1965 – Don Drysdale (23-12) pitches a 3-hitter and blanks the Braves 4 – 0. Los Angeles has now won 13 straight games, seven by shutouts.
The Phillies lose their 10th straight game as Curt Simmons of the Cards beats Jim Bunning, 8 – 5. The Phils now trail by 2 1/2 games with just two to play, but have a glimmer of hope since the Cardinals have three games left against the 10th-place Mets.
In a rarity at Fenway Park, the Indians shut out the Red Sox in a doubleheader winning 5 – 0 and 3 – 0. Rookie Luis Tiant and Sam McDowell go the distance in applying the whitewash.
As a pinch-hitter in the top of the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium, Bill Roman hits his only big league home run in his first major league at-bat. The 25 year-old Tiger rookie first baseman will accumulate only 37 career plate appearances during a brief two-year stint in Detroit.
A total of 36 strikeouts, 19 by Pittsburgh batters, ties the National League record for whiffs in the Pirates’ 1 – 0 squeaker against the Reds in 16 innings. Jerry May’s squeeze bunt scores the lone run. The loss drops the Reds out of 1st place with three games left.
Camilo Pascual draws a tough assignment in rookie John Miller, but beats the Orioles, 1 – 0, on three hits to earn his 20th win. Miller allows two hits to the Twins.
On the last day of the season, Gene Oliver’s eighth-inning homer off Johnny Podres proves to be the difference in St. Louis’ 1-0 victory over the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. The loss to the Cardinals forces Los Angeles into a best-of-three-game playoff with the Giants for the National League pennant, a series the team will lose to San Francisco.
The Mets finish their inaugural season with 120 losses, a 20th-century record, when the team drops a 5-1 decision to the Cubs at Wrigley Field. In his last career at-bat, New York catcher Joe Pignatano hits into an eighth-inning triple play with Richie Ashburn and Sammy Drake on base, both who are also appearing in their last major league game.
At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle blasts his 30th home run of the season, a fourth inning solo shot off White Sox’s 20-game winner Ray Herbert, to extend his streak of having 30 or more round-trippers to eight seasons. The ‘Mick’, who missed a month of the campaign because of a leg injury, batted leadoff in the final series of the year to collect more at-bats.
Willie Mays’ 47th home run, an 8th-inning blast off Dick Farrell (10-20), leads the Giants to a critical 2 – 1 win. They then stay in the clubhouse to hear results of the Dodger game.
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