McDOWELL LEADS WHIPS OVER REDBIRDS 5-2 Dateline - St. Louis, October, 1965. Sudden Sam McDowell threw a 4-hitter at the Redbirds as Whipernon won the opening game of the 1965 World Series 5-2. Bob Gibson allowed 8 hits in 7 innings in a losing effort. Cookie Rojas had 3 hits to lead the Whips offense, including a home run and 2 RBI. The Whips jumped out to a lead in the first inning. Gibson walked Mickey Mantle to open the game, and after Lennie Green singled, Gibson hit Curt Flood with a pitch to load the bases with no outs for Willie McCovey. Willie lined a base hit to right, scoring Mantle, but Green was cut down at the plate trying to score from second by a strong throw from Jimmy Wynn. Pete Ward then hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning, and the Redbirds felt lucky to get by with only one run tallied. It looked like it might be the Redbirds day after all, as Gibson settled down after that, and the Birds put together a rally in the 3rd. Chuck Hinton walked to open the St. Louis half of the 3rd, and promptly stole 2nd and went all the way to 3rd when Elston Howard's throw sailed into center field. McDowell then struck out Clay Dalrymple, but Bob Gibson singled to tie the game. Jimmy Wynn followed with a base hit to left, and both runners moved up when Mantle bobbled the ball. Jimmy Hall then hit a fly ball to deep right that allowed Gibson to tag and score. With two outs, McDowell walked Santo and Mays to load the bases, but got Gordy Coleman to ground out to end the threat. That turned out to be the last threat for the Redbirds, as McDowell shut them down the rest of the way. Rojas hit what turned out to be the game winner in the 4th, when he homered behind Pete Ward's two out single. The Whips added two more in the 5th when Lenny Green doubled with runners on the corners, and Flood got a run home on a ground ball. The matchup tommorrw in St. Louis - Sonny Siebert (11-9, 2.91) vs Whitey Ford (20-6, 2.77) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP Whips 1 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 5 8 2 3 2 Redbirds 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 2 5 3 Whips AB R H BI AVG Redbirds AB R H BI AVG Mantle lf 3 2 1 0 .333 Wynn rf 3 0 1 0 .333 Green rf 4 0 2 1 .500 Hall lf 2 0 0 1 .000 Flood cf 3 0 0 1 .000 Santo 3b 3 0 0 0 .000 McCovey 1b 4 0 1 1 .250 Mays cf 3 0 0 0 .000 Ward 3b 4 1 1 0 .250 Coleman 1b 4 0 0 0 .000 Rojas 2b 4 1 3 2 .750 Brown ss 4 0 2 0 .500 Hansen ss 4 0 0 0 .000 Hinton 2b 3 1 0 0 .000 Howard c 2 0 0 0 .000 Dalrymple c 3 0 0 0 .000 Barker ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Gibson p 2 1 1 1 .500 Roof c 1 0 0 0 .000 Blasingame ph 1 0 0 0 .000 McDowell p 3 1 0 0 .000 Larsen p 0 0 0 0 .000 33 5 8 5 28 2 4 2 Whips INN H R ER BB SO ERA McDowell W 1-0 9.0 4 2 2 5 9 2.00 Redbirds INN H R ER BB SO ERA Gibson L 0-1 7.0 8 5 3 1 2 3.86 Larsen 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 Whips: Barker batted for Howard in the 7th Roof inserted a C in the 7th Redbirds: Blasingame batted for Gibson in the 7th E-Mantle, Howard, Santo, Brown 2B-Green HR-Rojas(1) SB-Hinton(1) K-McDowell, Barker, Hall 2, Mays 2, Coleman, Hinton, Dalrymple 2, Gibson BB-Mantle, Wynn, Hall, Santo, Mays, Hinton SF-Hall HBP-Flood HB-Gibson GWRBI: Rojas Temperature: 82, Sky: Clear, Wind: out to left at 7 MPH