April 7, 1972. St. Louis 1, Philadelphia 0

 On Opening Night Steve Carlton comes back to pitch against his long-time team in St. Louis after an unpopular offseason trade that banished the 20-game winner to the woeful Phillies because the Cards wouldn't meet his demand for a $65,000 contract which would have been a sizeable raise from his $40,000 contract in 1971.

Carlton and Cardinal ace Bob Gibson put on a pitching clinic with neither team able to do much against the All-Stars.  The biggest trouble of the night for Gibson came in the 6th on a 1-out triple by Deron Johnson. Gibson then struck out Joe Lis and got Willie Montanez on a lazy fly to end the threat.

The Cardinals could not get a man past first base until the bottom of the 9th.  Lou Brock led off with a bunt single. Carlton riled the Busch Stadium crowd by throwing over to first multiple times, but Matty Alou executed a perfect hit and run single to right to move Brock to third with no one out. Carlton could have walked Simmons to set up a force at every base with the slow footed Joe Torre at bat, but elected to pitch to him with the infield in.  Simmons smacked a grounder just the the right of Larry Bowa for the game winning single.  Each team had 5 hits, but the 3 the Cardinals got in the 9th was the difference in a great game.

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES AT ST. LOUIS CARDINALS GAME ID: 14 - FRIDAY, APRIL 7TH , 1972 - GAME LOG   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Philadelphia Phillies (0-1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 St. Louis Cardinals (1-0) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 0

Cardinals Get Past Philadelphia for 1-0 Win Opening day festivities have begun throughout the league. Fans of the St. Louis Cardinals were eager to watch Bob Gibson square off against Steve Carlton of the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. In the end, the Cardinals won the game, 1-0, with Bob Gibson leading the way. Ted Simmons was the walk-off hero for St. Louis. With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Cardinals catcher hit a dramatic run-scoring single to send the teams home. Simmons told a St. Louis Observer reporter that he was "more than satisfied" with the win.

PHILADELPHIA BATTING LINESCORE ST. LOUIS BATTING LINESCORE

Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI L. Bowa SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 T. Harmon 2B 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 .250 0 0 D. Johnson 1B 4 0 2 0 0 1 1 .500 0 0 J. Lis LF 4 0 0 0 0 2 3 .000 0 0 W. Montanez CF 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 .333 0 0 D. Money 3B 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 0 0 T. McCarver C 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 0 0 M. Anderson RF 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 .333 0 0 S. Carlton P 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 0 0 Totals 32 0 5 0 1 6 10       BATTING Doubles: T. Harmon (1, 3rd Inning off B. Gibson, 0 on, 1 out) Triples: D. Johnson (1, 6th Inning off B. Gibson, 0 on, 1 out) Total Bases: T. Harmon 2 , D. Johnson 4 , W. Montanez , M. Anderson Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs: J. Lis , W. Montanez , S. Carlton Team LOB: 6 FIELDING Double Plays: 1 (Harmon-Bowa-Johnson) Player AB R H RBI BB K LOB AVG HR RBI L. Brock LF 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 .500 0 0 M. Alou 1B 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .250 0 0 T. Simmons C 4 0 2 1 0 1 0 .500 0 1 J. Torre 3B 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 0 0 J. Hague RF 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 0 0 L. Melendez CF 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 .000 0 0 T. Sizemore 2B 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 0 0 D. Maxvill SS 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 .000 0 0 B. Gibson P 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 .000 0 0 Totals 28 1 5 1 2 7 7       BATTING Total Bases: L. Brock 2 , M. Alou , T. Simmons 2 GIDP: M. Alou Team LOB: 4

PHILADELPHIA PITCHING LINESCORE ST. LOUIS PITCHING LINESCORE

Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI ERA    S. Carlton L (0-1) 8.0 5 1 1 2 7 0 101 1.12    PITCHING Game Score: S. Carlton 73 Batters Faced: S. Carlton 30 Ground Outs - Fly Outs: S. Carlton 8-8 Pitches - Strikes: S. Carlton 101-63 Player IP H R ER BB K HR PI ERA    B. Gibson W (1-0) 9.0 5 0 0 1 6 0 101 0.00    PITCHING Game Score: B. Gibson 82 Batters Faced: B. Gibson 33 Ground Outs - Fly Outs: B. Gibson 12-9 Pitches - Strikes: B. Gibson 101-70

GAME NOTES

Player of the Game: Bob Gibson Ballpark: Busch Stadium 1966-1972 Weather: Partly Cloudy (55 degrees), wind blowing right to left at 10 mph Start Time: 7:05 PM CT Time: 2:15 Attendance: 24871