After losing 10 of 11 decisions against the Dodgers, Al Jackson persevered and outdueled Sandy Koufax.
A left-handed pitcher who relied on a sinker for groundball outs, Jackson made his major-league debut in 1959 with the Pirates, spent most of his career with the Mets and had two strong seasons with the Cardinals.
During his first stint with the Mets from 1962-65, Jackson was 1-9 versus the Dodgers. He lost eight consecutive decisions against them before spinning a three-hitter and outdueling Claude Osteen in a 1-0 Mets victory on June 21, 1965, at Dodger Stadium. Boxscore
Two months later, on Aug. 10, 1965, Koufax got his 20th win of the season, striking out 14 Mets and beating Jackson in a 4-3 Dodgers victory at Los Angeles. Boxscore
The Mets traded Jackson and third baseman Charlie Smith to the Cardinals for third baseman Ken Boyer after the 1965 season.
Tough luck
After opening the 1966 season as a reliever, Jackson was moved into the Cardinals’ starting rotation in May, replacing Ray Sadecki, who got traded to the Giants.
The first time Jackson faced the Dodgers as a Cardinal was June 1, 1966, at St. Louis. Although he pitched well, he again took the loss. Jackson held the Dodgers to three hits in seven innings, but Koufax pitched a shutout in a 1-0 Dodgers victory.
Jackson “deserved a better fate, but he was pitted against a master,” the Los Angeles Times observed.
The Dodgers scored an unearned run in the seventh. With one out and none on, Jackson “got a slider too high and too close” to Willie Davis, who hit the pitch into the right-field corner for a triple, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. When right fielder Bobby Tolan’s throw eluded relay man Julian Javier, Davis raced to the plate on the error.
“I’m sure Jackson would like to have that pitch back,” Davis said. Boxscore
The loss dropped Jackson’s career record versus the Dodgers to 1-10.
Beating the best
One month later, on July 1, 1966, at Dodger Stadium, Jackson and Koufax again were matched against one another.
Koufax had a five-game winning streak versus the Cardinals. His season record was 14-2. Jackson had been given an extra day of rest since making his last start five days earlier against the Astros.
The two left-handers held their opponents scoreless through the first six innings. With one out in the seventh, Orlando Cepeda singled and Mike Shannon slugged a home run, giving the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.
Jackson did the rest, pitching a six-hit shutout. Only one Dodgers baserunner, Wes Parker in the first inning, reached second base. Jackson got the Dodgers to ground into three double plays and walked none.
“When I have a good day, I work my infielders pretty hard,” Jackson said.
The game was completed in 1 hour, 53 minutes.
Jackson said “my breaking ball wasn’t working so good” and his fastball initially was “too straight.” A word of advice from pitching coach Joe Becker helped.
Becker “told me to become a pitcher again, instead of a thrower, and I started keeping the ball down,” Jackson said.
In the ultimate compliment, Koufax said, “I had the best stuff I’ve had all year, but Al just pitched better.” Boxscore
Action Jackson
Jackson’s gem changed his luck against the Dodgers. Six of his last eight career decisions versus the Dodgers were wins. Jackson was 2-2 with an 0.92 ERA versus the Dodgers for the 1966 Cardinals and 3-0 against them for the 1967 Cardinals.
Jackson, who was traded back to the Mets after the Cardinals won the 1967 World Series title, finished with a career mark of 7-12 and a 3.41 ERA versus the Dodgers. He was 5-2 against them as a Cardinal; 2-10 as a Met.
Here is the breakdown of Jackson’s Dodgers decisions: 3-0 vs. Don Sutton, 1-0 vs. Claude Osteen, 1-0 vs. Jim Brewer, 1-2 vs. Don Drysdale, 1-5 vs. Koufax, 0-2 vs. Joe Moeller, 0-2 vs. Pete Richert and 0-1 vs. Bill Singer.
Jackson had an overall major-league record of 67-99 with a 3.98 ERA. In two seasons with St. Louis, he was 22-19 with a 2.97 ERA.
In 1966, when he was 13-15 with a 2.51 ERA, Jackson was second on the Cardinals in wins, games started (30), complete games (11) and innings pitched (232.2). He was 12-14 with a 2.61 ERA as a starter; 1-1 with an 0.73 ERA in six relief appearances.
Jackson was 9-4 with a 3.95 ERA in 39 appearances for the 1967 Cardinals. He was 5-3 with a 4.88 ERA in 11 starts; 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA as a reliever.
RetroSimba 
I saw Jackson and Koufax on 4/15/1967 at Busch Memorial Stadium. Jackson was the winning pitcher in a 13-4 game. Koufax was making his NBC Game of the Week broadcasting debut. It was the day after the Dodgers finally scored a run off of Larry Jaster.
Good stuff. Thanks for sharing.