1969: Dodgers Chip Away, Beat Padres

September 12, 1969, Los Angeles: Dodgers 5, Padres 3 (box score)

San Diego jumped out to an early 2-0 lead against Bill Singer. With one out in the second, Van Kelly drew a walk. Jerry Morales followed with a double to center that scored the Padres’ first run. Morales advanced to third on a Ted Sizemore throwing error on the play, then scored on a sacrifice bunt by Chris Cannizzaro.

The Dodgers came back with a run of their own in the fourth. Three straight singles off San Diego starter Al Santorini to start the inning made the score 2-1. It could have been worse, but Sizemore bounced into a 4-6-3 double play with the bases loaded to kill the rally. The next inning, Los Angeles tied the game on singles by Maury Wills and Willie Davis.

In the sixth, Nate Colbert drilled a two-out solo homer to left, putting the Padres back on top, 3-2. The lead was short lived, however, as the Dodgers pushed across another run in the bottom half on a triple by Bill Sudakis and a single by Sizemore.

The score remained tied until the eighth. In the home half, Gary Ross retired the first two batters he faced. Sizemore, who was at the center of much of the action in this one, then singled. Pitcher Singer did the same. So did Wills and Manny Mota, and the Dodgers had taken their first lead of the night. Billy McCool came in to put out the fire, but the damage had been done.

San Diego threatened in the ninth. Colbert led off with a single, and was still there with two out. Larry Stahl, batting for Cannizzaro, then drew a walk to bring Ed Spiezio to the plate representing the go-ahead run. Jim Brewer relieved Singer and fanned Spiezio to seal the Dodgers’ 5-3 victory in front of nearly 18,000 fans.

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