that day). Alston could be seen by the fans seated on the first base side of the field standing motionless at the near end of the Dodger dugout, flexing his right hand as he rotated it on the railing.
Ortega retired the side in order in the first, but disaster seemed to loom up like a thunderhead in the second, when he loaded the bases with none out (two singles and his own throwing error). He managed to escape with only one run scoring, however, and trailed just 1-0.
The Dodgers loaded the bases themselves in the the bottom of the third, but they did it with two outs, and Ron Fairly fouled out to squander that opportunity. Ernie Banks then took Ortega deep to lead off the fourth, but Phil regrouped and got through that inning and the fifth as well: the problem was that his mates weren't solving the Cubs' veteran starter Bob Buhl. Frank Howard and Johnny Roseboro finally got LA on the board in the bottom of the fifth, though, and Alston's grip on the railing finally relaxed. But he had a man warming up in the Dodger bullpen when Ortega took the mound in the sixth.
And a good thing it was, too, for Phil gave up a homer to the fierce lefty hitter George Altman, followed by a triple by Banks that hit the top of the right field wall. It was now 3-1 Cubs with none out in the sixth, and the sand had spilled out from Ortega's hourglass.
Ed Roebuck replaced him, and with a drawn-in infield, managed to get Ron Santo to hit the ball right at Maury Wills, who held Banks at third before recording the out at first. Then the Cubs gambled and lost when Frank Howard threw Banks out at home trying to score on André Rodgers' short fly to right field. Big Frank would get the Dodgers closer when he singled home Ron Fairly in the bottom of the sixth, but he returned the favor with Chicago by deciding that Johnny Roseboro's pop fly to short left was going to drop in for a hit. It didn't, and he was doubled off first.
And then there was Larry Sherry, arriving on the mound for the Dodgers in the eighth, who then proceeded to throw seven scoreless innings in relief; he and two Cubs relievers--Barney Schultz and Dave Gerard--dodged a few threats, the most serious of which occurred in the bottom of the tenth, when Schultz induced pinch-hitter Duke Snider (remember him?) to hit into a 3-2-3 double play with the bases loaded and one out.
Finally, in the bottom of the fourteenth, Alston batted for Larry--not with his brother Norm, which never happened during their time together on the Dodgers, by the way--but with Tim Harkness, who singled. Then the chess moves: Wills bunted Harkness to second, the Cubs then walked Willie Davis intentionally.
Wh-a-a-t? An intentional walk to bring the NL RBI leader? That piece of unconventional strategy (hoping to repeat the "Snider scenario") prompty backfired when Tommy smacked Gerard's 0-1 pitch into right field, scoring Harkness with the winning run. Seven innings of heroism was rewarded after all. Final score: Dodgers 4, Cubs 3 (14 innings).
But there was--surprise!--a second game to play in LA that day, and the Dodgers had in fact brought up another pitcher from the minors: Pete Richert, last seen with LA in St. Louis in mid-May. Richert would make ten starts for the Dodgers down the stretch, pitching serviceably for them over that span (4-3, 3.43 ERA).
But the Dodgers were spent after their extra-inning win, and they were shut down by Don Cardwell, who allowed just three hits in a complete game victory. Ron Fairly's two-run homer off him in the seventh wasn't enough to get LA back in the game, for the Cubs had reached Richert for four hits and three runs in the sixth. Final score: Cubs 4, Dodgers 2 (second game).
IN San Francisco, Billy O'Dell outdueled Bob Friend and knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh as the Giants kept the Pirates heading in the opposite direction of first place. Final score: Giants 2, Pirates 1.
SEASON RECORDS: LAD 75-37, SFG 70-41, CIN 64-46, PIT 63-47, STL 62-50, MIL 58-53, PHI 51-61, HOU 40-68, CHC 41-70, NYM 29-80
BATTING LEADERS:
Batting Average Musial STL .357, Burgess PIT .357, T. Davis LAD .348, Robinson CIN .338, Aaron MIL .333, Clemente PIT .332, Altman CHC .324, Skinner PIT .323, Cepeda SFG .319
On-Base Percentage Ashburn NYM. 437, Musial STL .434, Dalrymple PHI .419, Robinson CIN .412, Fairly LAD .410, Skinner PIT .409, Burgess PIT .405, Altman CHC .400
Slugging Average Aaron MIL .619, Mays SFG .507, Howard LAD .599, Robinson CIN .589 Burgess PIT .556, Musial STL .546, Thomas NYM .544 T. Davis LAD .532
Home Runs Mays SFG 32, Aaron MIL, 29, Banks CHC 27, Thomas NYM 26, Mathews MIL 22, Coleman CIN 22, Adcock MIL 22, Robinson CIN 21, Cepeda SFG 21 Mejias HOU 21
Runs Batted In T. Davis LAD 112, Mays SFG 95, Aaron MIL 93, Robinson CIN 91, Cepeda SFG 80, Howard LAD 80, Boyer STL 75, White STL 74, Banks CHC 73, Thomas NYM 73
Runs Scored Wills LAD 96, Mays SFG 88, Robinson CIN 87, Aaron MIL 87, T. Davis LAD 83, W. Davis LAD 82, Callison PHI 74, Javier STL 74, Mathews MIL 74, Cepeda SFG 74, Pinson CIN 72
Doubles Robinson CIN 39, Mays SFG 26, Virdon PIT 2t5, Skinner PIT 25, Davenport SFG 23, Pinson CIN 22, White STL 21, Callison PHI 21
Triples W. Davis LAD 10, Virdon PIT 9, Wills LAD 8, T. Davis LAD 8, Ranew CHC 8, Williams CHC 8, Hubbs CHC 7, Mazeroski PIT 7, Fairly LAD 7, Hoak PIT 7, Spangler HOU 7
