Celebrate '68: Gibby Strikes Out 13

                On June 15, 1968, it took Bob Gibson just one hour and 42 minutes to beat the Cincinnati Reds by the score of 2-0 in front of more than 35,000 fans at Busch Stadium. Facing just 31 men, Gibson struck out a season high 13, extended his scoreless innings streak to 29 innings, and allowed only four hits in the contest. It was his fourth win in a row and his third shutout in a row.

            Cincinnati’s pitcher Gary Nolan had a decent day himself. He matched Gibson’s total hits given up with just four allowed, but he only went seven in the contest. Nolan surrendered his first run in the sixth. It came after Dal Maxvill opened the inning with a single, then moved to second on a sac bunt by Gibson. The line kept moving when Lou Brock singled, which put Maxvill on third before he scored on a flyball that came off of Curt Flood’s bat.

            The second Redbird run came in the seventh with Nolan still on the mound. He struck out the first two men he faced, only to walk Mike Shannon. Moments later, Julian Javier doubled, and Shannon came into score the insurance run. Not that Bob Gibson needed insurance. He was mowing them down.

            Gibby rolled into the ninth having only given up three hits. His fourth of the day came after he retired the first man in the inning. I imagine he wiped his brow, looked into the box at Vada Pinson and went back to work. Pinson grounded out, which brought Alex Johnson to the dish. He was the last hope for the Reds. Their hope was dashed when Johnson got caught looking for what proved to be the 13^th K of the day for Gibson.

Gibson’s ERA dropped from 1.40 to 1.30 over the course of those nine innings. It would continue to fall in the weeks to come. Batters would continue to have their hopes dashed on the days that Gibson stood on the mound, as the year of the pitcher continued with him dominating one team after another.  

Check out the box score here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN196806150.shtml

Sources included: The Pittsburgh Press, The Oxnard Press Courier, The Columbian Missourian, and Baseballreference.com