[jksander]

SEPTEMBER 2, 1953 . . . Cavarretta hit a towering homer to right to put us quickly up 1-0 in this one, and in the second inning he hit to deep right, batting in our second run of the game as well! Ernie Banks tripled to start the sixth inning, but Baumholtz batted out to third which made for an easy throw to home -- no score. I brought Willie Ramsdell in out of the bullpen for the eighth inning with the lead still 2-0, and he got three quick outs to keep the lead. Unfortunately he choked in the ninth inning, letting two men on and then surrendering a three-run walk off homer, ending this one in about the worst way imaginable. I’m still trying to wrap my head around how quickly it happened.

Ramsdell took both the blown save and the loss, falling to 0-1 with a staggering 20.25 ERA over 1.1 innings. Two hits and a walk were enough to completely unravel him. Klippstein lasted seven innings but was already over 100 pitches, so despite five hits I pulled him. In retrospect I should have brought Bob Kelly in to close the ninth inning, but it’ll be my job to handle the Chicago press about the managerial flub when we get back to the city. We outhit the Pirates 8-7, dominating the game until the final frame -- Cavarretta had two hits with a run and two RBIs, while Chapman and McCullough each added a pair of hits as well.

SEPTEMBER 5, 1953 . . . Today is our first of three aginst Cincinnati with a double-header tomorrow. We’re only six games out of first and two games out of second, so the Milwaukee games on Monday are going to be critical. So I have a tough managerial choice to make bearing in mind the double-header tomorrow. I want Hacker and Klippstein for the Milwaukee games, so the plan in place is to start Minner today, followed by Rush and Newcombe tomorrow. With the added depth in the bullpen (Ranmsdell’s vomitus three days ago nonwithstanding) we should have the arms to handle what the last-place Reds throw at us. And if not, I’d rather have Hacker and Klippstein pitching against Milwaukee regardless.

The Reds got on board tonight with a sac-fly to center that drove Bobby Adams home from third in the first inning, but we played the long game well and were able to tie it up in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice to center that drove Phil Cavarretta in to score. Minner was on his A-game, getting through five innings on barely fifty pitches. Eddie Miksis loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth with one out, and Hank Sauer walked in the go-ahead run for a 2-1 lead as we headed for the seventh. Minner remained dominant, until the bases were quickly loaded in the eighth inning (two errors contributing) and suddenly we were knotted 2-2 with three on and only one out. But he got out of it without further damage and we went into the bottom of the eighth with room to get the lead back. They dealt well with the middle of our order, however, and we went into the ninth needing a pitcher with ice in his veins. Minner got two outs but put a man on second, and I had the tough choice to make -- bring Vern Fear in to get the final out? Or let Minner finish what he started? In the end I chose the starter over our often leaky bullpen, and Minner got the third out to keep us tied 2-2. McCullough singled to start the bottom of the inning, and Sauer hit a shot to deep left, rolling to the corner and allowing him to reach second, sending McCullough to third. No outs, so a base hit wins this one ... Paul Minner took a shot to deep center, sacrificing himself but allowing McCullough to score, winning this one for us 3-2!

Minner threw 120 pitches tonight to complete the game, winning and improving to 10-9 on the season with a 4.70 ERA. He gave up seven hits for two runs (one earned) with four strikeouts and a walk. We outhit Cincinnati 9-7, with Miksis and McCullough each contributing a pair of hits. Cavarretta, Banks and McCullough scored runs, while Miksis, Sauer and Minner batted them in.
 
SEPTEMBER 6, 1953 . . . Double header day, day one of two ... gonna be wild playing four games in two days and trying not to sabotage our shot at staying in the playoff hunt. Bob Rush pitched the first game, and Willie Mays gave us a 1-0 lead in the first, thanks to his 39th homer of the year! Bob Rush pitched well early, getting four strikeouts in the first two innings, but he surrendered two runs off a double in the top of the third before getting out of the jam with a third out. But Fondy hit the equalizing solo homer, his 11th of the year, to make it 2-2 in the bottom of the third, and in the bottom of the fifth he did it AGAIN, soloing to left to give us a 3-2 lead! Bob Rush came out for the top of the sixth, getting an out and then putting men on the corners before Consuegra came in and got both outs without letting the runners move! Willie Mays then hit HIS second homer of the night, another solo blast to center that put us ahead 4-2, and Kenneth Chapman blasted one to left that made it 5-2! Six innings, five homers, five runs -- you’ve got to love the Windy City as long as you’re not a pitcher!

Consuegra came back out in the sixth and got a run, but then gave up three hits and a run, so Fear came in to try and calm things down, with one out and men on the corners. He promptly struck the next batter out, and then got a grounder to first to get out of the inning without blemishing Consuegra’s record or the scoreboard, and we got the homer party going again in the bottom of the seventh, when Fear came up to bat and hit his first solo homer, bringing our score to 6-3! Fear surrendered a run in the top of the eighth but held the lead allowing us to prep Bob Kelly to come in for the ninth inning save. And Kelly set them down one, two, three via flyout, strikeout, groundout, and we came out of game one with a 6-4 win!

Bob Rush got the win, improving to 12-10 with a 4.22 ERA on three hits, two runs and six strikeouts, though he walked five, a big reason I had to pull him after just 5.1 innings. Consuegra and Fear each got holds, giving up six hits and two runs between them, and Kelly took his 13th save of the year with a no-hit, one strikeout 11 pitch ninth inning. Fondy had two hits, both homers, to give him two runs and two RBIs, same as Mays (who also had a walk). In a game where both teams had nine hits each, the fact that the ball was flying out for us and staying in the infield for them made all the difference. Here’s to the wind carrying just as well in game two!

Fondy singled to open the second game, and Cavarretta hit a standing double that drove Fondy all the way around to score, putting us ahead 1-0 with no outs! Willie Mays then tripled to score a second run, and Ernie Banks hit a run-scoring double to make it 3-0! Chapman hit a fly-out to center that advanced Banks to third, Sauer walked, and then Miksis kept it going by nailing a ball to deep center, reaching second and scoring two runs to make it 5-0! Bruce Edwards flew out to center, advancing Miksis to third, and Newcombe flew out to right, ending the inning but ensuring the top of our rotation would be coming back up to begin the second inning! Newcombe got out of the first inning with only a dozen pitches thrown, while Max Surkont came back out for the Reds in the bottom of the second having thrown nearly three times that many. Banks hit a run scoring double that scored two, but he got picked off trying to make it a triple, and we went into the top of the third leading 7-0!

Newcombe gave up a run scoring double in the top of the third, but we’d rung the Reds up so badly they already had a reliever out in the bottom of the third who had thrown 22 pitches back in the second inning. The scoring calmed down, but we remained dominant offensively and defensively. Though he hadn’t thrown a strikeout heading into the sixth, Newcombe also hadn’t walked anyone, so he was fresh as a summer breeze having thrown just 42 pitches in five innings. He struck out two and pitched into a fly-out to get out of the sixth in even better shape, and it stayed that way the remainder of the night as the 27-year-old starter had one of the best games of his career and we held tough to beat the Reds 7-3 even after two ninth inning runs scored. We completed the sweep against the Reds and will head into the double-header tomorrow against the Braves with our best two pitchers ready to go!

Ninth inning letdown aside, Newcombe had a great night, improving to 9-3 with a 3.81 ERA thanks to ten hits, three earned runs and three strikeouts (no walks), throwing just 98 pitches all game. Eddie Miksis led the offense with three hits for two RBIs, while Ernie Banks added two hits for a run and three RBIs. Cavarretta and Mays each had two hits as well.

With the two wins today we are now tied with Brooklyn for second place in the NL, just four games back of Milwaukee. So tomorrow’s games could change A LOT. It’s still technically a four-team race here in the NL, with Philly (75-61) sitting 10-1/2 games back. But in the AL, everyone’s out but the Yankees and the Guardians, and the Yankees only need four wins or four Guardians losses to clinch.