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Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Sandy Koufax pitched another shutout. Sixty years ago this week, the 1963 version of the Dodgers left-hander was rounding into his final form.
By blanking the Mets on Friday in New York, Koufax pitched his ninth shutout of the season, adding to his Dodgers record for a season, and the most shutouts by a major league pitcher since Senators right-hander Bob Porterfield in 1953.
Friday was also Koufax’s third shutout in a row, with his 27 consecutive scoreless innings setting a new franchise record. To give you an idea of how good Koufax has been of late, he shared the previous high mark with 26 straight scoreless frames, set less than a month ago. Don Drysdale also shared the previous Dodgers record, with 26 consecutive scoreless innings from September 1-16, 1960.
Koufax struck out 13 in his latest shutout, and leads the majors with 15 wins, 163 strikeouts, 13 complete games, and a 1.63 ERA.
“I have no figure dancing in my head except 20,” Koufax told Joe Reichler of the Associated Press. “When you win 20 games, you’re a top pitcher. Anything after that is so much gravy. All I’m trying to do is win.”
Batter of the week
Wally Moon homered and tripled in Saturday’s rout of the Mets, driving in three runs.
Honorable mention goes to catcher John Roseboro, who homered for the only run on Wednesday against the Mets while hitting .400 and shepherding a pitching staff that allowed seven runs in five games.
Pitcher of the week
Johnny Podres takes this one on volume, the only Dodgers starter to pitch twice during the five-game week. He won both starts, including a shutout on Wednesday in New York and another complete-game Sunday (see below for more on that six-inning effort). Podres struck out 14 batters in 15 innings.
Week 14 results
5-0 record
25 runs scored (5.00 per game)
7 runs allowed (1.40 per game)
.911 pythagorean win percentage
Year to date
55-33-1 record
346 runs scored (3.89 per game)
290 runs allowed (3.26 per game)
.580 pythagorean win percentage (51-37)
Kicking the can
On Sunday the Dodgers ran their win streak to seven games, with a little help from mother nature. On a wet and muddy field, shortstop Ruben Amaro couldn’t get a handle on a two-out grounder from Ken McMullen. Instead of ending the inning, the go-ahead run came home, then in the extended inning Willie Davis singled home another. The field was deemed unplayable after six innings, giving the Dodgers a 3-2 win.
Not only did the game get shortened, but the scheduled second game of Sunday’s doubleheader was postponed. That game itself was a makeup from a Philadelphia rainout on May 1. Now, that extra game when the Dodgers return in September.
Paying the price
Dodgers pitching coach and first base coach Joe Becker got ejected for arguing a double play, claiming that Mets first baseman Tim Harkness was pulled off the bag receiving the throw. Becker was suspended three games for bumping umpire Lee Weyer and, per the Associated Press, fined a whopping total of $75. Greg Mulleavy is coaching first base in Becker’s absence.
Game results
- Tuesday, July 9: All-Star Game — NL 5, AL 3
- Wednesday, July 10: Dodgers 1, Mets 0
- Thursday, July 11: Dodgers 4, Mets 3
- Friday, July 12: Dodgers 6, Mets 0
- Saturday, July 13: Dodgers 11, Mets 2
- Sunday, July 14: Dodgers 3, Phillies 2 (6 innings)
1963 Week 14 batting
| Player | AB | R | H | 2B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | AB | R | H | 2B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Moon | 13 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 0.308 | 0.400 | 0.692 | 1.092 |
| Roseboro | 15 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0.400 | 0.400 | 0.667 | 1.067 |
| Fairly | 16 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 0.313 | 0.421 | 0.563 | 0.984 |
| T.Davis | 19 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 0.368 | 0.429 | 0.421 | 0.850 |
| Wills | 16 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 0.250 | 0.400 | 0.375 | 0.775 |
| W.Davis | 13 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 0.308 | 0.357 | 0.385 | 0.742 |
| Gilliam | 15 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 0.267 | 0.333 | 0.267 | 0.600 |
| McMullen | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0.059 | 0.056 | 0.059 | 0.114 |
| Starters | 124 | 21 | 35 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 1 | 13 | 141 | 0.282 | 0.350 | 0.419 | 0.769 |
| Oliver | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.500 | 0.667 | 2.000 | 2.667 |
| Camilli | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0.333 | 0.500 | 1.333 | 1.833 |
| Skowron | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0.333 | 0.500 | 0.667 | 1.167 |
| Howard | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.200 | 0.200 | 0.400 | 0.600 |
| Walls | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Tracewski | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bench | 16 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 0.250 | 0.368 | 0.750 | 1.118 |
| Pitchers | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 0.067 | 0.118 | 0.067 | 0.184 |
| Offense | 155 | 25 | 40 | 6 | 5 | 22 | 1 | 17 | 177 | 0.258 | 0.330 | 0.419 | 0.749 |
1963 Week 14 pitching
| Pitcher | G | Record | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | WHIP | FIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | G | Record | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | WHIP | FIP |
| Koufax | 1 | 1-0 | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 0.00 | 0.444 | 0.07 |
| Podres | 2 | 2-0 | 15.0 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 1.20 | 0.933 | 3.10 |
| Miller | 1 | 1-0 | 9.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2.00 | 0.778 | 3.96 |
| Drysdale | 1 | 1-0 | 7.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3.86 | 1.286 | 5.20 |
| Starters | 5 | 5-0 | 40.0 | 25 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 36 | 1.58 | 0.850 | 2.98 |
| Perranoski | 1 | 0-0 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | 1.000 | 0.63 |
| Bullpen | 1 | 0-0 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | 1.000 | 0.63 |
| Totals | 6 | 5-0 | 42.0 | 27 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 38 | 1.50 | 0.857 | 2.87 |
Previous 1963 reviews: Snider to Mets | Nate Oliver | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | All-Star Game
The week ahead
The Dodgers run the Danny Murtaugh gauntlet in a busy, nine-game week through Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee. They have doubleheaders on Tuesday against the Phillies and Sunday against the Braves to finish off the road trip.
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