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| Jumbo Frank |
Everyone expected the Dodgers to start a lefty. The lefty we all expected to see was Koufax, but instead he was held back for game 6 and another lefty, Pete Richert was given the ball. Richert would face Angel ace Dean Chance, who had the added pressure of knowing he needed a win to stave off elimination for his team. Frank Howard's solo homer to lead off the top of the 2nd broke the ice. Bill Moran's solo shot with 1 out in the bottom of the 3rd tied it at 1-1. After being hit in the ribs by Chance to lead off the top of the 4th Willie Davis easily stole second, which turned out to mean absolutely nothing since Howard walked on the next pitch. Ron Fairly came to the plate looking to bunt the runners up 90 feet. His bunt rolled 5 feet in fron of the plate. Rodgers jumped out from behind the plate to field it cleanly, but his throw to third sailed over Felix Torres' head, which allowed Davis to easily score. A grounder to short by Spencer would score Howard and a wild pitch by Chance would allow Fairly to race home for the third run of the inning. With the score 4-1 and the Dodgers leading the series 3-1 most in attendance felt that the game was over. The Angels however were not about to go quietly and cut the lead in half when Bilko singled home Fregosi in the bottom of the 6th. Richert would exit the game after completing 7 solid innings worth of work and striking out 5 without walking a batter. He safely handed over a 4-2 lead to Ed Roebuck who struggled in the 8th, but was able to wiggle out of trouble thanks to an around the horn DP off of Moran's bat. Roebuck would start the 9th by beaning Bilko with a fastball that just got away from him. The next batter, Torres would ground to second and push Bilko up 90 feet into scoring position. Down by 2 runs the Angels needed more than just situational hitting. They needed runs and they needed them quick. Ron Perranoski was brought on to replace Roebuck and face lefty Lee Thomas, who hit a one hopper to second that Junior Gilliam allowed to play him. Gilliam attempted to field it on the short hop and instead watched it go off the heel of his glove to put runners on the corners. Buck Rodgers was up next and he hit a similar shot to short, which netted the same result. The normally sure handed Maury Wills' error allowed Bilko to score and now the Dodgers lead was just 1 run with runners on 1st and 2nd. Albie Pearson, who doesn't fare well vs lefties, stepped to the plate. On the third pitch he fought off a slider and hit a room service hop to Wills who this time fielded it cleanly. Maury flipped it to Gilliam, who cleanly pivoted and threw a dart to Fairly for the final out of the game and the series. The city of Angels was in celebratory mode as the veteran Dodgers won the series and the upstart Halos were heralded for their unlikely march to the AL pennant.
Dodgers win series 4-1
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