Our Blog: 1964 NL Pennant Race

Having blogged about the 1951 NL Pennant Race and the 1967 AL Pennant Race, we now turn to one of the other great races, unless you were a Philadelphia Phillies fan at the time.The Phillies lead by 6 1/2 games over the Reds and Cardinals and 7 games over the Giants with 12 games to go in the 1964 season. The Phillies haven't won the pennant since 1950 and look assured of finally winning it this year. We will relive each of the 12 games for the Phillies, Cardinals, and Reds. Each day we will cover one day's worth of games, beginning with September 21st. See first day of blog. Here are the standings as play begins on September 30th.

Team	W	L	W-L%	GB
Reds	91	67	.576	--
Cardinals	91	67	.576	--
Phillies	90	69	.566	1.5
Giants	87	70	.554	3.5

Cardinals 8, Phillies 5.

The Cardinals jump to an 8 to 0 lead and win their 8th in a row, beating the Phillies, who have now lost 10 straight. The game is played before 29,920 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Curt Simmons wins his 18th game of the year, against 9 losses. He goes 2 batters into the 9th inning, giving up 5 runs, 4 earned, on 5 hits. Ron Taylor (1/3 inning) and Gordie Richardson (2/3 inning) pitch scoreless relief. Richardson earns his 1st save of the year. Jim Bunning starts for Philadelphia and can't get beyond the 4th inning. He gives up 6 runs, 5 earned, on 8 hits over 3 1/3 innings. He takes the loss, bringing his record to 18 and 8. Bobby Locke (1 2/3 innings, 2 runs, 5 hits), Rick Wise (2 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit), and Morrie Steevens (1 inning, 0 runs, 0 hits) appear in relief for Bunning. For St. Louis, Curt Flood, Ken Boyer, and Dick Groat have 3 hits each. Also for the Cardinals, Tim McCarver slams his 9th homer of the year in the 2nd inning with 1 aboard, while Bill White (37th) and Flood (24th) double. For Philadelphia, Alex Johnson hits his 4th homer of the year, in the 7th inning with 1 aboard, while Dick Allen doubles, his 37th of the year, and Cookie Rojas triples, his 5th. The Cardinals have 14 hits, 2 errors, and leave 8 on base. The Phillies have 6 hits, 4 errors, and leave 3. See Game

Pirates 1, Reds 0.

In a game featuring 36 combined strikouts (a National League record at the time), and scoreless through 15 innings, Pittsburgh's Jerry May, in the top of the 16th inning, singles in Donn Clendenon with the winning run. Clendenon had doubled earlier in the inning. The game is played before 8,188 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The Reds, having won 9 straight, now have lost 2 in a row and haven't scored in 25 innings. Bob Veale pitches 12 1/3 shutout innings, giving up 7 hits while striking out 16 batters and walking 8. Al McBean, however, gets the win, pitching 3 2/3 innings and giving up 0 runs on 2 hits. McBean's record improves to 8 and 3. Jim Maloney starts for the Reds and pitches 11 shutout innings, giving up 0 runs on 3 hits. He strikes out 13 and walks only 2. Sammy Ellis comes on in relief of Maloney and pitches 2 hitless and scoreless innings. John Tsitouris comes on in the 14th inning and yields the 1 run of the game on 2 hits over 2 2/3 innings. He takes the loss, bringing his record to 9 and 12. Bill Henry finishes for the Reds, retiring the only batter he faces in the 16th inning. Clendenon's double, his 22nd of the year, is the only extra base hit in the game. The Reds are 0 for 14 with runners in scoring position. The Pirates have 5 hits, 2 errors, and leave 7 on base. The Reds have 9 hits, 1 error, and leave 18. See Game

The Cardinals move into sole possession of 1st place by 1 game over the Reds. The Phillies are now 2.5 games back. The Giants, who also win See Game, stay 3.5 games back.