[jksander]

MAY 1, 1953 . . . Willie Mays hit a double that sent Cavarretta around to score, putting us up 1-0 with just one out in the top of the first, but the Dodgers were able to tie it in the bottom of the second before Newcombe got the third out to end that inning. Cavarretta hit a triple to open the top of the third, and then managed to steal home on a wild pitch to put us up 2-1, McCullough doubled to send two runs in to start the top of the eighth, extending our lead, while Miksis added another by batting Jackson in from third on a sac-fly to left. But Newcombe wore down in the bottom of the eighth, putting two men on and I had to bring in Bob Kelly to close things out.

Kelly gave up one of Newcombe’s runs as the Dodgers narrowed the gap to three, but he struck the final batter out, sending us into the top of the 9th with a 5-2 advantage. Ernie Banks singled to left with two men out, driving Cavarretta in from third to make it a four-run lead, Kelly got into serious trouble in the final frame, however, giving up a run and then loading the bases with two men out, putting us in a really dangerous position. Jim Gilliam hit a tight slow-moving ball into the infield, and it appeared the runner was tagged out at first, but the umps ruled differently -- instead, the bases stayed loaded and another run scored. But Kelly struck out the final batter and we were able to beat the Dodgers in game one, 6-4.

Newcombe picked up the win, improving to 2-0 with a 3.72 ERA with 7.2 innings pitched and nine strikeouts against three walks. Kelly, despite giving up two earned runs, did clinch his fifth save of the season, though his ERA took a hit at 4.50. He gave up four hits with three strikeouts and two walks in 1.1 innings. McCullough had a great night, with two hits in four at-bats, and though he didn’t score himself, he batted in two runs to give him 14 RBIs on the season, leading the team. Cavarretta, meanwhile, improved his average to .380 with two hits and a walk in four at-bats, scoring three times. He’s now batting .389/.476/.611 on the season.

MAY 2, 1953 . . . Fondy doubled on the first pitch of the game, and then Cavarretta and Mays each walked, sending Hank Sauer to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs. Sauer promptly doubled, narrowly missing a grand-slam, sending Fondy and Cavarretta home to quickly get us on the board. We’d lead 3-0 at the end of the frame, setting a good tone for what we aimed to do in this one. Johnny Klippstein gave up a solo homer to Gil Hodges in the bottom of the first, Hodges’ sixth of the year, but Fondy doubled again in the top of the second (his second of the game and 6th of the year!) and Cavarretta doubled as well to drive him home and make it a 4-1 ballgame. We gave up a second run in the bottom of the third, but Klippstein himself doubled to start the top of the fourth, and Willie Mays drove him in with a single, allowing him to score our fifth run. Klippstein then loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame with one out, but managed to strike out two batters in a row to get out of the jam. The Dodgers got a run back in the bottom of the sixth to pull within two, down 5-3, but Willie Mays hit his sixth homer, a solo shot to center, to start the top of the seventh, and we added another with two outs to make it a four run lead heading into the stretch. Dutch Leonard came in and pitched the last two innings to hold it right there as we beat the Dodgers 7-3, sweeping the series!

Klippstein improved to 2-0 with a 3.68 ERA, throwing seven innings including seven hits, two strikeouts and three walks. Leonard brought his ERA down to 6.75, putting down six batters with only one walk given up and no hits in 31 pitches. Willie Mays put himself back over .400, hitting three times in four tries, scoring twice and batting in two. And lead-off man Dee Fondy hit three times in five at-bats, scoring twice himself, proving to be a perfect fit for that spot in the lineup.

We improved with this win to 13-3, giving us a 3-1/2 game lead over the Giants here in the NL. A lot of that can be put down to luck, as we are three wins above expected, but we’re +25 in runs scored and have continued to play well day in, day out, so I’m pleased with our solid start. We’ll get a test now with four games in a row against the Phillies on their field, including a double-header tomorrow. They’re off to a 10-9 start and they’re in fourth place but only 4-1/2 games out of first.