September 5, 1969, San Diego: Padres 4, Dodgers 1 (box score)
For the second straight game, the Padres got the best of their neighbors from the north. Joe Niekro frustrated the Dodgers, scattering 10 hits but yielding just one run.
Los Angeles left two runners on base in the first inning, two more in the second, and three in the fourth. The Padres, meanwhile, got to Jim Bunning in their half of the fourth. Ollie Brown led off with a single; one out later, Nate Colbert clubbed a two-run homer to left. Cito Gaston later singled home Van Kelly to make the score 3-0.
The Dodgers scored their only run the next inning on singles by Willie Davis and Bill Sudakis. San Diego countered with its final tally in the bottom half of the fifth. With one out, Jose Arcia doubled to left. After a groundout to second advanced the runner to third, a wild pitch by reliever (and ex-Padre) Al McBean brought Arcia home to put the Padres up 4-1, which would be the final score.
Niekro hadn’t thrown a gem, but he had kept his club in the game. The Padres improved to 42-95, while Los Angeles fell to 74-61 and remained 1 1/2 games back of first place San Francisco in the National League West.
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