1972 NL Game of Note: LA @ SD Perfect Game

August 11, 1972

LA Dodger Don Sutton threw a perfect game tonight against the SD Padres. The Dodgers won the game 3-0, but the bigger story was Sutton's amazing performance on the mound. Earlier this season, on April 30th, Sutton threw a no-hitter against the NY Mets and would have had a perfect game if not for an error committed in the 3rd inning by Steve Garvey. Sutton was not to be denied tonight as his team fielded flawlessly behind him. The Win was Sutton's 14th of the season, his 7th Shutout, and moved 2nd place LA within 1 game of the  NL West leading Cincinnati Reds.

BOXSCORE: 1972 Los Angeles Dodgers At 1972 San Diego Padres         8/11/1972
 
  Dodgers            AB  R  H RBI AVG     Padres             AB  R  H RBI AVG
  M.Mota LF           3  2  3  1 .338     D.Thomas 2B         3  0  0  0 .222  
  W.Parker 1B         3  0  2  0 .273     C.Gaston RF         3  0  0  0 .269  
  W.Davis CF          2  0  0  1 .257     L.Lee LF            3  0  0  0 .258  
  F.Robinson RF       2  0  1  0 .239     N.Colbert 1B        3  0  0  0 .242  
  S.Garvey 3B         4  0  1  0 .271     D.Roberts 3B        3  0  0  0 .265  
B-M.Wills 3B          0  0  0  0 .177     J.Jeter CF          3  0  0  0 .250  
  L.Lacy 2B           4  0  0  0 .217     F.Kendall C         3  0  0  0 .253  
  C.Cannizzaro C      4  0  0  0 .266     E.Hernandez SS      2  0  0  0 .205  
  B.Grabarkewitz SS   3  1  0  0 .116   C-J.Goddard PH        1  0  0  0 .000  
  D.Sutton P          3  0  0  0 .190     M.Caldwell P        1  0  0  0 .217  
                                        A-C.Blefary PH        1  0  0  0 .314  
                                          M.Schaeffer P       0  0  0  0 .200  
                                        D-J.Morales PH        1  0  0  0 .206  
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      28  3  7  2                 Totals      27  0  0  0
 
A-Pinch Hit For Caldwell In 6th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (3B) For Garvey In 8th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Hernandez In 9th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Schaeffer In 9th Inning
 
Dodgers......... 1 0 1  0 0 0  1 0 0  -  3  7  0
Padres.......... 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  0  0  0
 
Dodgers (56-49)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA
D.Sutton WIN(14-8)        9       0   0   0   0   4   0   2.00
Totals                    9       0   0   0   0   4   0
 
Padres (40-66)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA
M.Caldwell LOSS(2-4)      6       5   2   2   4   4   0   2.59
M.Schaeffer               3       2   1   1   2   2   0   5.36
Totals                    9       7   3   3   6   6   0
 
ATTENDANCE- 9,098 DATE- Friday, August 11th 1972 TIME- Night 
UMPIRES- Lee Weyer, Andy Olsen, Dick Stello, Ken Burkhart
T- 2:06
LEFT ON BASE- Dodgers: 6  Padres: 0
DOUBLE PLAYS- Dodgers: 0  Padres: 3
DOUBLES- M.Mota(10th)
TRIPLES- M.Mota(3rd)
SACRIFICE HITS- D.Sutton
SACRIFICE FLIES- W.Davis
WALKS- M.Mota, W.Parker, W.Davis, F.Robinson-2, B.Grabarkewitz
STRIKE OUTS- W.Parker, C.Cannizzaro, B.Grabarkewitz-2, D.Sutton-2, C.Gaston,
             N.Colbert, D.Roberts, F.Kendall
GIDP- W.Davis, F.Robinson, S.Garvey
BALKS- M.Schaeffer
RLISP 2-out- L.Lacy-2
 
Perfection was achieved in San Diego as Don Sutton(14-8) mesmerized the crowd
while retiring every struggling San Diego Padres batter, resulting in a 3 to
nothing victory.
 
Sutton had his best stuff and was 'painting the black' with every pitch.  A
beautiful game to watch.  The Los Angeles players and coaches started to
leave Sutton alone with his thoughts after the game reached the 7th inning.
By the time the 9th inning rolled around, you could hear a pin drop every
time he went to his wind-up - and an explosion after every out.  The San
Diego batters went down meekly in the bottom of the 9th.  

Mike Caldwell(2-4) suffered the loss. When asked how his stuff was out there, Sutton looked a bit incredulous (as did this reporter) and replied 'A bit better than average, I'd have to say'