Busch Memorial Stadium
GAME 1
Downing vs Zachary
STL 3, LAD 2 (11 inn)
Al Downing is the epitome of the "hard luck pitcher". He manages to either give up as many runs as his opposing number or have the pen blow the lead he handed to them. Today it was the latter when the normally solid Jim Brewer gave up a 2 out single to Julian Javier in the bottom of the 8th to blow Downing's 1-0 lead. The Dodgers went ahead 2-1 in the 10th when rookie backstop Steve Yeager singled to right to score Billy Buckner. Brewer took the mound and got 2 quick outs in the bottom of the 10th, but after walking PH'er Jose Cruz he was lifted for Mike Strahler, who served up single to Lou Brock to put runners on the corners. Pinch hitter Ted Kubiak lined a single through the 5.5 hole to tie the game. In the 11th Al Santorini easily set the Dodgers down in order. The bottom of the 11th saw Milt Ramirez single home Simba with 2 outs to win the game. Manny Mota was 3-6 and boosted his average to .330 on the season. Yeager was 1 for 1 with 4 walks and has shown promise as this team is already looking toward next year. The Redbirds spread their 10 hits out evenly as on Ted Sizemore (2-5) had more than one.
GAME 2
Singer vs Reuss
LAD 10, STL 3
STL's 2-0 lead evaporated early as the Dodgers found their hitting shoes this evening and tattooed lefty Reuss (5 runs / 5 IP) and his followers. LA usually scores 10 in series, not in a game, but the faithful watching KTLA back home will take some sort of excitement in this season to be forgotten. Mota went 3 for 6 again and Bobby V (4-5) moved his average above .300 for the first time this season. It was also nice to see Frank Robby (2-5) go yard, in what has been an injury riddled season that has him hitting just .244.
Dodger Stadium
GAME 3
Gibson vs Osteen
STL 4, LAD 3
Gibby was firmly in the drivers seat with a comfortable 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th and facing the bottom of LA's not so potent lineup. When the decling Jim Lefebvre led off the home half of the 8th with a clean single nobody batted an eye, since most there were more red taillights in the parking lot than there were fannies in the seats. Pinch hitter Willie Crawford flew out to shallow right for out #1. Then the wheels came off the Gibby Express. Singles by Lee Lacy and Billy Buckner plated Lefebvre to break the shutout and a double by Wes Parker cleared the bases and chased Gibby with the score now 4-3. Veteran pen man Frank Linzy came on to fan the fading Frank Robby and get Willie Davis to ground out weakly to end the threat. In the 9th Linzy had 2 huge scares as Bobby V and Lefebvre both hit shots to the fence in righ field only to see Jose Cardenal make two wonderful catches to end the game. Cardenal didn't just flash the leather he also went 2 for 4 and knocked in 3 of STL's runs, 2 of which were on his 8th inning homer which turned out to be the game winner. Simba had 3 singles in 4 trips for the Redbirds to up his season average to .319.
GAME 4
Carlton vs Sutton
LAD 9, STL 7
Fans expecting to see a nice neat fast pitcher's dual between each team's aces were sorely disappointed. Dodger fans were served up their disappointment right away as Sutton was so awful he staked St. Louis to a 7-1 lead after 4 1/2 frames. With the game appearing to be over LA's manager decided to leave Sutton in and have him take one for the team. Well the team noticed what was going on and decided to rescue their battered ace. In the 5th and 6th they began chipping away with solo runs to make the score 7-3. Then in the 7th and 8th they posted 3 spots to grab the lead. By this time Pete Richert was on the hill and he would be the beneficiary of this offensive explosion. Jim Brewer came in to get the final out with the Cards threatening to notch his 5th save. Wes Parker (2-2, 3 W) was back in the lineup for his second consecutive game after being given "a rest". His season average is back up to .339 as he chases Tony Gwynn for the batting title.
The battle of the basement series saw both teams earn a split and identical 14-22 records. Neither is going anywhere and LA has bragging rights since they have a 6-2 record against the Cards this season, which almost accounts for half of their 14 wins.
LA heads off to play 2nd place San Diego and StL heads to play the first place Jints. Both team have the chance to really play spoiler here in the division race.
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