NL 6, AL 5 Metropolitan Stadium, July 13, 1965
Stars venture north and give fans a jewel of a performance
Against a backdrop of five home runs, the National League All-Stars established a one-game superiority over the American League on a 6-5 victory Tuesday, thanks to a high-hopping infield hit by Ron Santo of the Chicago Cubs.
Santo's 130-foot single back of second base in the seventh inning played in comparison to tape-measure homers by Willie Mays, Joe Torre and Willie Stargell of the Nationals, and Dick McAuliffe and Harmon Killebrew of the Americans.
But Santo's single did win the ball game, scoring Mays from third base and enabling the Nationals to take an 18-17 lead in the All-Star series.
The highly publicized Sandy Koufax, although not showing his customary sharpness, became the winning pitcher for the Nationals.
The Nationals outhit the Americans 11-8 and started with a five-run lead. But the Americans battled back at Metropolitan Stadium, and thrilled 46,706 Upper Midwest fans to tie the count at 5-5 in a four-run fifth inning behind two-run homers from McAuliffe and Killebrew.
Minnesota's All-Star entries performed capably. Killebrew homered and walked twice in five trips to the plate, driving in two runs. [Zoilo] Versalles walked once and handled two chances afield. [Jimmie] Hall walked once. [Tony] Oliva doubled in two at-bats, and catcher Earl Battey and [Mudcat] Grant appeared as an early battery.
tom briere
MVP: Juan Marichal, pitcher, San Francisco Giants
Editor's note: This is a condensed version of the game story that ran in the then-Minneapolis Tribune.
