July 11, 1965: Sandy Koufax pitches, hits way to 15th win as Dodgers top Pirates

Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers threw a five-hitter and collected two singles and an RBI in a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first game of a doubleheader at Forbes Field on July 11, 1965. It was Koufax’s ninth consecutive win and 15th of the season, the most in the majors.

The Dodgers entered the Sunday twin bill a half-game behind the league-leading Cincinnati Reds. The Pirates were tied for fifth with the Milwaukee Braves, 6½ games back. The games were played before 37,631, the largest crowd at Forbes Field since the 1962 season.1 “Many no doubt came to see Sandy Koufax, the premier pitcher in baseball,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette observed.2 The Los Angeles Times noted that jazz singer Cab Calloway, in Pittsburgh for a production of Porgy and Bess, was at the ballpark, rooting for the Dodgers.3

Koufax’s winning streak included a 4-1 victory over the Pirates at Dodger Stadium on June 25, one of seven consecutive complete games for the 29-year-old left-hander. The complete-game stretch had ended in his most recent outing, when Koufax left his July 7 start against the Reds with Los Angeles trailing, 5-0, in the fifth inning. The Dodgers later rallied to tie the score, making their eventual loss a no-decision for Koufax.

Left-hander Joe Gibbon was Koufax’s mound opponent on July 11. Gibbon’s season got off to a rocky start with an 0-5 record, but he had won twice in his last four decisions.

Pirates hurler Bob Friend typically would have gone face-to-face with the Dodgers ace but was pushed back to the second game. Pittsburgh manager Harry Walker explained, “Friend has been drawing the ace of the other staff lately and I thought I’d give him a shot at somebody else.”4

Gibbon sent the Dodgers down in order in the first. He struck out leadoff hitter Maury Wills, induced Jim Gilliam to ground to José Pagán5 at shortstop, and got Lou Johnson to fly to Manny Mota in center field.

The first batter to face Koufax was Pirates left fielder Bob Bailey.6 The 22-year-old Bailey pulled Koufax’s second pitch7 to deep left field for his eighth home run, and fourth of the season against the Dodgers. Koufax later admitted he had trouble controlling his curve and hung one to Bailey.8

After Mota was called out on strikes and Roberto Clemente grounded out to second baseman Jim Lefebvre, Donn Clendenon strode to the batter’s box.

Clendenon was a 6-foot-4, 209-pound, muscular first baseman. When Koufax left a fastball in Clendenon’s wheelhouse,9 the lanky right-hander made the Dodgers’ lefty pay. Like Bailey, just three batters earlier, he drove the ball deep to left field, beyond the wall and into Schenley Park. Also, like Bailey, the home run was Clendenon’s10 eighth of the campaign. It was the first time in more than two years – since Ron Santo and Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs hit back-to-back homers in June 1963 – that Koufax had allowed two home runs in an inning.

Bill Mazeroski followed with a single, but Koufax proceeded to strike out third baseman Gene Freese. After one inning the large scoreboard in left field read, Pirates 2, Dodgers 0.

The second inning saw both pitchers retire the side in order. Koufax picked up two more strikeouts, fanning catcher Ozzie Virgil and Gibbon.11

The Dodgers got a run back in the third. Catcher and number eight hitter, Jeff Torborg, tripled to right with one out.12 Koufax, batting only .186 with three RBIs, helped his own cause by singling to right field to drive in Torborg.

Gibbon then induced Wills to ground into a double play. After 2½ innings, the scoreboard read Pirates 2, Dodgers 1.

In the Pirates third, Koufax again set the Bucs down in order, striking out .340-hitting NL batting leader Clemente to end the frame. With three innings complete,13 the Pirates still clung to a one-run lead.

The top of the fourth started out promisingly for the home team. Gibbon slipped a third strike past Gilliam, who had begun the season as the Dodgers’ first base coach but returned from his brief retirement in May.14

Johnson rapped to Freese, who made a fine stop but threw errantly across the diamond to Clendenon.15 Johnson was safe on the error and moved to second on Ron Fairly’s single. After Wes Parker popped out, NL Rookie of the Year-to-be Lefebvre singled to center, driving in Johnson and knotting the score at two apiece.

Fairly took third on Lefebvre’s single, which put him in position to score the inning’s second unearned run on Virgil’s passed ball. A Willie Davis groundout ended the inning, with LA now leading, 3-2.

The Pirates loaded the bases after two outs in the bottom of the fourth with a Pagan single sandwiched around two walks. Koufax, however, fanned Gibbon to preserve the Dodgers’ lead.

Both teams went down quietly in the fifth and sixth innings. Pittsburgh put the potential tying run on second with one out in the seventh on Virgil’s single and a sacrifice by Gene Alley, batting for Gibbon. But Koufax set down Bailey and Mota to strand Virgil.

Gibbons’ mound replacement for the eighth was Al McBean. McBean, a 27-year-old right-hander, was coming off an 8-3 year in which he was retroactively credited with 21 saves.16 For his accomplishments in 1964, McBean was named The Sporting News Fireman of the Year. He had a 2.48 ERA through 34 appearances in 1965.

McBean, however, was greeted by a Koufax single to begin the eighth. Koufax had two hits in a game for only the fifth time in his career – and the third time in 1965.

The next batter, Wills, grounded into a force play, replacing Koufax at first base. Wills came into the game with a league-leading 54 stolen bases, 18 more than anyone else in the majors.17 John Kennedy, who had replaced Gilliam at third base,18 was batting as Wills took off for second.

A strong throw from Virgil to Mazeroski cut down the would-be base thief. It was Wills’ 18th time caught stealing in 1965, also a majors’ high. Forbes Field let loose its loudest cheer since the first-inning blasts by Bailey and Clendenon.19

With two out, the bases empty, and their top reliever on the mound,20 the situation looked good for the Pirates. But McBean sent Kennedy to first base on a hit batsman. When Johnson followed with a single, bringing up left-handed batting Fairly, Pirates manager Walker lifted McBean for lefty Frank Carpin.

In his first 17 appearances since getting purchased from AAA Columbus in May, Carpin had walked 12 batters in 18⅓ innings.21 Here, he walked Fairly to load the bases. The Pirates’ defense continued to flounder as Pagan booted Parker’s groundball and Kennedy scampered home, giving Koufax and the Dodgers an insurance run.

Now with a 4-2 lead, Koufax faced Clemente to begin the bottom of the eighth, and Clemente popped to Lefebvre at second. Since the at-bat was ultimately his last plate appearance of the game, Clemente’s 20-game hitting streak was snapped.22

The only Pirates baserunner the rest of the way was Freese, who reached on Kennedy’s ninth-inning error, and Koufax closed out the five-hit win. After giving up two solo home runs plus a single in the first, he yielded only two singles and no runs for the final eight innings. He struck out 10, increasing his season total to 195.23 The 10 strikeouts marked the 72nd time in his career he had fanned 10 or more batters, including 11 times so far in 1965.24

Koufax admitted after the game, “I had trouble getting loose in the first four innings. I felt sluggish but after that I felt OK.”25

Gibbon, who surrendered one earned run over seven innings, took the loss. His record fell to 2-8. The Pirates salvaged a split of the doubleheader on Mota’s 10th inning homer off Bob Miller. Carpin was credited with the win for three innings of scoreless relief.26

Koufax’s winning streak reached 11 games before he lost to the Reds on July 28. He had two more starts against the Pirates in 1965. On August 14 at Dodger Stadium, he went 10 innings and scored the game’s only run on Clemente’s error. In the first game of a September 1 doubleheader at Forbes Field, he pitched into the 11th inning before losing on Jim Pagliaroni’s walk-off RBI double.

The Dodgers went on to win the World Series in 1965,27 and Koufax received both the major league Cy Young Award and World Series MVP honors. He pitched a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs on September 9 and posted a 26-8 regular season record and a 2.04 ERA. His 382 strikeouts were the most, at the time, by a NL pitcher since the nineteenth century.28 

Acknowledgements

This article was fact-checked by Carl Riechers and copy-edited by Keith Thursby.

Photo credit: Sandy Koufax, SABR-Rucker Archive.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information, including the box score and play-by-play.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1965/B07111PIT1965.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT196507111.shtml

Notes

1 The Pirates had drawn 37,705 for their July 20, 1962, game with the San Francisco Giants.

2 Jack Hernon, “Pirates Win in 10th, 4-3, After 4-2 Loss,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 12, 1965: 28.

3 Frank Finch, “Sandy Dandy, but Dodgers in Split,” Los Angeles Times, July 12, 1965: III, 1; Carl Apone, “Calloway Returns in ‘Porgy,’” Pittsburgh Press, July 11, 1965: 5, 14.

4 Lester J. Biederman, “Pirates Fourth a Year Ago,” Pittsburgh Press, July 12, 1965: 30.

5 Gene Alley, the regular Pirates shortstop, was in a prolonged slump. In his last nine games he had three hits and six strikeouts in 35 plate appearances. Pagán, a 30-year-old veteran who the Pirates had acquired in a May 1965 trade with the San Francisco Giants, was recalled from Triple A Columbus the day before and immediately inserted into the lineup. Biederman, “Maury Wills an Artist in his Thefts,” Pittsburgh Press, July 11, 1965: 70.

6 Bailey was starting in left field because Walker periodically sat regular left fielder Willie Stargell – whose 21 homers ranked second in the majors to Willie Mays of the Giants (23) – against left-handed pitching. Stargell was also on the bench for the second game of the doubleheader against lefty Claude Osteen. He entered in the seventh inning only after the Dodgers brought in righty Bob Miller. In 1965 Stargell started only 26 of the Pirates’ 48 games against left-handers.

7 George Lederer, “One Bad Pitch Cost Loop Lead,” Long Beach Press Telegram, July 12, 1965: 25.

8 Lester J. Biederman, “Manny Mota a Real All-Star to Pirates,” Pittsburgh Press, July 12, 1965: 30. Bailey was in his third full season with the Pirates after signing a large bonus immediately following high school graduation in 1961. Although Bailey failed to live up to the hype surrounding his natural abilities, he had spectacular moments, including his at-bat against a future Dodgers’ Hall of Famer. Norm King, “Bob Bailey,” SABR Baseball Biography Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bob-bailey/, accessed December 16, 2025.

9 Biederman, “Manny Mota a Real All-Star to Pirates.”

10 At this point, Clendenon had appeared in more than 80 games in only two seasons (1963 and 1964), but his four total seasons in the big leagues produced a respectable .283 average and a second-place finish, although a distant one, in the 1962 Rookie of the Year Award balloting. (Chicago Cubs second baseman Ken Hubbs was the winner.) Despite the obvious upside to Clendenon’s offensive abilities – he entered this game with a .326 batting average – many Pittsburgh fans still complained about his high strikeout numbers. For example, in 1963 Clendenon had the dubious distinction of leading the NL in whiffs with 136, or a strikeout average of roughly .242. His four-year average of strikeouts per at bats was even worse – .234

11 Veteran utility-man Virgil was starting at catcher for the first time all season because regular Pittsburgh catcher Jim Pagliaroni had a 103-degree fever. Finch, “Sandy Dandy, but Dodgers in Split.”

12 It was Torborg’s only triple of the season and one of just three that he hit in his 10-season big-league career.

13 Jack Hernon, “Pirates Win in 10th, 4-3, After 4-2 Loss.”

14 In 1965 Gilliam was in his 13th year with the Dodgers. His resume included two times as an All-Star and Rookie of the Year in 1953 when he played home games at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.

15 Hernon, “Pirates Win in 10th, 4-3, After 4-2 Loss.”

16 Saves did not become an official statistic in the major leagues until 1969.

17 Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals was second with 36 steals.

18 The Los Angeles Times reported that Gilliam had a sore left ankle from hitting it with foul balls in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Finch, “Sandy Dandy, but Dodgers in Split.”

19 “37,631 Watch Pirates Split 2 With Dodgers.”

20 Elroy Face had been Pittsburgh’s fireman for many years but was on the disabled list – for what turned out to be the only time in his 16-season career – with a knee injury. He did not return to action until August 27 and appeared in a career-low 16 games in 1965. “Pirates Place Roy Face on Disabled List,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 12, 1965: 26; Gary Gilette, “Elroy Face,” SABR Baseball Biography Project, accessed March 23, 2026, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/roy-face/.

21 Carpin’s promotion had coincided with reliever Tom Butters being placed on the disabled list. Jack Hernon, “The Gus and Gussie Fan Club,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 26, 1965: 25.

22 Clemente batted safely in the following eight games after Koufax stopped his streak. He went on to lead the majors with a .329 batting average. As of 2026, the Pirates’ record for hitting safely in consecutive games in one season is 26, by Danny O’Connell in 1953. Charlie Grimm is the all-time Pirates hitting streak leader with 33 games over multiple seasons (1922-1923).

23 “Sandy Wins, Dodgers Split to Miss NL Lead,” Pasadena Independent, July 12, 1965: 16.

24 Hernon, “Pirates Win in 10th, 4-3, After 4-2 Loss.”

25 Biederman, “Manny Mota a Real All-Star to Pirates.”

26 Carpin finished his rookie campaign in 1965 with a 3-1 record. He pitched for the Houston Astros in 1966 with a 1-0 record in six innings. The ’65 and ’66 seasons were Carpin’s only years in the major leagues.

27 The Pirates finished third in the NL, seven games behind the Dodgers.

28 He was second in the NL MVP race behind Mays. Also, in 1973 Nolan Ryan had 383 strikeouts, besting Koufax by one whiff.