Give it a Haller...

[GAME 1 - Wrigley Field - LA 2, CHI 1]

When the wind blows in at Wrigley Field pitchers begin to smile and runs come at a premium, especially when two good ones like Al Downing and Milt Pappas toe the rubber. The game was scoreless until the Dodgers posted back to back solo runs in the 5th and 6th innings respectively. Downing knocked in Tom Haller to score the first one with a sac fly. Richie Allen singled home the great Willie Davis (.362). Pappas was able to get out of that inning without any further damage to keep his team in it. Meanwhile Downing was cruising until the bottom of the 8th when Joe "you could have made me proud" Pepitone slugged a solo shut deep into the bleachers. By this point Downing was done for the day and Jim Brewer came on board to get the final 4 outs. Glenn Beckert went 3 for 5 and boosted his average to .399, just a hair below .400.

[GAME 2 - Wrigley Field - LA 16, CHI 7]

...When the wind blows out at Wrigley it's a different story. After the Cubs opened with a run in the 1st LA scored 9 in the second and looked to run away and hide. LA starter, Bob O'Brien went the distance, but did give up 7 runs and helped to make it interesting. Dodger catcher Tom Haller went 5 for 6 with 6 RBI's, including his 3rd homer of the season. Bill Hands did NOT have it for the Cubs as he surrendered 9 runs in less than 2 innings of work. Beckert went 1 for 4 and slipped to .397.

[GAME 3 - Wrigley Field - CHI 7, LA 6]

LA's pen, specifically Jose Pena, blew the chance at the sweep as the North Sider let out a collective sigh of relief. Cub manager Tom Davis said, "It's amazing how emotional we get over a stupid game, but this was one we needed". LA looked to blow the Cubbies out 2 nights in a row as they had a 6-1 lead in the 3rd, but starter Claude Osteen gave back 3 in the 3rd to make it 6-4. Chicago added a solo run in the fifth when Pepitone singled home Ron Santo who reached on an error by Dodger second baseman Billy Grabarkewitz. The bottom of the 7th would be Pena and LA's undoing as Chicago scored 2 runs to take a 1 run lead and hold on for dear life. With 2 outs in the 7th Pena got "too cute" and walked Jim Hickman. Joe Pepitone hit is 4th homer of the year (2nd in series) deep into the night off of Pena to take the lead. Phil Regan (4-5) pitched 3 scoreless innings in relief to notch the win. Becket got a much needed day off in the field, but did come on to pinch hit in the 6th, but grounded out weakly to second. LA moved to within a game and a half of the slumping Giants and the Cubbies didn't lose much ground as the Mets seem to be leveling off.