Today in 1969 - San Diego Padres vs Montreal Expos

August 21, 1969 – Today in 1969, the San Diego Padres took on the Montreal Expos at Parc Jarry in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

It was a defensive struggle throughout the game and went to the 10^th inning still 0-0.  Both starting pitchers pitched in the 10^th. 

San Diego was up first.  Cito Gaston hit an infield single.  Chris Cannizzaro bunted and advanced Gaston to second.  There was one out.  Then pitcher Jerry Robertson walked Tommy Dean.  Now there were men on first and second.

Robertson faced his counterpart, Padres starting pitcher Joe Niekro.  He threw a wild pitch and both runners advanced a base.  With men on second and third, Niekro hit a sacrifice fly to Mack Jones in left field and Gaston scored.  The score was now 1-0.  Jose Arcia popped out to second baseman Gary Sutherland and the inning was over.

First up for Montreal was Bob Bailey.  Niekro struck him out looking.  Kevin Collins pinch hit for Jerry Robertson who hit a grounder to Niekro and was thrown out at first.  Montreal’s last chance was Mack Jones, who caught Niekro’s sacrifice fly.  Jones hit a grounder to second and was thrown out at first.  Game over.  The Padres beat the Expos 1-0.

Joe Niekro went to 7-11 with the win.  He struck out five and batted 1-3 and hit the game winning RBI.  Jerry Robertson went to 4-10 with the loss.  He struck out 7 and batted 0-3.

The San Diego Padres improved to 37-86 and were 31 games behind the NL West leading Cincinnati Reds.  They remained in last place in the division.  The Montreal Expos fell to 39-85 and were 38 games behind the NL East leading Chicago Cubs.  Like the Padres, the Expos were last in the division.

Notables

• This was Preston Gomez’s first year managing the Padres.  He would coach the team until 1974.
  
• This was also Gene Mauch’s first year managing the Expos. He would coach the team until 1975.  Mauch later managed the California Angels to the 1986 AL West Division Championship. 
  
• Cito Gaston would go on to manage the Toronto Blue Jays from 1989-97 and lead the team to World Series victories in 1992 and 1993.

Game stats and other data can be found on Baseball-Reference.com at 1969 San Diego Padres vs Montreal Expos