[jksander]

JUNE 20, 1954 . . . Tonight Joe Dobson had his second start since becoming a Cub, up against Russ Meyer (4-5, 3.55 ERA, 101.1 IP, 36 K’s, 1.14 WHIP). He went six innings in his first start, a 3-2 win over the Giants a week ago, and with the doubleheader likely to strain our bullpen more than usual, we’re hoping for at least that strong an effort this afternoon.

Cavarretta got us going on a great note with a solo homer in the top of the first, his fifth of the year, to put us up 1-0. Mays got himself a single, and then Ernie Banks hit a double to put them both in scoring position, and Al Rosen walked his way into a bases loaded situation with two outs. Gene Baker hit a perfect shot up the middle between infielders, scoring two more runs to make it a 3-0 lead, all before the Dodgers even took a swing. But Dobson quickly gave up a solo homer to Duke Snider to put Brooklyn on the board via his very first pitch, though he didn’t let it stop him from getting out of the inning without further damage. He struggled much more in the second inning, giving up three consecutive walks and giving up a run on a wild pitch with just one out. We got a runner out at home to get the second out of the inning, but with runners on the corners Duke Snyder hit his second homer of the game and put the Dodgers up 5-3. Dobson got the final out but it was a disasterous start to the game by any measure. Dobson got two outs in the bottom of the third but then gave up a two-run homer to Jackie Robinson that put us in a 7-3 hole and his night was over, with Vern Fear coming in to get us out of the inning with the final out.

Willie Mays opened the top of the eighth inning with a three-bagger, but Mays was tagged out at home plate after a fly-out by Banks, allowing the Dodgers to get out of the frame on a double play to kee the 7-3 lead. Vern Fear had pitched more than four innings of solid baseball, but we had to bring Tom Ferrick in for the bottom of the eighth and would still need a frenzied comeback in the ninth if we were going to come out of this one with a win. Ferrick gave up a base hit and then got two quick flyouts, before Jackie Robinson hit a double to put runners on second and third. Thankfully Pee Wee Reese grounded to third, and a quick out got us into the top of the ninth with just the four runs to overcome. Russ Snyder got one up the middle with one out, safely reaching first base and bringing up Joe Collins, who pinch-hit and got one off the center-field wall to come out with a double and putting two runners in scoring position! Jerry Bunyard pinch-hit for Ferrick and walked, loading the bases and bringing up the top of our order, still with just one out! Al Kaline hit one right past the second baseman to drive in a run and keep the bases loaded, but Cavarretta struck out swinging, bringing up Mays with the bases loaded and two outs. They walked him, scoring a run and pulling us within two -- bases still loaded! -- and Roger Maris came up to the plate with the game on the line. Unfortunately he hit it up the middle straight to the center fielder, who got the final out as the Dodgers beat us 7-5 in the first game.

Joe Dobson took the loss, falling to 0-1 as a Cub, dropping his ERA to 6.30 overall with a four-hit seven-run 2.1 inning meltdown. Vern Fear piched 4.1 innings of two-hit ball, striking out a pair and walking another, improving his ERA to 1.33 on the season through 23 innings, and Tom Ferrick got through an inning with just a pair of hits, improving his ERA to 3.38 overall. But we weren’t able to come through with the comeback runs we needed despite outhitting Brooklyn 9-8. Cavarretta had two hits for a run and an RBI, Willie Mays had a hit for a run and an RBI, and Gene Baker hit once and batted in two.

In game two, Hy Cohen (6-1, 4.19 ERA, 68.2 IP, 42 K’s, 1.12 WHIP) faced off against Brooklyn’s Billy Loes (6-4, 3.97 ERA, 99.2 IP, 54 K’s, 1.44 WHIP) in the final game of the series, with us needing a win to split the four-game series. Maris and Rosen hit back to back doubles in the top of the first, with Maris coming around easily to score and put us up 1-0. But they were quick to tie things back up 1-1 with a solo bomb to right by Gil Hodges, keeping the home crowd’s noise levels at an electric level. They took the lead in the bottom of the third on a solo homer by the pitcher, Loes, his first of the year, and Jackie Robinson then made it 3-1 with a solo bomb to left of his own. Cohen pitched well from there but was simply a victim of bad luck and poor pitch placement, and we went into the top of the fourth needing to dig out of a two-run deficit. And it continued in the bottom of the fourth -- a fourth solo homer, this time to Billy Cox, made it a 4-1 lead, and Cohen was getting rattled, though he stayed in to get us our outs and he was still fresh, having thrown only 62 pitches. But I had to start warming up Harry Dorish just in case, because his control simply wasn’t there.

Cohen got one out in the bottom of the fifth and then unleashed a solo homer to Gil Hodges, his second of the game, and that was enough. Three pitches in the innning for one out and then a fifth homer? You just don’t have it tonight. Harry Dorish came in to relieve him, and aside from a double hit off his sixth pitch, he got the outs we needed. Ernie Banks reached base on an error in the top of the sixth, then made it to second on a balk, and an RBI double by Baker with two outs pulled us within three, down 5-2 against the Dodgers. Dorish stayed in for the bottom of the sixth but gave up two hits in a row with no outs, and we brought in Fear to hopefully keep more runs from scoring. But one of Dorish’s runs scored on a passed ball, before a flyout to center allowed a quick throw to home, getting Jackie Robinson out at the plate, which prevented further extensive damage. But because we didn’t have anyone warmed up fast enough, Fear threw 66 pitches in pursuit of his three outs in that inning -- it all happened so fast, and yet it seemed to take forever.

This game was out of control and our bats were dead. Roger Maris walked the bases loaded following Cavarretta reaching base on a hit-by-pitch, but with two outs Al Rosen hit into an easy play from the shorstop to second, ending the inning with nothing to show for it. Tom Ferrick came in for the seventh and, against his first pitcher faced, gave up a solo homer to Carl Furillo on a SEVENTEEN-PITCH AT BAT ... and our bullpen was officially in shambles. Ferrick threw 40 pitches but got us out of the inning without any more runs scoring, but I had to bring Consuegra in to finish the game, and this was about as bad a game to have for the second of a double header that I can imagine. Consuegra got us our outs as quickly as possible, and by the time Maris struck out to end the game with us as 7-2 losers against the Dodgers, we were all just ready to get the f--- on the bus.

In a two hour and 49 minute game that felt like it took five hours, there was nothing for us to be happy about. We lost the series to the Dodgers 3-1, and though they only out-hit us 11-10, we were outscored by five and our pitchers exploded like a nuclear test at Los Alamos. Five pitchers combined for 197 pitches on our side, and though the number of runs didn’t completely shellack our bullpen stats, I worry what this kind of game can do to overall morale. We’re going to need to bounce back and have our bats give our upcoming starters some run support, or we’ll be having to bring up extra guys from the minors to give some rest to our regulars.

Hy Cohen fell to 6-2 and gave up five homers on seven hits, with just two strikeouts and a walk over 65 pitches in 4.1 innings of work. In retrospect I should have made him stay in and take his medicine -- our bullpen was just not ready to take on that workload in a doubleheader situation. And really, the four relievers only gave up two hits, but they blew their arms out having to throw more than planned, and that’s something I am going to have to watch out for as a manager as the season progresses. Cavarretta and Maris each had two hits, and Maris scored one of our two runs. Rosen and Baker batted in runs, and Banks had a hit and a run scored as well.

Thank God for a day off as we travel to Philadelphia for three and then to play the Giants for three games over the weekend. Let’s not forget, we still lead the NL by 9.5 games. We need to keep that winning mentality and not fall into a funk over our first series loss in so long I can’t remember.