[jksander]

AUGUST 14, 1953 . . . Hacker gave up an RBI triple in the top of the first, and gave up a second run on a flyout to center. And against Warren Spahn, that was a very, very dangerous thing to do. Eddie Miksis hit a sac-fly to center, driving in a run in the bottom of the fifth, and Warren Hacker then hit a line drive up the middle to score a run of his own, tying the game up 2-2! But Dee Fondy hit into a double play, keeping us from taking the lead. Hacker loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, but was able to get out of it with no damage, leaving the score tied 2-2 heading into the stretch. Hacker made it through nine innings, but we were still knotted heading into the bottom of the ninth, with Spahn still on the mound. Hank Sauer reached first safely on a bobbled catch, then Jackson hit a single to left to give us two men on and no outs. Kenneth Chapman then walked, loading the bases, at which point a Bruce Edwards fly-out to center won the game by driving in the go-ahead -- that’s 12 in a row, we win this one 3-2, absolutely stunning the Braves and leaving Spahn completely gutted.

Hacker improves to 21-5 with the win, his ERA now at 2.42 thanks to just seven hits and two earned runs, to go with six strikeouts and a trio of walks. We outhit the Braves 9-7, with Sauer leading the way with three hits and a run scored. Cavarretta had two hits but was left stranded both times, and Bruce Edwards had a hit, scored a run and batted in one.

AUGUST 15, 1953 . . . Ernie Banks got this one going in the bottom of the first with a two-run homer to put us up 2-0! But Klippstein gave up a solo homer in the top of the top of the second, though he kept pitching like a demon with eight strikeouts through seven innings to keep our lead at 2-1. I brought Vern Fear in for the top of the eighth, but he gave up the tying run and then surrendered an absolutely staggering three-run homer to put us in a three-run hole, stunning the 20,000+ fans who were packing the grandstands. We got Bob Kelly warmed up in time to get the final out, but the damage was done ... we’d have two more at-bats to find our way back into this one.

In the bottom of the eighth, McCullough hit a run-scoring single to pull us within two, but two quick outs followed and we’d have to wait for one last chance in the ninth. Bob Kelly got us the outs we needed, but did we have any juice left in the tank? Frank Baumholtz pinch-hit for Kelly with one out, reaching first on a grounder to right, but Fondy flew out to left, giving us our second out. Ernie Banks hit it hard up the middle, reaching first and putting the potential winning run, Willie Mays, at the plate ... and he flew out to right, ending our streak and handing us a frustrating loss in a critical game. We’ll see how we bounce back tomorrow in the rubber match.

Klippstein only gave up six hits in seven innings, striking out eight batters and giving up the one earned run, but he threw 102 pitches and was quickly fading -- we couldn’t leave him in and risk injury. Vern Fear took the loss and his third blown save, lasting just two outs and giving up four hits for four earned runs, bloating his ERA all the way up to 2.84. Bob Kelly got our last four outs, gave up no hits, but our bats couldn’t do enough in the end to make up for the disaster that was our eighth inning. Ernie Banks batted well in the second spot in the lineup, scoring twice and batting in two, while Mays and Chapman each had two hits.

We fell to 69-48 with the loss, but considering we were below .500 for much of May and June, being 21 wins over .500 is still an achievement worth celebrating. But now we need to fight back and make sure this loss was just a blip and not an omen.