At 88, she's first 3-time HR Payoff cash winner

WITH A LITTLE help from her favorite team, loyal reader

Inez Gale

has pulled off an epic hat trick.

Gale hit the Daily News jackpot for the third time Sunday when Odubel Herrera homered to lead off the sixth. It was our Home Run Payoff inning and the blast was worth $1,000 for Gale, who is 88.

It was the third time Gale won a thousand bucks from us. She also won in 2010 at the age of 82 and 2013 at 85.

"I get the Daily News every day and fill out the coupon all the time," she said.

We give away $1,000 for every home run hit in the Payoff inning and $10,000 for a grand slam. We receive thousands of entries each year, so winning the money isn't easy. Winning it twice is really something - it's been done maybe a dozen times since 1976.

Winning three times? Unprecedented.

Gale's previous homers were hit by Carlos Ruiz in 2010 and Laynce Nix in 2013.

"Oh that's right," she said. "I forgot about Laynce Nix."

Gale, the ninth $1,000 winner this season, is an administrative assistant at the Bell Credit Union in Norristown, where she has worked for decades.

"My old friends come into the office, people who I helped with loans 40 years ago," she said. "I really enjoy it. I don't know what I would do if I didn't work."

Contestants whose batters fail to hit a home run receive two tickets to a Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park. These folks won tickets on Sunday:

Kathy Reeve, Yardville, N.J.

Vera Carvalho, Philadelphia

Dave Rettew, Christiana, Pa.

Robert Peel, York

On Saturday, these contestants picked up tickets:

Marcella Reid, Philadelphia

Ken McMinn, Pottstown

Philip Castagna, Philadelphia

John Soss, Trenton

Deborah George, Philadelphia

Karen Frable, Philadelphia

You can hear the Home Run Payoff inning during each Phillies broadcast on

WIP (94.1-FM).

Today's coupon is on Page 49.