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JULY 7, 1953 . . . This one was nailbiting from the very first pitch, a true pitching battle between our Warren Hacker and their Bob Buhl. Dee Fondy spoiled Buhl’s no hitter in the top of the sixth, reaching first and then taking second on a passed ball. Mays then walked, bringing up Ernie Banks with one out and the score still knotted 0-0. But Banks hit it straight into the glove of shortstop Johnny Logan, and Hank Sauer batted out to right, ending yet another scoreless frame. And Hacker gave up the first run of the game in the bottom of the sixth, sending us into the top of the seventh inning trailing the Braves 0-1. Hacker kept us in it through the seventh and eighth innings, but we went into the top of the ninth trailng still 0-1, and to that point Buhl had been virtually unhittable. And it stayed that way -- he put us down one, two, three and we lost this one in a 1-0 shutout heartbreaker.
Hacker did everything he could, but he just was out-dueled. He took the loss in a complete game, falling to 11-5 with a 2.57 ERA, giving up just seven hits and the earned run, with seven strikeouts against two walks. Fondy had our only hit of the game but we had our chances, having been walked five times. It just wasn’t in the cards. We’ll see if Klippstein can do any better tomorrow. The loss ended a ten game run streak for Willie Mays, who tonight couldn’t get the ball out of the infield.
JULY 8, 1953 . . . Mays had a triple in the top of the first with two outs, but Banks hit a fly to far right that was an easy catch, stopping us from scoring in our first frame. In fact, we had runners in scoring position in the first three innings but failed to convert, putting all the pressure on Klippstein to remain perfect. We finally scored a run in the top of the fourth on a Milwaukee error, with Hank Sauer reaching second and Ernie Banks scoring to put us up 1-0 with no outs, and the shortstop dropped a throw with two outs, allowing Sauer to score and make it 2-0. Two errors, two runs. Not bad! Mays hit another triple in the top of the fifth and Banks drove him home with a single, increasing our margin and giving Klippstein more room to deal. Klippstein threw 123 pitches in eight innings and was gassed coming into the bottom of the ninth with our 3-0 lead still intact, so Don Newcombe came in to handle the final three outs, and after a scare when he gave up a hit on his first pitch, he got three quick outs including a game-ending double-play, to help us win this one 3-0!
Klippstein got the win, improving to 6-2 with a 4.76 ERA, going eight innings with five hits, six strikeouts and a single walk. Newcombe earned his third save by giving up just one hit on eleven pitches to close the game out. Randy Jackson had three hits but was left stranded every time, while Willie Mays had two hits to score a run. Ernie Banks scored a run and batted one in despite not getting a hit due to Braves errors.
We have a day off, and then we play four games in three days against the Reds in Cincinnati. Then, at long last, we reach the All-Star break. We head into that series four games over .500 at 43-39.
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