A TALE OF TWO CONTESTS
Law Retires 26 of Final 27 Batters
PITTSBURGH, June 3 (AP) - It started out as the worst of times, but things ended
on a very different note for Pittsburgh starter Vernon Law, as the Pirates
defeated the San Francisco Giants, 6-3, at Forbes Field. Law allowed hits
to four of the first five batters he faced, spotting the Giants a 3-0
lead. But Law then stopped the bleeding once and for all. The
Pirates right-hander retired the next nine hitters in a row, issued a one-out
walk to Tom Haller in the fourth inning and then immediately erased him with a
double play ball. Law went on to retire the final 15 batters he faced to
cement the complete game victory.
The Giants jumped on Law immediately in the top of the first. Jesus Alou
and Chuck Hiller led off with back-to-back singles putting runners at
first and third and then Law uncorked a wild pitch, scoring Alou with the game's
first run. Willie Mays followed with his major league best 15th home run,
and San Francisco took a 3-0 lead. Willie McCovey grounded out, but
Orlando Cepeda doubled to left-center. It was at that point that Law
permanently righted the ship.
Giants starter Ron Herbel kept the Pirates off the scoreboard until the
fourth. With one out, Roberto Clemente banged out the first of his four
hits, singling to left, and when McCovey misplayed the ball, Clemente took
second on the error. Willie Stargell flied to right, but Smoky Burgess
made the Giants pay for the error with a single up the middle, scoring Clemente
and cutting the deficit to two runs.
Another Giants error cost the club a run in the sixth. Clemente led the
inning off with a single and was forced at second by Stargell for the first
out. Burgess singled, advancing Stargell to second. Gene Freese
flied to right for the second out, but Donn Clendenon's grounder to short was
kicked by Jim Davenport, filling the bases with two outs. Bill Mazeroski
followed with a single to center, advancing all three runners 90 feet and making
the score 3-2. Law struck out to end the inning.
Pittsburgh took the lead for good in the seventh. Dick Schofield led off
with a double and Bill Virdon's single to right scored Schofield to tie the
game. Bob Shaw replaced Herbel, but it was to no avail. Clemente
tripled into the right field corner, scoring Virdon and putting the Pirates on
top. Stargell's single gave the Pirates an insurance run and a 5-3
lead.
The Pirates added another run, accounting for the final margin of victory, on
Bob Bailey's RBI single. Law, meanwhile, never gave the Giants a kernel of
hope in their quest to get back in the game.
6/3/1964, SF64-Pit64, Forbes Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1964 Giants 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 2 1 1 1964 Pirates 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 1 x 6 14 0 11 1 Giants AB R H BI AVG Pirates AB R H BI AVG Alou,J rf 4 1 1 0 .313 Schofield ss 4 2 1 0 .282 Hiller 2b 3 1 1 0 .219 Virdon cf 5 1 1 1 .224 Snider ph 1 0 0 0 .140 Clemente rf 5 2 4 1 .309 Mays cf 4 1 1 2 .307 Stargell lf 4 1 1 1 .234 McCovey lf 4 0 0 0 .176 Bailey,B 3b 1 0 1 1 .236 Cepeda 1b 3 0 1 0 .345 Burgess c 4 0 3 1 .190 Haller c 2 0 0 0 .211 Mota pr 1 0 0 0 .193 Davenport ss 3 0 0 0 .218 Freese 3b 3 0 0 0 .206 Shaw p 0 0 0 0 .000 McFarlane pr 0 0 0 0 .368 O'Dell p 0 0 0 0 .000 Clendenon 1b 4 0 0 0 .268 Hart 3b 3 0 0 0 .322 Mazeroski 2b 3 0 2 1 .266 Herbel p 2 0 0 0 .000 Law p 4 0 1 0 .320 Garrido ss 1 0 0 0 .167 38 6 14 6 30 3 4 2 Giants INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Herbel L 1-2 6.0 9 4 2 1 4 109 71 2.01 Shaw 1.0 3 1 1 1 0 19 11 3.03 O'Dell 1.0 2 1 1 1 0 22 13 1.53 8.0 14 6 4 3 4 150 95 Pirates INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Law W 4-4 9.0 4 3 3 1 4 85 55 4.48 9.0 4 3 3 1 4 85 55 SF : Garrido inserted at ss in the 7th Snider batted for Hiller in the 9th Pit: Mota ran for Burgess in the 7th McFarlane ran for Freese in the 7th Bailey,B inserted at 3b in the 8th Mota moved to lf in the 8th McFarlane moved to c in the 8th E-McCovey, Davenport. 2B-Cepeda(8), Schofield(7). 3B-Clemente(5). HR-Mays(15). RBI-Mays 2(40), Virdon(11), Clemente(16), Stargell(21), Burgess(6), Mazeroski(20), Bailey,B(12). K-Alou,J, Hiller, Davenport, Herbel, Schofield, Freese, Clendenon, Law. BB-Haller, Schofield, Freese, Mazeroski. WP-Herbel, Law. GWRBI: Clemente Temperature: 82, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 8 MPH. Attendance: 8,163 Game Time: 2:09