1969: Expos in Town Means Victory

August 29, 1969, San Diego: Padres 3, Expos 0 (box score)

Following two straight series sweeps at the hands of the Mets and Phillies, San Diego welcomed the Montreal Expos to town. For all the Padres’ faults during their inaugural season (and there were plenty), they never seemed to have trouble beating their fellow expansion team from north of the border.

On a Friday at San Diego Stadium, right-hander Al Santorini dominated. He allowed an infield single to journeyman outfielder Ty Cline in the third inning and a single to left off the bat of Coco Laboy with two out in the ninth. Those were the only two hits Santorini gave up all day.

The Padres, meanwhile, provided Santorini with more than enough support in the third. With one out, Jose Arcia, Roberto Pena, and Ollie Brown singled to put San Diego up, 1-0. After Al Ferrara struck out against Montreal starter Mike Wegener, Nate Colbert and Van Kelly each singled home a run to make the score 3-0. (Wegener, for whatever it may be worth, struck out the side — of course, he also gave up five singles in the inning.)

The Padres threatened again in the fifth and the eighth, but couldn’t add to their lead. In the end, it didn’t matter and San Diego had improved its record to 38-92 in front of a shade under 4,000 fans.

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