Cardinals Down Giants in St. Louis as Javier Drives in 5 Runs

June 18, 1964 - At Busch Stadium today, Julian Javier (pictured) turned tiger against Juan Marichal, driving in five runs with a home run and a double. Ron Taylor protected a slim lead by striking out Willie Mays and retiring Orlando Cepeda with two on in the ninth, and the Cardinals downed the San Francisco Giants, 7-6.

The result dropped the Giants from a virtual first-place tie with the Phillies and lifted the Cardinals, now on a three-game win streak, to a three-way tie for fifth in the National League standings.

Javier, whose 28 RBI’s are second on the club to Ken Boyer’s 47, has accounted for 15 of those RBI’s with homers.

“Remember, Julio won a 3-2 game for me in Philadelphia this year with a three-run homer,” said Ray Sadecki, who rode Javier’s bat once again to his seventh victory.

Javier, who batted .040 against Marichal his first three seasons in the big leagues, said he did not much against Juan in their Winter League battles. “Nobody did,” Julian added.

St. Louis manager Johnny Keane, cooling off in his air-conditioned clubhouse office after this seventh one-run decision in nine games with the Giants, emphasized that Javier has been offsetting his .237 average with key runs batted in.

Switching to Ron Taylor, one of several co-heroes, Keane went back to the ninth-inning jam.

“When you strike out Mays in that spot, you’ve really done a job,” said Johnny. “Willie’s the toughest man in baseball in that spot.”

“I was keeping the ball down,” said Taylor. “I wasn’t trying to hit spots, just trying to throw a good fastball or a good slider. Both Mays and Cepeda are tough. One mistake, and the ball’s out of the park.”

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