At Forbes Field, Pittsburgh regains the National League lead by beating San Francisco twice, 7 – 4 and 7 – 1. In each game, the Giants take an early 1 – 0 lead. In the opener, that dream dies quickly: 1st-inning singles by Matty Alou, Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell, plus a sacrifice fly from Jose Pagan, transfer the one-run margin from West to East and the Bucs never look back. In the nightcap, however, Pittsburgh’s narrow deficit persists until a 4th-inning RBI triple off the right-field wall from Clemente, who then proceeds to untie the game — in the words of Giants beat writer Bob Stevens — “with an audacious piece of baserunning against a Giant defense that had the infield pulled in” (its particulars roughly presaging those of Eric Hosmer’s pivotal 2015 World Series Game Five dash). Stevens continues: “Pagan grounded to Jim Ray Hart at third. Jim Ray feinted Roberto back toward the base, then let loose with the cross-diamond throw. In the meantime, Clemente streaked home, scoring standing up as Willie McCovey’s frantic throw to catcher Tom Haller crashed against the stands.” Pittsburgh’s first bit of breathing room is provided the following inning by future New York Yankees GM Gene Michael (in for injured starting SS Gene Alley), who gets an RBI double in his first major league at-bat.
