CARDS TIP BRAVES IN 17-INNING MARATHON
16 Scoreless Innings
ST. LOUIS, June 16 (AP) - After 16 consecutive innings of shutout baseball the
Atlanta Braves took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 17th only to yield a pair of
runs to St. Louis in the bottom of the frame as the Cardinals pulled out a 2-1
victory at Busch Stadium. The 17-inning affair is tied with three other
contests for longest game in the major leagues this season.
John Denny tossed ten shutout innings for St. Louis and Al Hrabosky and Buddy
Solomon added five more shutout frames. John Curtis held the Braves off the
scoreboard in the 16th but finally yielded the game's first run in the 17th.
Roger Moret of Atlanta tossed seven scoreless innings of two-hit baseball and
Bruce dal Canton, Max Leon, Mike Beard and Elias Sosa combined to shut the
Cardinals out for nine more frames.
Scoring opportunities were few and far between. Neither team advanced a
runner past second base until a wild pitch moved Denny to third with two outs in
the bottom of the ninth. Bake McBride grounded out to end the would-be
threat.
The Braves first moved a runner past second in the 12th inning. Cito
Gaston led off with a single and advanced to second with two outs on a ground
ball. Earl Williams then singled to left, but the ball was so sharply hit
that Gaston held at third. Darrel Chaney then filed out to end the frame.
Atlanta had the best scoring opportunity of the game to that point in the
14th. Gaston reached on a lead-off infield single and moved to second when
Jim Wynn drew a one-out walk. Williams dropped another base hit into
shallow left to fill the bases with one out. But with the St. Louis
infield drawn in, Chaney rolled to second base and Lee Richard gunned the ball
to the plate for a force out. The inning came to an end when Rod Gilbreath
popped out.
The stalemate was finally broken in the 17th. Rowland Office doubled with
one out and pinch hitter Vic Correll dropped a single into right, advancing
Office to third. Gaston then doubled off the left field wall, scoring
Office with the game's first run and chasing Correll to third. With the
infield again drawn in, Willie Montanez grounded to short and Don Kessinger cut
down Correll at the plate. And then, in a key play, McBride made a diving
catch of Wynn's sinking liner to center, keeping the deficit at a single run.
The Braves were out of rested pitchers and Correll had pinch hit for Sosa in the
top of the inning so Andy Messersmith, who had tossed a shutout just two days
earlier, came on for Atlanta to try to close out the game. Pinch hitter
Lou Brock flied out but Willie Crawford drew a walk. Hector Cruz then
grounded into a fielder's choice, forcing Crawford at second for out number
two. But then Messersmith, who was obviously fatigued, walked pinch hitter
Ron Fairly and Richard to fill the bases. And then, on four pitches, he
walked Jerry Mumphrey to force in the tying run. Messersmith was replaced
by Carl Morton, also working on short rest, but Kessinger lined a 1-1 pitch into
left field for the game-winning hit, scoring Fairly with the winning run to
complete the improbable comeback.
6/16/1976, Atl76-StL76, Busch Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1976 Braves 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1976 Cardinals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 14 15 16 17 R H E LOB DP 1976 Braves 0 0 0 0 1 1 16 3 16 2 1976 Cardinals 0 0 0 0 2 2 7 1 13 4 Braves AB R H BI AVG Cardinals AB R H BI AVG Office cf 8 1 2 0 .348 Mumphrey lf 6 0 0 1 .254 Lacy 2b 6 0 2 0 .255 Kessinger ss 8 0 3 1 .263 Beard p 0 0 0 0 .000 McBride cf 5 0 0 0 .368 Robinson,C ph 1 0 0 0 .222 Simmons 1b 7 0 0 0 .315 Sosa,E p 0 0 0 0 .000 Ferguson c 6 0 1 0 .228 Correll ph 1 0 1 0 .265 Brock ph 1 0 0 0 .325 Messersmith p 0 0 0 0 .258 Anderson rf 2 0 0 0 .259 Morton,C p 0 0 0 0 .074 Crawford,W ph 4 0 1 0 .247 May,D lf 3 0 0 0 .222 Cruz,Hec 3b 6 1 0 0 .187 Gaston ph 3 0 3 1 .600 Tyson 2b 4 0 1 0 .344 Montanez 1b 8 0 2 0 .298 Hrabosky p 0 0 0 0 .000 Henderson,K rf 3 0 1 0 .247 Harris ph 1 0 0 0 .199 Wynn ph 3 0 0 0 .197 Solomon p 0 0 0 0 .000 Williams,E c 7 0 2 0 .195 Hernandez,K ph 1 0 0 0 .289 Chaney ss 7 0 3 0 .280 Curtis p 0 0 0 0 .056 Royster 3b 3 0 0 0 .286 Fairly ph 0 1 0 0 .159 Leon p 0 0 0 0 .000 Denny p 3 0 1 0 .115 Gilbreath ph 3 0 0 0 .230 Richard,L 2b 3 0 0 0 .111 Moret p 2 0 0 0 .200 57 2 7 2 Paciorek ph 1 0 0 0 .321 Dal Canton p 0 0 0 0 1.000 Belloir 3b 4 0 0 0 .000 63 1 16 1 Braves INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Moret 7.0 2 0 0 0 3 79 57 3.15 Dal Canton 2.2 2 0 0 1 1 32 18 3.20 Leon 2.1 1 0 0 0 1 31 23 2.25 Beard 2.0 1 0 0 1 1 32 17 0.00 Sosa,E 2.0 0 0 0 1 2 26 18 4.71 Messersmith BS 1, L 6-6 0.2 0 2 2 4 0 30 10 3.58 Morton,C 0.0 1 0 0 0 0 3 2 4.26 16.2 7 2 2 7 8 233 145 Cardinals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Denny 10.0 7 0 0 2 2 126 80 3.29 Hrabosky 3.0 2 0 0 0 2 37 29 3.18 Solomon 2.0 3 0 0 2 0 39 18 8.64 Curtis W 3-5 2.0 4 1 1 0 1 28 17 3.88 17.0 16 1 1 4 5 230 144 Atl: Paciorek batted for Moret in the 8th Belloir inserted at 3b in the 10th Gaston batted for May,D in the 12th Wynn batted for Henderson,K in the 12th Gaston moved to rf in the 12th Wynn moved to lf in the 12th Gilbreath batted for Leon in the 13th Gilbreath moved to 2b in the 13th Robinson,C batted for Beard in the 15th Correll batted for Sosa,E in the 17th StL: Crawford,W batted for Anderson in the 8th Crawford,W moved to rf in the 9th Richard,L inserted at 2b in the 11th Harris batted for Hrabosky in the 13th Hernandez,K batted for Solomon in the 15th Brock batted for Ferguson in the 17th Fairly batted for Curtis in the 17th E-Montanez, Chaney, Belloir, Cruz,Hec. 2B-Office(14), Chaney(11), Gaston(2). RBI-Gaston(8), Mumphrey(4), Kessinger(25). K-Office, Montanez, Williams,E 2, Belloir, Mumphrey, Ferguson, Anderson, Cruz,Hec 2, Denny 2, Hernandez,K. BB-May,D, Henderson,K, Gaston, Wynn, Mumphrey, McBride 2, Cruz,Hec, Crawford,W, Richard,L, Fairly. SH-Royster, Mumphrey. WP-Dal Canton. GWRBI: Kessinger Temperature: 75, Sky: clear, Wind: in from center at 8 MPH. Attendance: 11,304 Game Time: 4:35