July 17, 1963 - Doubles by Dick Groat (second from right) and Bill White (left) sparked a two-run eighth-inning rally for the St. Louis Cardinals today and helped Bob Gibson gain his 10th victory of the season, a 3-1 triumph over the Reds in Cincinnati. Gibson allowed only 5 hits and fanned 12 — collecting at least one strikeout from every man in the Reds’ starting lineup — in winning his ninth game in his last 10 decisions. He has lost four. “I’d say Gibson’s stuff was comparable to what he had on the ball against Frisco,” said Redbird manager Johnny Keane after the game. “And at San Francisco, his stuff was as good as I’ve ever seen it.” Groat opened the eighth with a double off Jim O’Toole. After White had failed in an attempt to sacrifice, he drove a double down the right-field line to score Groat. “I called the bunt with White because he was a left-handed batter against a left-handed pitcher,” said Keane. “With the right-handed batters coming up [Charley James and Ken Boyer], I wanted to move the runner over so we could score on a fly ball. The way Gibson was pitching, we only needed the one run.” Ken Boyer (right) singled home White with the second run of the inning. From that point, the game was Gibson’s. The Reds opened the scoring with a run in the first when speedy rookie Pete Rose, who had been hit by an 0-2 pitch from Gibson, scored on a double by Frank Robinson. The Cards tied it in the fourth on a single by Julian Javier (second from left) and a double by Tim McCarver. McCarver, who spent the last three seasons shuttling between St. Louis and the minor league teams of Memphis, Charleston, and Atlanta, is developing into a fine young player. The Cardinal catcher is hitting .287 and provides reliable defense.
