His team built an early lead in its division, winning 37 of its first 51 games, and enjoyed a 10½-game margin over the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 31. On September 1, San Francisco still held a comfortable, eight-game edge over the Dodgers. Then they withstood a furious assault by their in-state rivals during the pennant stretch to prevail by a single game. But the Giants lost to the eventual world champion Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1971 National League Championship Series, three games to one. Subsequently, they made a series of bad trades and fell from contention thereafter. On June 27, 1974, after compiling a record of 348–327 (.516), Fox was replaced as manager by former stalwart Giants catcher Wes Westrum.