[jksander]

MAY 10, 1953 . . . We got today’s double-header started at noon, and in the first game Bob Rush surrendered a solo homer in the bottom of the first to put the Braves up right away, after we’d left two runners stranded in the top of the inning, a great scoring opportunity wasted. Cavarretta hammered the ball in the top of the third, however, knocking it out of the park to tie the score 1-1. Willie Mays hit a triple immediately after, missing out on a homer of his own by maybe four feet, but Ernie Banks flew out to right, preventing Mays from scoring the go-ahead run. And Bob Rush loaded the bases in the bottom of the third, surrendering four runs before he could get the final strikeout. Based on the run support we’ve had the last few days, that four run deficit after three was incredibly daunting.

Willie Mays got himself a single in the top of the fifth that batted in Rush, who had singled to start the inning, but Ernie Banks left two runners stranded when he got tagged out at first a moment later, leaving the score at 2-5. Randy Jackson hit a solo homer in the top of the sixth to make the score 3-5. And though Bob Kelly came in and pitched 1-1/3 innings of relief and kept the score from balooning, we couldn’t make up the runs we needed, losing this one (and the NL lead) by that same 3-5 margin.

Bob Rush took the loss, falling to 4-3 with a 3.14 ERA, giving up eight hits in 6.2 innings for five runs, one earned. He had five strikeouts against a single walk, but threw 118 pitches and couldn’t finish the game himself. Kelly came in and threw 1.1 innings and gave up no hits, with two walks and a strikeout. His ERA improved to 4.05 in 13.1 innings of relief this season.

Cavarretta, Mays and Jackson each batted in runs, but Mays had the best night, hitting three of four and notching his 20th RBI of the year. We’re just continuing to struggle when it comes to bringing runs home -- I think reaching the end of this road trip should help raise morale as we finally see our Wrigleyville faithful in the crowds again. I’ve also got our coaches working with Ernie Banks, who is dealing with his first major league slump. He’s played in 24 games, hitting .326/.363/.453 with two homers and 12 RBI’s, but he’s been having a really cold stretch lately and needs to prove to himself he can break out of it.

First things first, though -- we had the second game of the doubleheader to play, and a chance to hopefully avoid the sweep. In the top of the first, Miksis reached first on an infield single and then successfully reached second off a passed ball. Willie Mays reached first on a fielding error, and McCullough hit to right, reaching first and loading the bases with just one out. That brought Banks to the plate batting fifth, and he hit a sizzling line drive to deep center, reaching second and scoring three runs! THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT, ERNIE! That was all the damage we could do, but it got us pumped up in the dugout for the first time the whole series, giving Don Newcombe, our stater, some cushion for a change. Newcombe surrendered a solo homer in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1, but that was his only hit of the game to that point and he got out of the inning with no further damage. A second run scored for the Braves in the bottom of the fourth, but we had the top of the order up to bat to start the fifth. Fondy, Mays and McCullough all got on base quickly, bringing Banks up to bat with the bases loaded and only one out. He hit it to center for a quick out and everyone stayed put. Randy Jackson also failed to get on base, leaving three stranded as we headed to the bottom of the fifth leading tenuously, 3-2.

We left two more stranded in the sixth, and another two in the seventh, but the score remained the same thanks to solid pitching by Newcombe and, since the end of the sixth, reliever Fred Baczewski. Randy Gumpert came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth after Baczewski allowed runners into scoring position, and he got two quick outs, though one runner did score, tying the game 3-3 heading into the ninth with the heart of our order up to bat. But Miksis, Mays and McCullough went down one-two-three, leaving our hopes dependent on Gumpert pitching well enough to secure us extra innings -- and he did, getting three outs without a hit to send us to our 19th inning of the day! Unfortunately we couldn’t get a hit in the top of the 10th, and the Braves walked it off on a two-run homer by Chuck Taylor, who pinch hit for Walker Cooper, completing the sweep by beating us 3-5.

Gumpert took the loss and a blown save, falling to 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA, though in 1.2 innings he only gave up two hits. Newcombe finished with 5.2 innings of three-hit ball, striking out four against just one walk. Baczewski successfully held the lead through 1.2 innings of three-hit ball himself, striking out one with no walks. Ernie Banks only got one hit in five at-bats, but he picked up three RBIS, with Miksis, Mays and McCullough all scoring. Everyone got at least a hit, excluding our three pitchers. We out-hit them 9-8 but just couldn’t get any runs to score after that first-inning burst. We’ll limp home to Chicago with a 16-10 record and a five game losing streak, two games out of first in the NL and only one game ahead of the Giants. The Braves, meanwhile, are on an eight-game winning streak, making them the hottest team in the majors at the moment.

Thank the baseball gods that we have our next 15 games at Wrigley. We’ll drive back tonight so the guys can have a much-needed rest day tomorrow, after which we’ll have two games against Brooklyn (13-12), two games against Philly (13-14), and then three games next weekend against Pittsburgh (9-17) including a Sunday doubleheader.