July 3, 1963 - Sandy Koufax pitched a three-hitter tonight for his seventh shutout as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Cardinals, 5-0, and stretched their National League lead to a game and a half over St. Louis. A crowd of 51,898 at Dodger Stadium saw Los Angeles make it two straight over the Cards. The victory was No. 13 for Koufax against 3 defeats. His seventh shutout tied a Dodger club record shared by Burleigh Grimes and Whitlow Wyatt. Koufax struck out nine batters. Stan Musial fanned as a pinch hitter in the ninth. The St. Louis hits were well spaced. Ken Boyer singled in the second, Bill White beat out a roller to Ken McMullen in the fourth, and Curt Flood singled with one out in the ninth. Dick Groat hit into a double play to end the game. The Cardinals, who went into action with a .279 team batting average, failed to put a man on second base. Los Angeles opened the scoring in the first. Maury Wills led off with a single, stole second — his 20th theft of the season — and came in on a sacrifice fly by Willie Davis. Bob Gibson then blanked the Dodgers until the sixth. With two out, Los Angeles got two runs on singles by Wills, Wally Moon, Willie Davis, and Tommie Davis. Three hits produced two more in the seventh, with Wills and Moon driving in a run each. Dodger manager Walter Alston smiled when he was reminded after tonight’s victory that the club in first place on July 4th traditionally is supposed to win the pennant. What did Alston think of a game-and-a-half lead after a slow start and a wave of injuries? “The longer I’m in baseball, the less surprised I am about anything,” said cautious Walt.
