Everything was workin' for Gibby who allowed a leadoff single in the first, then held the Astros hitless until the eighth, when catcher Johnny Edwards got a hold of one and sent it sailing over the wall to cut the Cardinals lead to 2-1. The Birds had scored the two runs in the fourth on back-to-back singles by Jose Cardenal and Mike Shannon in the fourth, which proved to be very important, as their starter Jack Billingham was able to work around the other trouble he faced.
A former Cardinal, who was the then skipper for the Astros, Harry The Hat Walker called on Fred Gladding to take over pitching duties in the ninth. Gladding looked like he might get through the frame with no damage done, until he surrendered a one out single to Shannon, then put Dal Maxvill on first with a walk. All he had to do was get Gibson out, but that would not come on this fine day, as the man who wore the 45 laced one into right field to push Shannon across the dish to score the go ahead run.
Gibson gave himself much needed insurance, as he got into trouble in the bottom of the ninth by allowing back-to-back singles, before picking up a pair of outs with a double play ball. He then walked a man, threw a wild pitch, before picking up the last out of the ballgame. It was quite the finish for the man who had won his 14th game of the season, and was on the way to a career high in wins with 23.
Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU197008020.shtml
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