Sept. 11, 1964 - Southpaw Dennis Bennett struck out Willie Mays three times with a runner in scoring position tonight, and the front-running Phillies edged the fourth-place Giants, 1-0, before 27,524 at Candlestick Park.
Ruben Amaro (pictured) doubled home the game’s only run with one out in the fifth inning to hand Giant ace Juan Marichal his seventh defeat against 17 victories, and that proved enough behind the masterful clutch pitching of the cocky lefty who seems to have found himself again.
The victory enabled the Phils to maintain their six-game lead over the second-place Cardinals, who blanked the Cubs, 5-0, in a day game. The third-place Reds and Giants dropped seven games off the pace.
Bennett, winning his second game this week after dropping seven in a row and not pitching a complete game since May 19, had great control of his curveball and was at his best in pressure situations. The colorful southpaw fanned Mays all three times on called third strikes with the count at 3-2.
Clay Dalrymple got the Phillies started in the fifth with his double to right-center which Mays dove for but couldn’t reach. Clay, playing with a bad right knee, limped into second.
Marichal made a good stop on Tony Taylor’s smash to the mound as it was about to go by, headed for center field. Juan turned and trapped Dalrymple off second, and Taylor had to stop at first.
Amara then blasted a first pitch to deep left-center, and the ball rolled to the fence, scoring Taylor easily. Ruben slid into third with an apparent triple, but was tagged out when his foot came off the bag, and the inning ended when Bennett fanned.
Time is running out on the Giants, but manager Alvin Dark refused to say his team needed a sweep of the three-game series with the Phillies to keep their flickering pennant hopes alive.
“I’ll stick to my original statement,” said Dark, referring to the prediction he made recently in Philadelphia that 95 victories will win the pennant. “I feel we’ve got to win 95 — no matter how we win ‘em.”
To reach Dark’s goal, the Giants needed 16 victories in their last 20 games, including the three with the Phillies.
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