'74 Dodgers take 2 of 3 from '69 Amazin's

Dodger Stadium

GAME 1

Seaver vs John

74-LAD 5, 69-NYM 0

Tommy John and Tom Seaver locked up in a classic pitcher's duel that got ugly late thanks to some uncharacteristic fielding gaffes by the Amazin's.  LA's only run off "the Franchise" came in the bottom of the 2nd when Willie Crawford led off with a triple and scored on a Ron Cey Sac Fly.  The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the 8th when Ron Taylor walked the house and Boswell and McGraw booted balls.  Mike Marshall pitched the final 2 innings in relief of John to get his second save.

GAME 2

Koosman vs Sutton

74-LAD 3, 69-NYM 2 (10 inn)

After giving up a lead off homer to Tommie Agee, Don Sutton protected a 2-1 lead for 8 innings until the Amazin's tied it up in the top of the 8th on a Rod Gaspar 2 out single that scored Jerry Grote.  In the bottom of the 10th Bill Buckner reached base on a throwing error by third baseman Ed Charles.  After Steve Garvey flew out to shallow right the "Toy Canon" worked out a walk to put runners on 1st and 2nd.  That set the stage for the burly Joe Ferguson who ripped a walk off single past Jones in left field to win the game for LA.

GAME 3

McAndrew vs Rau

69-NYM 4, 74-LAD 2

Needing some sort of spark the Amazin's hoped that 4th starter Jim McAndrew could hold LA at bay.  The dormant NY offense came alive with 3 big runs in the top of the 3rd and never looked back.  Art Shamsky's sac fly scored Cleon Jones to make it 1-0 and Jerry Grote's two out single plated Bobby Pfeil and Rocky Swoboda.  Both teams exchanged solo runs in the 5th and the Dodgers tallied one in the 7th to make the score 4-2.  Doctor Ron Taylor came aboard in the 8th to pitch 2 scoreless innings to record the save, which helped NY escape from La-La Land without getting swept.