[jksander]

JUNE 5, 1953 . . . If there’s such a thing as a lucky team this year, the Giants would be it. Statistically their 26-24 record is +5 against their Pythagorean record, which has them 21-29, by far the largest differential in the entirety of the major leagues thanks to an absolutely ghastly -48 run differential. Question is, can we steal back some of that luck against them on their own field? To date we’re 1-3 against them, so we’re going into this series knowing we’ll need to grind it out to come out with another series win.

We opened the series with Klippstein on the mound, giving him a chance to start so we could give Bob Rush an extra day of recovery after several starts on short rest. And he melted down in the bottom of the third, giving up an RBI single and then walking in a run with the bases loaded, followed by a two-run single -- all this with two outs! He finally got the strikeout, but he was nearing 70 pitches after three innings, so unless we could get some runs back, he wasn’t likely to last too long into this one. Gonna be a test for our bullpen for sure. Fondy hit a triple to drive in Miksis with just one out, putting us on the board down 1-4 in the top of the fifth, and though Cavarretta’s possible double was thwarted by a diving catch at center field, the extra seconds gave Fondy time to come around and score, cutting the deficit to two as we headed into the bottom of the fifth. Sauer hit a solo homer in the first at-bat of the sixth, and Fondy nailed his fourth homer of the year to drive in three runs in the top of the seventh, giving us a 6-4 lead!

We pinch-hit Baumholtz for Klippstein to start that rally (and he was one of the players batted in by Fondy’s homer!) so we brought Bob Kelly in to pitch in the bottom of the seventh. Kelly gave up a run but got out of a jam with a handy double play and we went into the top of the eighth still leading by one, with Hatten ready to come in from the bullpen. And though we were unable to add any runs, Hatten made it through two innings without giving up the tying run, allowing us to come away with a huge 6-5 victory!

Klippstein stayed in just long enough to earn the win, improving to 3-2 with a 5.52 ERA, giving up seven hits and four earned runs while striking out two and walking three -- and had he not gotten late-game run support this would have been a much different night for him. Bob Kelly got the hold, his second of the year, throwing a full inning while giving up a hit a walk and a run. And Hatten earned his first save of the year with two innings of one-hit ball, no strikeouts or walks, bringing his ERA back down to 9.00 after the awkward debut last month.

Dee Fondy was the hero of the game, hitting twice in five chances with a triple and a home-run, bringing his average up to .312 while scoring twice and driving in four RBIs! Jackson and Miksis each had two hits as well, with Miksis scoring twice in critical junctures. Sauer’s eighth homer of the year brings his total to 26 RBIs on the year.

Our four-run comeback really sparked excitement among the Cubs fans who have joined our road contingent, and I’m really liking the effort we’re seeing from this team of overachievers. I think we can do some big things this year if given the chance.

JUNE 6, 1953 . . . The Polo Grounds were popping off when Daryl Spencer hit a towering homer to left, putting the Giants up 1-0 in the bottom of the second in only the first hit of the game thus far. But Phil Cavarretta hit a triple in the top of the third, driving in pitcher Bob Rush, who had hit a solid single up the middle to start the inning, tying the score 1-1 with just one out. Willie Mays was robbed of a possible double or triple of his own because of an insane diving scoop, but it was good enough of a hit to drive Cavarretta home to put us in the lead! But the Giants answered with a two-run triple of their own to go back up 2-3 in the bottom of the third, and by the end of the inning they had a two-run lead on us heading into the fourth. And they added another two in the bottom of the fourth on a homer by Alvin Dark, putting Rush into a hole I wasn’t sure we’d have the run support to get him out of. A solo homer in the bottom of the fifth did it ... I had to start warming someone else up, this just wasn’t his night. By the time we could get Hatten warmed up Rush had given up another two-run homer and, finally getting a strikeout to end the inning, digging us a 2-9 pit to wallow in.

Willie Mays hit a solo homer in the top of the sixth to make it a six-run deficit. In the bottom of the seventh Hatten got himself into a real pickle, bases loaded, no one out, but Don Newcombe came in with a strikeout, a pickoff at home plate and a great catch by banks to throw a runner out at second, getting us out of the inning without any damage. Willie Mays hit a double in the top of the eighth to drive Cavarretta home and pulling us within five runs, but Sauer was tagged out at first to end the inning, meaning best case scenario we’d need a five-run comeback in the ninth.

Newcombe did what he could, getting us through the eighth without further incident, and Ernie Banks opened the top of the ninth with a standing double -- could this be the start of the rally we needed? Jackson reached first on an infield hit, getting Banks to third. McCullough was tagged out at first but allowed time for Banks to get home, scoring run number five. Miksis struck out, however, and we had to pinch hit Baumholtz for Newcombe with everything on the line. Baumholtz took a two out walk, bringing up Dee Fondy with two men on! But Fondy hit a fly ball to left that was easily caught and we lost this one 5-9.

Bob Rush fell to 6-6 and his ERA plummeted to 4.21, thanks to his nine earned runs off of ten hits (four of which were homers). Joe Hatton was lucky Newcombe had his back, because he could have been seriously rung up again -- instead he got through an inning with just two hits, but also three walks and only one strikeout. Newcombe was impressive in two full innings, giving up two hits and getting a strikeout, throwing 27 pitches while bringing his ERA back down to 4.98.

Phil Cavarretta led the team with two hits and a walk, scoring two runs and batting in another, while Willie Mays hit twice in three attempts, scoring once and driving in three.

Tomorrow we have a double-header with Hacker and Minner ready to pitch. In an All Star voting update, Willie Mays is leading the votes for center fielders by nearly 50,000 votes, while Cavarretta is leading at right field by 30,000 votes. Despite his relative inconsistency this year, Bob Rush is still third in votes for stating pitcher, while Bob Kelly is fifth in overall reliever votes, mostly based off his six saves, though he’s 0-3 with a 6.38 ERA.