1969: Unlikely Sources Power Padres Past Braves

July 12, 1969, San Diego: Padres 7, Braves 5 (box score)

Losers of five straight, the Padres wasted no time in scoring. John Sipin singled to lead off the first, and Roberto Pena reached on an error by Atlanta first baseman Orlando Cepeda. With Sipin and third and Pena at second, Ollie Brown laced a single to left, scoring both men and giving the Padres an early 2-0 advantage.

The Braves cut the lead in half the next inning courtesy of a Clete Boyer homer. In the fifth, they tied the game on a single, wild pitch, and two grounders.

San Diego responded in the bottom of the fifth. Jose Arcia led off with a triple to left, and Pena followed with a rare home run. After singles by Brown and Nate Colbert, Al Ferrara hit a sacrifice fly to left that scored Brown and put the Padres back on top, 5-2. They added another run the next inning on a solo homer by Ivan Murrell, his first of the year.

Atlanta wasn’t done, though. In the eighth, with starter Al Santorini still going for the Padres, Boyer hammered his second home run of the game. This one was a three-run shot that pulled the Braves to within 6-5.

The Padres tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on a sequence I’d like to see. Murrell led off with a single against right-hander Cecil Upshaw. Chris Cannizzaro then flied to right, scoring Murrell from first thanks to errors by right fielder Hank Aaron and second baseman Felix Millan.

Frank Reberger, who had come on to get the final out the previous inning, tried to nail down the victory but ran into trouble. A single by Rico Carty and a double by Felipe Alou knocked Reberger out of the game with one out in the ninth.

Billy McCool came on to restore order. He struck out pinch hitter Bob Aspromonte, then intentionally walked Aaron to load the bases for Upshaw’s spot in the order. Aaron’s little brother, Tommie, batted for Upshaw and popped to Colbert at first for the final out. The Padres had held on to win, 7-5.

Trivia: For whatever reason, this game was officiated by a three-man crew.

Tagged as: , , , , , , , , ,

Comments are closed.