[jksander]

MAY 4, 1953 . . . The Phillies got on board first in the bottom of the second, but that was an early anomaly ... through four innings this was a tight game in which Minner only gave up four hits and the game was still 0-1 Phillies. Left Fielder Ron Northey got on base with a single to start the fifth inning, his first hit in the majors this year, amd McCullough got to first on a solidly hit line drive to left, giving us two men on with no outs. If there was ever a scoring opportunity, this was it. Minner bunted out to drive the runners to second and third, but Dee Fondy couldn’t get the ball out of the infield and wound up being our second out. Still, Miksis stepped up to the plate completely unfazed, nailed a frozen rope to deep center, and finished with a double that drove in Northey and McCullough to give us a 2-1 lead! Unfortunately Minner had a terrible run at the bottom of the fifth, giving up five earned runs to dig us a four run hole heading into the sixth.

Ernie Banks doubled in the top of the eighth with one out, driving in Miksis to make it a three-run deficit, and Jackson hit a ball off kilter into the infield and the Phillies couldn’t get a handle on it, allowing Jackson to take first and Banks to take third! Unfortunately Baumholtz batted out and Northey struck out, ending the inning with us trailing 3-6. Baczewski kept them from adding any damage in the bottom of the eighth, leaving us just three runs to make up in the ninth if we wanted to stay alive. With two outs, Fondy and Miksis managed to reach base back to back, sending Willie Mays up as the potential game-tying run ... but he couldn’t get the ball into the outfield, making for an easy third out. And with that, we lost this one 3-6, falling to 1-2 on the series with just one game left.

Minner (3-1, 4.06 ERA) tookt the loss having given up eight hits and six earned runs in five innings, with three strikeouts and three walks. Baczewski pitched three innings of no-hit ball in relief, with three strikeouts against two walks, bringing his ERA down to 2.25 and keeping the game from becoming an outright humiliation. What really stinks is we out-hit them 14-8 but couldn’t drive runs home when it counted. Ron Northey had a solid first game with the Cubs this season, getting two hits in four at-bats, scoring one of our three runs. Eddie Miksis moved into the second spot in the lineup and hit three times in five at-bats, scoring one and driving in two. Willie Mays got two hits tonight in five at-bats but did not score or drive in any runs.

With this loss the Phillies (12-10) pulled within 3-1/2 games of us, with the Giants and Braves, each 12-9, hanging just three games back in the NL. Those two teams will be our opponents in the next six road games following tomorrow’s Philly final, meaning we’ve got to avoid a slump at all costs.

MAY 5, 1953 . . . Willie Mays hit a solo homer in the top of the first to put us up 1-0 -- it was his seventh of the year, traveling more than 430 feet! The Phillies answered with a run in the bottom of the second, Ernie Banks got us a run in the top of the fourth, hitting a single that drove Hank Sauer (who had reached second on a two-base error) all the way around. McCullough singled to deep left, sending Banks all the way to third with two outs, but Miksis couldn’t get him home so we headed to the bottom of the inning with a 2-1 lead. Mays hit his second homer of the game in the top of the fifth with two outs, scoring two to make our lead 4-1. Don Newcombe came in as a reliever in the bottom of the seventh -- we’re going to be running a starting four of Hacker, Rush, Minner and Klippstein with him giving us a stronger arm out of the bullpen -- and he got through the final three innings only giving up a single run in the eighth as we won this one 4-2, splitting the series and improving to 15-5!

Warren Hacker pitched six solid innings, picking up the win and improving to 4-1 on the season with a 2.31 ERA. He only gave up a single hit with a strikeout and a walk during those innings, throwing 77 pitches but doing plenty enough not to need to throw a complete game. Newcombe brought his ERA down to 3.63 and picked up his first save of the year, giving up three hits and one run with a strikeout and a walk as well. Willie Mays was the stud of the game, with his two homers allowing him to score twice and drive in three runs, bringing his RBI total to 19 and putting his slugging percentage just one point shy of .800! We out-hit the Phillies 10-4 and handed their starter, Robin Roberts, his fifth loss of the year.

Tonight we’ll drive up to New York to prep for tomorrow’s first of two afternoon games against the 12-10 Giants. Rush and Klippstein are expected to pitch those two games.