July 20, 1934: Tex Carleton Mows Down The Braves In Boston

On July 20, 1934, the Cardinals sailed to a 5-1 win over the Braves in Boston behind a brilliant pitching performance by Tex Carleton. The Cardinals hurler mowed down the first 20 men he faced before giving up a long ball to Wally Berger in the 7th. The shot broke up his no no, but it hardly rattled him as he sat down the next 7 men to pick up the one hit winner. The Cardinals offense was sparked by Ripper Collins, he went 2 for 4 with three ribbies in the contest. Carleton won 16 games for the Cardinals during the 1934 Championship season.

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BSN/BSN193407200.shtml

July 19, 1958: Boyer's Tenth Inning Shot Wins It For The Cardinals

On July 19, 1958, Ken Boyer put the Cardinals in the win column after he led the tenth inning off with a home run that led to a 1-0 Redbird victory in Cincinnati.  The game was a true pitching duel, the Cardinals sent Larry Jackson to the mound while the Reds countered with Alex Kellner. Kellner was making his first start for the Reds, he was picked up off the scrap heap in late June after being put on waivers by the Kansas City A's. While it was impressive, his starting debut was spoiled when he served up the pitch to Boyer to lead off the tenth, as the ball sailed over left field wall I can just picture the Reds fans getting up and heading to their cars as they knew Boyer had just driven a nail in the coffin. Larry Jackson finished off a good days work in the bottom of the tenth, he gave up a leadoff single then made quick work of the Redlegs to lockdown the Cardinals. W. Boyer led the Cardinals with 23 home runs in 1958, that one in Cincy was a great one as it put a stop to a 7 game skid.

 

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN195807190.shtml 

I have a friend that is writing a book dedicated to the life of Ken Boyer, check out his Facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/kenboyer14 

July 18, 1964: The Cardinals Put The Mets Away With an 11 Run Eighth

On July 18, 1964, the wheels fell off the bus for the New York Mets in the bottom of the eighth at Busch Stadium, they came into the frame up 6-4, then four errors and three consecutive home runs led to 11 runs for the Cardinals as they cruised to a 15-7 win over the lowly Mets. Ken Boyer, Bill White, and Tim McCarver provided the power in the inning with the back-to-back-to-back home runs, Boyer's long ball was a grand salami.

Here;s the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN196407180.shtml

July 17, 1924: Jesse Haines No Hits The Braves In St. Louis

On July 17, 1924, in a 5-0 win over the Boston Braves at Sportsman's Park, Jesse Haines fired just the second no hitter in the history of the Cardinals organization. Ted Breitenstein was the first to achieve the feat in 1891, one year before the team joined the National League, and before they were even called the Cardinals so Haines has the distinction of being the first Cardinal to toss a no no. A crowd of more than 13,000 watched Haines set down batter after batter, he walked 3 men and he struck out 5 as he frustrated the club from Boston. In the ninth inning Haines retired Gus Felix with a fly out to right fielder Jack Smith, then set Bill Cunningham down with a pop up to the shortstop Jimmy Cooney, before joining the no no club when Casey Stengel grounded out to Rogers Hornsby at second. After making one appearance for the Reds in 1918, Haines found a place in Cardinal Nation in 1920, he spent the next 18 years in St. Louis as he forged a Hall of Fame career. The guy that everyone called Pop won 210 games as a Cardinal, he is second on the all time list for wins by a Cardinals pitcher behind Bob Gibson's 251. He won 20 or more games, three times and was a member of  the 1926, 1931, and 1934 World Championship teams. The knuckleballer found his way into Cooperstown in 1970, 8 years before he passed away.

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN192407170.shtml

July 16, 1963: Shantz Dominates In Relief

On July 16, 1963, Bobby Shantz struck out 8 of the 11 batters he faced in relief as the Cardinals took down the Reds 5-4 in 10 innings at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The lefty was called into the game in the bottom of the seventh after starter Lew Burdette gave up two runs to knot the game up at four all. The reliever absolutely dominated the Reds hitters as he struck out the first four men he saw. As the pitching dominance by Shantz continued, the Cardinals offense was held at bay until Bill White led the tenth off with a double, then was moved to third on a Charlie James single. After a flyout by Ken Boyer, Tim McCarver squeezed White in with a bunt single to give the Redbirds the lead. Shantz came in the bottom of the tenth and struck Pete Rose out to start the inning, after giving up a single he struck Vada Pinson out then finished the game off with a ground ball out by Frank Robinson to secure the Redbird W.

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN196307160.shtml

You can read the story from the Associated Press here: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EJlPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=L1IDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4821%2C3666020

July 15, 1967: The Cardinals Lose Their Ace

On July 15, 1967, a Roberto Clemente line drive broke Bob Gibson's leg in the fourth inning of a 6-4 loss to the Pirates at Busch. Somehow Gibby stayed in the game and pitched to three more batters before falling to the ground, when you hear Gibson called a true warrior it's no bullshit. Gibson was 10-6 at the time of the injury that would keep him sidelined until September 7th. He came back strong and finished the season with a 13-7 record, then pitched 3 complete games in the World Series which earned him MVP honors in the Fall Classic as he led the club to their 7th World Championship. Nelson Briles took over Gibson's spot in the rotation following the injury. Before Gibson was hurt Briles was just a long man that didn't have a true role in the pen, his career record was just 12-23 and it's safe to say that expectations were moderately optimistic at best. Briles not only filled the spot in the rotation, he won his last 9 regular season decisions then extended his winning streak to 10 as he pitched the team to victory in the third game of the World Series. While hopes of a pennant might have been dashed on that day in mid July, the team got the job done until their ace returned. Gibson picked up 3 more wins and only took one loss as the team finished 10 1/2 games ahead of the San Francisco Giants to take the National League Flag. While Briles was a kid who couldn't find his role at the beginning of the '67 season, he became a mainstay in the rotation over the next few years. He won his first four starts in '68 which led to 275 days between losses for the young hurler. The injury to Gibson had no lingering effects, in '68 the future Hall of Famer won 22 games, pitched 28 complete games and had 13 shutouts on his way to breaking a major league record with an earned run average of 1.12, it has not been matched by any pitcher with at least 300 innings pitched in a season. Bob Gibson was simply a badass.

July 14, 1964: Skinner comes through in a pinch

On July 14, 1964, the Cardinals found themselves trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-2 after 7 innings before the team rallied with two runs in the eighth, then four more in the bottom of the ninth giving the team an 8-7 comeback victory. With the team down by one with two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth Johnny Keane sent Bob Skinner to the dish to pinch hit for Julian Javier, it turned out to be a great call by the Cardinals skipper as Skinner came through with a two rbi single that capped off the 4 run ninth and secured the fifth victory in a row for the Cards. Skinner spent the last 3 years of his career with the Cardinals, primarily a pinch hitter he delivered two hits off the bench in the '64 World Series.

Read the AP story here: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fkkNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gmwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5792%2C1940418

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN196407140.shtml