June 4, 1966: Phillies snap Juan Marichal’s season-opening 10-game winning streak

At the dawn of the 1966 season, San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Juan Marichal was primed to improve his impressive résumé. A six-season veteran, Marichal had already won 105 games and was a five time All-Star. The day before he started the season opener against the Chicago Cubs, Marichal said, “I’m stronger physically, my arms and legs are free of aches and pains, my judgment is more matured, I am happier than ever and I think we can win the pennant.”1

On Opening Day Marichal defeated the Cubs 9-1, tossing a complete game, with no earned runs allowed and eight strikeouts. Throughout April and May, he continued to dominate all opponents he faced. After he defeated the Cincinnati Reds on May 31, his record stood at 10-0 with a 0.80 ERA. Marichal was the first pitcher to begin a season with 10 straight wins and a sub-1.50 ERA since Walter Johnson of the Washington Nationals and Cy Falkenberg of the Cleveland Naps both accomplished the feat in 1913.2

The ninth win of Marichal’s streak was a 14-inning complete-game shutout of the Philadelphia Phillies on May 26 in San Francisco in which he outdueled Phillies ace Jim Bunning in a 1-0 game.3

 When the league-leading Giants were in Philadelphia for a return engagement nine days later, Marichal was gunning for his 11th straight win.

A season-record crowd of 36,494 jammed Connie Mack Stadium on Saturday, June 4.4 The Phillies’ Chris Short started against Marichal. Short had not won since May 17, and in his last two starts he couldn’t get past the third inning after throwing complete games in seven of his first 10 starts. He entered with a 4-4 record and a 2.44 ERA.

Short retired San Francisco quickly in the first; his only blemish was a walk to Willie Mays. In the bottom of the inning, Phillies leadoff hitter Cookie Rojas lined Marichal’s first pitch into right field for a single. Doug Clemens, subbing for injured right fielder Johnny Callison, also singled to right. Rookie Ollie Brown charged the ball and threw a bullet to third trying to nab Rojas. Rojas was safe, and on the return throw to second, Clemens slid safely under the tag.5

Dick Allen hit a high hopper over the mound toward second that plated Rojas and advanced Clemens to third for cleanup hitter Bill White.

Veteran first baseman White was playing his inaugural year with the Phillies. He began his career with the Giants but missed a season and a half for US Army service. By the time he returned, Orlando Cepeda was entrenched at first base and Willie McCovey was in the wings. White was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, where he blossomed during seven years and was a vital cog on the 1964 championship club. When the Cardinals fell to seventh place in 1965, White and veteran infielder Dick Groat were traded to the Phillies.6

White pulled a grounder down the first-base line. Clemens scored on McCovey’s throw to the plate and White was safe at first. White then stole second and third7 with Tony González batting.

Marichal retired González on a popup to second and hit Groat with a pitch. With two aboard, Marichal escaped further damage when Clay Dalrymple flied out to center. The inning ended with the Phillies on top 2-0.

Each team had baserunners in the second inning but neither team scored. In the top half, Cap Peterson walked and Brown singled to right, but Short retired Bob Barton on a foul pop to right and struck out Marichal to end the threat. In the bottom half, Rojas stroked a two-out double to left but was nailed at the plate trying to score on Clemens’ base hit.

The Phillies added to their lead in the bottom of the third. Allen and White began the inning with back-to-back singles and advanced on González’s grounder to second. Groat was intentionally walked to load the bases. Dalrymple lifted a fly to center, and Allen scored the Phillies’ third run after the catch.

In the fourth, the Phillies doubled their lead. With two outs, Clemens reached base for the third straight time when he was plunked with a pitch.8 Allen walked on a full count, then White blasted a hanging curveball over the right-field wall for a three-run homer. González singled to right but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

Marichal’s day was finished when Jesus Alou pinch-hit for him in the fifth. The six earned runs he gave up in his four innings of work were as many as he allowed in his first 98 innings of the season. After the game, White explained how the Phillies were able to reach Marichal. “He just didn’t have it,” White said. “His curveball was hanging, he didn’t have his good fastball, and his control wasn’t good.”9 Marichal’s final line showed two walks, two hit batters, and no strikeouts.

Joe Gibbon relieved Marichal in the fifth and pitched two scoreless innings. Frank Linzy followed Gibbon with two more scoreless innings.

Short continued to mow down the Giants. Through five innings, he had surrendered two hits and two walks and hit a batter, but no Giant baserunner had advanced past second. 

San Francisco ended Short’s shutout in the sixth. Leadoff hitter Mays lofted a 1-and-1 slider to deep left that carried over the wall for a towering home run. The majestic blast was the 35-year-old center fielder’s 13th of the season and the 518th of his career. Mays played seven more seasons and finished with a total of 660, placing him third on the all-time list (as of 2024).

After Mays’ homer, the Giants’ bats went silent. Short surrendered a single by Barton in the seventh and back-to-back hits by Hal Lanier and Mays in the eighth, but the Giants could not push across any more runs. San Francisco went quietly in the ninth, and the Phillies recorded their sixth consecutive win, 6-1.

Short notched his fifth victory of the season with the complete-game outing. After getting knocked out early in his two previous starts, he was happy to contribute to the win. “It’s good to be a part of the team again,” Short said.10 He began a streak of his own, winning five straight decisions. Short finished 1966 with a 20-10 record, making him the first Phillies left-hander with a 20-win season since Eppa Rixey in 1916.11

Marichal’s streak ended in Philadelphia, but the season marched onward. The Giants split their next two games with the Phillies and battled the Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers for league supremacy all season. Marichal lost his next start in Houston, then continued his winning ways. He pitched twice more against the Phillies in 1966 and recorded two complete-game wins.

Ultimately, Marichal won 25 games against six defeats, and his .806 winning percentage led the National League. He finished sixth in the MVP voting.12 But his brilliance wasn’t enough to propel the Giants to the pennant as they fell short by 1½ games to the Dodgers.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Kurt Blumenau and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photo credit: Juan Marichal, Trading Card Database.

Sources

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

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI196606040.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1966/B06040PHI1966.htm

Notes

1 Curley Grieve, “Juan Sees His Best Season,” San Francisco Examiner, April 11, 1966: 57.

2 Paul Casella, “‘It’s Incredible’: Suárez’s Historic Start Hit New Level in 10-K Gem,” MLB.com, May 21, 2024, https://www.mlb.com/news/ranger-suarez-continues-historic-start-in-win-over-rangers. (As of 2024, no pitcher had accomplished this feat since Marichal.)

3 Bunning was removed after 10 innings; reliever Darold Knowles worked the final 3⅔ innings and surrendered the game’s only run.

4 This was the second largest crowd of the season. A doubleheader against the Mets on August 21 drew a crowd of 36,625.

5 Allen Lewis, “Phillies Stop Marichal, Defeat Giants 6-1,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 5, 1966: 42.

6 Warren Corbett, “Bill White,” SABR Biography Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bill-white-3/. Accessed July 1, 2024.

7 White stole a career-high 16 bases in 1966 after stealing just 3 in 1965.

8 Marichal had only five HBP’s for the season and two were in this game.

9 Lewis.

10 Lewis.

11 Andy Sturgill, “Chris Short,” SABR Biography Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Chris-Short/. Accessed July 2, 2024. The Phillies came in fourth in the NL in 1966 with an 87-75 record.

12 Pittsburgh’s Roberto Clemente was the 1966 National League MVP. The Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax was a unanimous selection for the majors’ Cy Young Award; beginning in 1967, separate Cy Young Awards were given to pitchers in each league.