[jksander]

JUNE 13, 1954 . . . Warren Hacker (7-2, 2.31 ERA, 97.1 IP, 50 K’s, 0.98 WHIP) took the field against Ted Abernathy (0-4, 4.35 ERA, 39.1 IP, 15 K’s, 1.75 WHIP) in the first game of this afternoon’s doubleheader against the Giants. Banks and Rosen sat out today to rest, but would be available off the bench if required. Roger Maris hit a moonshot to left field in the bottom of the first inning, putting us up quickly 2-0 with his third homer of the year. Maris hit a standup double in the fourth but we weren’t able to bring him around to score. He came up to bat again in the bottom of the fifth, this time with the bases loaded, no outs, but he struck out. But Gene Baker hit one deep into the right field corner, allowing three runs to score on a Baker double, and Elston Howard doubled into the left corner, taking advantage of his killer speed to turn it into a run-scoring triple. Warren Hacker hit one right up the middle with two outs to bring Howard home and make it 7-0 with the top of the order back up to bat, though Kaline batted to the shorstop to bring the inning to a merciful close.

Hacker got off a perfect bunt in the bottom of the seventh to load the bases, no outs, and Kaline got a shot into right that kept them loaded and drove in our eighth run! Cavarretta hit a sac-fly to left that scored our ninth, and Mays hit a low sharp grounder that stayed fair ... barely! ... to drive in two more! Roger Maris got his second double of the game to make it 12-0, and Baker hit a blistering grounder to right that bounced off the fielder’s glove, turning into a run scoring double and sending this one into the realm of football shutouts, our lead at 13-0 with just one out. Elston Howard flew out to center for our second out, and Bill Serena came back up for the second time this inning, driving it into left field for a run-scoring single! Chapman flew out to center for our final out and we went into the top of the eighth up by a staggering 14-0 margin. Phil Cavarretta added a solo homer in the eighth, and Hacker closed out his complete game shutout as we blasted the Giants 15-0 in the first of two.

Hacker improved to 8-2 with a 2.12 ERA thanks to a four-hit shutout during which he threw NINE STRIKEOUTS against no walks, getting through the game on just 95 pitches -- a model of efficiency! We outhit them 19-4, led by Gene Baker with four hits for two runs and four RBIs, while Roger Maris had three hits for two runs and three RBIs (bringing his average to .228 and his slugging percentage up to .500!) Al Kaline also had three hitsw, scoring three times and batting in one, while Willie Mays, Bill Serena and Warren Hacker each added a pair. Hacker has had a stellar year from the plate, with a .268 average through 46 plate appearances, with eleven single base hits, four runs and six RBIs. We batted through the order in both the fifth and the seventh innings, giving the Giants no room to breathe at all, even without Ernie Banks and Al Rosen.

Johnny Klippstein was up in the rotation, but we decided to have long reliever / spot starter Joe Dobson pitch for us in the second game. Dobson has only thrown 1.1 innings for us so far since coming from Boston, but overall he’s 3-7 with a 3.26 ERA through 88.1 innings, with 47 K’s and a 1.27 WHIP. He’ll face Ruben Gomez from the Giants, who is 5-6 with a 4.69 ERA through 94 innings, with 40 K’s and a 1.53 WHIP. Rosen, Banks and Maris are sitting out this one, so Frank Baumholtz is getting a relatively rare (this year) start and will be batting cleanup. Joe Dobson got a hit in the bottom of the second inning, reachiung first and driving home Bill Serena from third, who had walked earlier in the inning. That put us up 1-0 on the Giants, and Dobson pitched very well for us, holding a no-hitter until the fifth inning, and the shutout through six innings, at which point we brought in Vern Fear.

But Fear gave up a single and a run-scoring triple to tie the game up 1-1 in the top of the seventh, and a single to right drove the go-ahead run in to put the Giants up 2-1. He got the final two outs, but we went into the bottom of the inning needing to score. With Cavarretta on first and just one out, we brought Roger Maris in to pinch hit for Baumholtz and take over at left field, and the wind robbed him of a homer, blowing in just enough for their center fielder to catch it for out number two. Gene Baker took a walk, and Al Rosen came in to hit for Bill Serena and take over at third, but he flew out to left and ended the inning with us still down 2-1. Fear stayed out for the eighth, redeeming himself with three quick flyouts, and he hit a double with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to spark a rally -- Al Kaline hit sharply to left, driving in the pitcher for the tying run, and Sandy Consuegra came in for the top of the ninth to try and keep us in this one.

Consuegra got three quick outs, with a single hit given up thanks to a slow throw to first between a pair of strikeouts. Willie Mays took a walk to start the bottom of the ninth, and Roger Maris got a hit just past the infield to give us two men on and no outs. But Baker struck out and Rosen hit a flyout to center that kept the runners on first and second, so we brought Ernie Banks in to pinch hit for Chapman with a hit most likely ending it. But he struck out, and we went to extra innings, with Gene Baker moving to second and Banks staying in at shortstop. Though tiring, Consuegra got us through the inning with three back to back outs, and if the game was to go into further innings we warmed up Klippstein to close it out if necessary. And it was, as we got three outs in a row ourselves, sending us into the 11th inning knotted 2-2. Klippstein got through the top of the 11th with just 10 pitches thrown, and in the bottom of the inning Cavarretta took a walk and Willie Mays got one out to left that put Cavarretta on second in scoring position. But Roger Maris hit into a double play that sent Cavarretta over to third, bringing up Baker ... who hit one just past the shortstop to walk this one off 3-2!

Joe Dobson didn’t get a win in his first Cubs start, but he lasted six innings with just two hits, with three strikeouts and two walks, keeping his ERA at 0.00 as a Cub and improving it to 3.05 overall. Vern Fear got his first blown save, but he stayed in and impressed with just three hits in two innings through 48 pitches -- though they created two earned runs, dropping his ERA to 1.76 on the year. Still very respectable. Consuegra threw two innings and 28 pitches, giving up just one hit with three strikeouts, improving his ERA to 2.03. And Klippstein earned his ninth win of the year, throwing a no-hit inning with a strikeout, improving his ERA to 1.15 through 93.2 innings. He’ll likely still start our next game, against Pittsburgh, having barely broken a sweat this evening.

Russ Snyder is back in the lineup for the upcoming road trip. I’m sending Frank Baumholtz down to AAA, and I’m calling up a backup shortsop, Jerry Bunyard, to give us some infield depth on our 25-man roster. He’s played two games for us this year, getting one hit in a pinch situation, and he has hit .297 with five doubles and a triple with 13 runs scored since going down to AA Des Moines. We’ll be playing three games at Pittsburgh, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, with four games in three nights against the Dodgers over the weekend. Another off day and then we’ll face Philly and the Giants in back to back three game series, finishing out the month with two games at Milwaukee on the 29th and 30th. We head into the road trip with a 45-15 record, best in the majors by a wide margin and leading the NL by a full 12.5 games over the Redlegs in Cincy.