Los Angeles ace Sandy Koufax allowed just 1 run on 3 hits in 8 strong innings of work against the rival St. Louis Wizards. Two of those hits were by Orlando Cepeda, including a solo home run in the 1st. But Koufax’s hopes of becoming the first Maelstrom pitcher with 8 wins were dashed in the 9th. Closer Goose Gossage came in with a 3-1 LA lead. Gossage hadn’t allowed a run since his 1st appearance of the season over a month ago. St. Louis brought a series of pinch hitters to the plate. Tony Gwynn and Willie McCovey flew out to start the inning, but that’s when the magic happened. Ron Santo doubled, and Tim Raines walked to bring up Oscar Charleston at the top of the order. Charleston took a 3-1 fastball into the corner for a game-tying triple. Cepeda followed with his 3rd hit of the game, a go-ahead RBI single to put the Wizards on top in one of the most dramatic comebacks of the season. Bruce Sutter pitched a scoreless 9th for his 12th save of the year. Juan Marichal allowed 3 runs in 8 innings to pick up the win for the Wizards. The win improved St. Louis to 28-14, a 4-game lead over LA with just 12 games to go in the season.