[jksander]

May 27, 1965: Heading into a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals (18-23) we’re now within a half a game of the Cubs in eighth place, trailing them by just half a game. Our record stands at 17-26, and a series win here could help push us up several spots in the NL standings. We’ve won six of our last ten games, and with six games left in this homestand we’re really looking to find ways to keep our win streak alive.

Ken Johnson (5-2, 3.44 ERA, 70.2 IP, 39 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) got the start against St. Louis’ Larry Jaster (1-2, 3.04 ERA, 47.1 IP, 27 K’s, 0.97 WHIP). Johnson didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning, but that was when the Cardinals pounced, getting on the board with an RBI double by Bill White on just their second hit of the game. In the bottom of the seventh, still trailing 1-0, Johnson led off with a walk but our next three batters all batted out to various outfielders and we remained unable to find ways to manufacture a scoring opportunity. In the bottom of the ninth Wynn got on board with just our fourth hit of the game, and Bond batted him over to third with a single on one out. Johnny Weekly came in to pinch hit for Dave Adlesh, and they walked him to load the bases. And it was at that moment we took control of our destiny -- Bob Lillis hit a double into the outfield, driving in two runs to jump us into the lead, sending us into the top of the ninth with Ken Johnson staying out to complete his game! He pitched around a hit to get the three outs we needed, and we held on to win this one 2-1!

Johnson pitched a complete-game three hitter tonight, striking out four and allowing just one earned run as he improved to 6-2 with a 3.16 ERA! We outhit the Cardinals 6-3, led by 34-year-old backup shortstop Bob Lillis who hit three times and batted in both runs in only his third game of the season. Aspromonte walked once and hit once to keep his streak alive, though he did not score. Wynn and Bond each hit once and scored once, while Morgan had to settle for three walks and being stranded each time.

May 28, 1965: Turk Farrell (3-4, 3.07 ERA, 55.2 IP, 41 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) started against Dick Hughes (5-1, 1.12 ERA, 72.0 IP, 45 K’s, 0.75 WHIP), and on the first pitch of the night we wound up allowing a baserunner thanks to a throwing error by Morgan trying to get the ball to first. That runner made it over to third after a sac-bunt and a stolen base, coming home to score an unearned run off a Bill White single. But we tied it up quickly in the bottom of the first thanks to a Joe Morgan RBI double, and Walt Bond hit a three run homer to blast us into the lead! That’s his third this year. The Cards got a run in the top of the second, thanks to an RBI double by Bob Uecker, but we stranded him at third to get out of the inning still leading by a pair. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, Farrell laid down a perfect squeeze bunt, Staub using his explosive speed to beat out the play at home for a run,the bases staying loaded! Bob Lillis hit a sac-fly to center, driving in another, and we went into the top of the seventh leading 6-2! Wynn hit a solo homer into the left field seats to make it a five-run lead in the bottom of the seventh, his fourth homer this year. The Cards got a run back in the eighth but left a pair stranded as their rally fizzled, and in the bottom of the eighth Nellie Fox hit a solo homer as a pinch-hitter for Farrell, putting the lead back up to five runs! Jim Owens came out and shut them down in the top of the ninth and we won our fourth game in a row, this time by an 8-3 margin!

Turk Farrell is now 4-4 with a 2.97 ERA, thanks to an eight inning effort with eight hits, two strikeouts and three runs scored, two earned. Owens then came in and made sure it stayed that way, notching a strikeout against just one hit in the final frame. We outhit the Cardinals 10-9, led by Bond with a hit, a walk, two runs and three RBIs. Bob Lillis continues to hit well also, picking up two hits with a run and an RBI, bringing his average up to .462 through his first 13 plate appearances.

May 29, 1965: Bob Bruce (4-3, 3.53 ERA, 63.2 IP, 32 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) got the start against Bob Gibson (2-5, 4.39 ERA, 65.2 IP, 47 K’s, 1.25 WHIP), and the word is starting to get out about our recent performance improvements -- 12,500 fans showed up this afternoon, our strongest single-game attendance since opening day! The Cardinals took an early 1-0 lead, Tim McCarver hitting a solo homer in the top of the second, and Bruce was uncharacteristically off his game early, allowing six hits in the first three innings while Gibson only allowed a pair. But he settled down and this one turned into a duel, and in the bottom of the sixth, Nellie Fox hit a single up the gap, driving in the tying run with a double! Johnny Weekly pinch-hit for Bruce in the bottom of the seventh, hitting a clean single into left, and Gaines hit a two-run homer out of right field, putting us up 3-1! Don Larsen came out and laid an egg in the top of the eighth, giving up three hits in a row including an RBI double to McCarver, and Woodeshick came in to clean up his mess ... no outs, two in scoring position. He got two quick outs on soft infield contact and then struck out Carl Warwick swinging, getting us out of the inning with a one-run lead still intact -- what a masterful performance under pressure! He came back out in the top of the ninth and got us through it with only a single baserunner as we closed out our fifth win in a row, this time a 3-2 squeaker that completed the series sweep!

Bob Bruce improved to 5-3 with a 3.31 ERA, thanks to a nine hit effort in seven innings, striking out five and allowing just one earned run. Larsen allowed a pair of hits, a walk and an earned run without securing even one out, but Woodeshick threw a two-inning save with one hit and a pair of strikeouts, his ninth save of the season, improving his ERA to 3.52 through 15.1 innings! The Cardinals outhit us 12-7 but Gibson walked us four times and Gaines got us where we needed to go with two hits, a walk, a run scored and two more batted in.

Our win streak has us holding a 20-26 record and we’re in seventh place in the NL standings, half a game behind the Cubs in sixth. The Milwaukee Braves (23-18, 6 GB) are coming into Houston ranked fourth in the league, but we only trail them by five and a half games. More important, we’re really starting to gel as a team, and if we can keep playing like this we’re going to catch a lot of teams off their guard.