May 27, 1964 - Art Mahaffey pitched a four-hitter tonight as the first-place Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-0, at Forbes Field. The verdict ended a four-game Pirate winning streak.
Mahaffey was rarely in trouble in gaining his third victory against two defeats. He permitted only one batter to go beyond first base. Dick Schofield tagged him for doubles in the first and eighth innings.
The Phils scored all their runs in the third, when they bunched four of their six hits off Bob Friend.
Clay Dalrymple opened with a bloop double to left and scored on Cookie Rojas’s two-base hit off the left-field scoreboard. Rojas came home on Richie Allen’s single.
“My fastball was still jumping in the ninth,” Mahaffey enthused. “I threw 27 fastballs in a row at one time during the game. But it felt good to finish a game. In 1962, I had 22 complete games. Only [Warren] Spahn had more, and they let him finish every game he starts.”
“It’s the hardest Art has thrown in two years,” said Dalrymple, the Phils’ catcher. “They helped us out though by swinging at some bad pitches. The thing is, they didn’t have the opportunity to tell they were going to be bad pitches.”
Ruben Amaro played shortstop tonight for Philadelphia and Rojas played second base. They got two hits apiece, and they handled everything hit their way, and if you think they’re going to grumble about not playing more often, forget it.
“It might be different if I thought I could play shortstop better than the other fellow,” Amaro said. “But I’ve seen a lot of guys play shortstop, including some fancy fielders from Mexico. And I’ve never seen anyone play the way Bobby Wine has played. So, there’s really no sweat. I play when I get the chance, and I try to help the club.”
Rojas was just as realistic. “Tony Taylor is the best second baseman in the league,” he said. “I can’t take his job. But I got lucky and got a couple hits the other night, so I played again tonight. It’s good because if some team is interested in you, it helps to come off the bench and get some hits. I want to play. I’d like to stay here, but if a team is interested, something like this helps.”
Manager Gene Mauch said: “We don’t figure to lose a lot defensively with Amaro and Rojas. Both of them are conscientious, and they feel when they don’t hit, they’re letting us down. They’ve both been tremendous on defense.”
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