On August 13, 1977, right fielder Mike Anderson came through with a bases loaded single in the bottom of the tenth to beat the Montreal Expos 1-0 in front of more than 34,000 fans at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.John Urrea got the start for the Redbirds, while Wayne Twitchell got the call for the Expos. Urrea worked seven innings, struck out six, walked one, and allowed just four hits. He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh, in hopes of sparking the offense, but that did not come to fruition. The man who took the ball for the Birds, Butch Metzger picked up right where Urrea left off, pitching three near perfect innings, allowing just one hit, as he set the table for the walk off win. Twitchell pitched through the ninth. He was lifted in the tenth for a pinch hitter, after allowing just five hits, and striking out four.
Don Stanhouse took the ball for the Expos in the tenth, and quickly got into trouble when Roger Freed was sent into pinch hit for Metzger. Freed ripped a single, was lifted for a pinch runner, then Lou Brock came up with a single that put a man at first and third. The Expos skipper Dick Williams then called for Garry Templeton to be put on intentionally, to set up the double play. The move backfired, when the man who hit just .221 that season ripped one into center to win it. The game is a game full of unlikely heroes, and on that day Mike Anderson played the role quite well. Anderson spent just two seasons with the Redbirds, with the '77 campaign being his last. During that time he hit .261 and knocked in 29 runs. The run he knocked in that day was one to remember and today we do exactly that.
This was also the day a friend of mine was born, which is why I picked the date. With that said, Merry Birthmas to Chris Petit. You started off with a winner.
Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN197708130.shtml
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