RHODEN BLANKS CARDS ON 2 HITS
Garvey, Ferguson Drive Home Only Runs in 1st
ST. LOUIS, May 12 (AP) - For the second straight day a Dodgers starter blanked
the Cardinals. Rick Rhoden followed Don Sutton's strong effort with a
two-hit shutout, pacing Los Angeles to a 2-0 victory over St. Louis at Bush
Stadium. Sutton whitewashed the Cardinals on five hits by the same score
the previous day. Steve Garvey and Joe Ferguson each drove home a run in
the opening inning, accounting for all of the game's scoring in support of
Rhoden.
Facing Cardinals starter Bob Forsch, Bill Buckner doubled with one out in the
top of the first. Dusty Baker grounded to third for the second out of the
frame but Garvey lined a single to right, scoring Buckner and Ron Cey followed
with a single to left-center, advancing Garvey to third. Ferguson then
slashed a base hit to right-center, plating Garvey to give the Dodgers a 2-0
advantage.
Forsch settled down after the first inning barrage, allowing only one more hit
before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the sixth inning. In fact, after
the first, Los Angeles managed only two hits--both of them singles--off Forsch
and relievers Danny Frisella and Mike Proly for the duration of the contest, and
never advanced another baserunner past second.
The problem, in a nutshell, was Rhoden, who simply stifled the St. Louis
bats. Rhoden retired the first nine batters he faced. Then, in the
bottom of the fourth, the Cardinals mounted their one and only scoring threat of
the game. Jerry Mumprhey led off with a single, but was immediately erased
when Vic Harris rolled into an around the horn double play. But Lou Brock
dropped a single into left field and then stole his league leading 12th base of
the year. With first base open and the dangerous Ted Simmons at the plate,
Rhoden pitched carefully, fell behind the Cardinals catcher, and eventually
issued a free pass, putting runners on first and second. He then retired
Willie Crawford on a routine grounder to Garvey at first.
Three men had reached base in the inning and they were the only baserunners St.
Louis would manage in the entire game. Rhoden went on to retire the final
16 hitters he faced to close out the contest.
The Dodgers have now posted four shutouts this year. All four have been of
the complete game variety.
5/12/1976, LA 76-StL76, Busch Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1976 Dodgers 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 0 4 1 1976 Cardinals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 2 Dodgers AB R H BI AVG Cardinals AB R H BI AVG Russell ss 4 0 0 0 .250 Mumphrey cf 4 0 1 0 .167 Buckner lf 4 1 2 0 .352 Harris 2b 3 0 0 0 .185 Baker,D cf 4 0 0 0 .158 Melendez ph 1 0 0 0 .217 Garvey 1b 4 1 1 1 .369 Brock lf 3 0 1 0 .326 Cey 3b 4 0 2 0 .275 Simmons c 2 0 0 0 .340 Ferguson rf 3 0 1 1 .258 Crawford,W rf 3 0 0 0 .243 Yeager c 2 0 0 0 .241 Hernandez,K 1b 3 0 0 0 .308 Auerbach 2b 3 0 0 0 .045 Cruz,Hec 3b 3 0 0 0 .256 Rhoden p 3 0 0 0 .143 Kessinger ss 3 0 0 0 .245 31 2 6 2 Forsch,B p 1 0 0 0 .133 Fairly ph 1 0 0 0 .154 Frisella p 0 0 0 0 .000 Proly p 0 0 0 0 .000 Smith,R ph 1 0 0 0 .169 28 0 2 0 Dodgers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Rhoden W 3-1 9.0 2 0 0 1 6 102 65 2.09 9.0 2 0 0 1 6 102 65 Cardinals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Forsch,B L 2-2 6.0 5 2 2 2 1 82 48 3.64 Frisella 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 18 13 2.16 Proly 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 10 8 2.45 9.0 6 2 2 2 1 110 69 StL: Fairly batted for Forsch,B in the 6th Smith,R batted for Proly in the 9th Melendez batted for Harris in the 9th 2B-Buckner(1). RBI-Garvey(10), Ferguson(9). SB-Brock(12). K-Garvey, Mumphrey, Harris, Cruz,Hec 2, Kessinger 2. BB-Ferguson, Yeager, Simmons. GWRBI: Garvey Temperature: 66, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: in from right at 9 MPH. Attendance: 13,037 Game Time: 1:48