Today in 1985 - St. Louis Cardinals vs San Francisco Giants

Today in 1985, the St. Louis Cardinals invaded Candlestick Park to take on the San Francisco Giants.  Bob Forsch of the Cardinals faced Jim Gott of the Giants, though neither would finish the game.

   St. Louis got the scoring started in the first inning when Tom Herr ground out to second and got in Lonnie Smith.  San Francisco tied the game on a leadoff home run by Gott in the bottom of the third.

   In the fourth, the Cardinals took the lead again when Terry Pendleton hit a ground out to second and Jack Clark scored.  Gott hit his second HR of the day in the bottom of the day and tied the score 2-2.

  The Giants took the lead for the first time in the game, when Bob Brenly hit a solo HR, but they weren't done.  Jeff Lahti relieved Forsch and Dan Gladden hit in David Green.  San Francisco led 4-2.

   However, St. Louis wasn't ready to go quietly into the night.  In the top of the eighth, Mark Davis relieved Gott when he walked Smith.  Davis faced Clark two batters later, who hit in Smith.  In the top of the ninth, the Wizard of Oz, Ozzie Smith got his only hit of the game on a solo HR on Davis, tying the game.  The Cards held in the bottom of the ninth and the game went to extra innings.

  San Francisco made the Cards go three up and three down in the top of the tenth.  In the bottom of the inning, relief pitcher Neil Allen took the mound.  He walked Chili Davis, who got on second on a wild pitch to Chris Brown.  Brown flied out and Allen intentionally walked Brenly, setting up a double play.  However, it was not to be, because Green hit a single, scoring Davis.

   The San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinal 5-4.  Reliever Scott Garrelts got the win, going to 2-1.  However, his teammate Mark Davis got a blown save.  Allen was charged with the loss, falling to 1-3. Forsch struck out four batters, while Gott struck out five.  St. Louis fell to 14-16, 4th in the NL East.  San Francisco improved to 12-18, 5th in the NL West.


Trivia

• There were 2 Hall of Famers who played or managed in this game, both with the Cardinals: Ozzie Smith and manager Whitey Herzog.
• This was Jim Davenport's only season with the Giants.  He only coached for 144 games, going 56-88.  He was replaced by Roger Craig, who led the Giants to the 1989 NL Pennant.
• This was Herzog's sixth season with the Cardinals.  They went on to win 101 games that season and win the NL Pennant, losing to the Kansas City Royals in the World Series in seven games.
• Herzog also managed the Royals (1975-79), California Angels (part of 1974), and Texas Rangers (part of 1973).
• Davenport played his entire career with the Giants from 1958-70.
• Herzog played from 1956-63 for the Washington Senators, Kansas City A's, Baltimore Orioles, and Detroit Tigers.  Although the New York Yankees signed him in 1953, he missed the 1953-54 seasons serving in the military.
• Bob Brenly went on to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2001-04, leading the team to a World Series title in 2001.
• Pitcher Jim Gott hit his first two career homeruns in this game. It was the only time he ever hit more than one homerun in a game.  He would hit three more career homers after this game.

Game stats can be found at Baseball-Reference.com on the box score page at St. Louis Cardinals vs San Francisco Giants - May 12, 1985.