Giants Top Cards as Perry Twirls 2-Hitter

May 31, 1965 - A two-hitter hurled by Gaylord Perry (pictured) against the Cardinals at Candlestick Park today was such a masterpiece that even his catcher, Jack Hiatt, rolled his eyes in wonderment.

The Giants’ rookie backstop, jumping into harness when Dick Bertell suffered an injury to his index finger in the first inning, said following the 4-1 victory: “He taught me a lesson — it impressed me. It’s one thing to talk about what you are going to do before the game. It’s another thing to go out there and do it. He pitched perfectly to every hitter.”Perry’s superb mound work, Willie McCovey’s 11th homer — a two-run job that broke the game open for the Giants — and Hiatt’s own clutch double for two more runs were the high spots of a game that sent Curt Simmons down to defeat.

“When McCovey hits one,” said San Francisco manager Herman Franks after the game, “there’s no doubt about it.”

Hiatt entered the game after Perry had allowed two hits and a run. After that, Perry rolled off eight hitless innings, with a walk to Curt Flood his only transgression.

“I just loved the way he pitched to Ken Boyer,” said Hiatt. “He kept the ball away, yet they were strikes.”

As for his own hit, Hiatt grinned and said: “It makes me feel good. Maybe it will give Mr. Franks confidence in me.”Perry, beating the Cards for the first time, observed: “Hiatt did an extra good job behind the plate besides that big hit. He’s going to catch a lot of games for us.”

The loss was the fifth in a row for the Cardinals.

“When we start hitting,” said St. Louis first baseman Bill White, “we’ll score runs against any pitcher. The trouble this year is the same as last year. We just have to start putting hits together and take the pressure off our pitchers. It’s a long season. We have about 120 games to go, don’t we?”

Ken Boyer was as calm as White.

“Everyone wants to panic when you lose four or five in a row,” he said. “There are a lot of ups and downs in a 162-game schedule. It’s hard to get excited about this bad trip when you see Cincinnati going through the same thing. They were beaten badly in Los Angeles. We’ve bounced back twice this season — and look at Pittsburgh.”

The Pirates, although still in ninth place, won their 11th consecutive game today when they beat the Phillies, 5-2.

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