[jksander]

MAY 3, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (4-0, 2.35 ERA, 46.0 IP, 41 K’s, 0.78 WHIP) is fully rested and ready to go on three days’ rest, and will be pitching tonight against the Giants’ starter Seth “Moe” Morehead (2-0, 2.11 ERA, 21.1 IP, 18 K’s, 0.84 WHIP). The Giants took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third, when Jim Gilliam hit an RBI triple to drive Dusty Rhodes in to score. We got our second out via flyout to center, with a double play completed on a great throw to Crandall at home plate to get us out of the inning without further incident. Baker hit a two-run double in the top of the fifth to flip-flop the lead, putting us ahead 2-1! We loaded the bases in the top of the sixth, a run scoring on an Al Rosen flyout to left, heading into the bottom of the sixth with a 3-1 advantage. It stayed that way down to the end, with Sandy Koufax coming in to close it out. He opened with a pair of strikeouts, gave up a hit down the foul line at right, and then allowed a hit into the right field corner by Claudio Solano, who made it to second and put two runners in scoring position. But a grounder to Rosen at first ended it as another 3-1 Cubs win! That turned into a true high leverage test, and Koufax passed with flying colors.

Saul Rogovin improved to 5-0 with a 2.17 ERA, giving up just four hits with eight strikeouts, a walk and just the one earned run. Koufax, who has become our de-facto closer after just a few weeks of action, gave us a two-hit inning with two strikeouts, bringing his ERA down to 2.51 through 10 appearances and 14.1 innings. We only got four hits in the entire game, but took six walks, led again by Gene Baker with two hits and two RBIs. Robinson walked and scored a run on the ground, and Del Crandall got a hit and a walk to score a run.

MAY 4, 1955 . . . Game two of thre against the Giants, and we’ve got Hy Cohen (5-1, 1.90 ERA, 52.0 IP, 34 K’s, 0.67 WHIP) pitching against New York’s Jack Harshman (2-3, 3.41 ERA, 37.0 IP, 19 K’s, 1.65 WHIP). In the bottom of the second with two outs, Red Wilson put the Giants up 1-0 with a solo blast to right, his third of the year, Cohen’s first hit of the game. But both pitchers were on fire this afternoon, and heading into the fifth inning we were tied up 0-0 with only one hit per team -- that second inning homer starting to look more and more costly. Gene Baker led off with a line drive single to center in the top of the fifth but we left him stranded, and Cohen gave up his second hit in the bottom of the fifth, ANOTHER solo homer to Wilson, who put the team up 2-0 with his second homer of the game. A third run scored on an RBI single by Jim Gilliam, and we went into the top of the sixth in unfamiliar territory, trailing 3-0 against the Giants on their home field. Frank Ernaga got his first homer of the year, blasting it over the right field wall to put us in the mix, down 3-1 in the top of the eighth. Del Crandall came in to pinch hit for Cohen, but he couldn’t get anything out of the infield. They walked Kaline and Maris, bringing up Ernie Banks ... and with the count 3-2 with one out, a wild pitch allowed both runners to advance, giving Banks a real chance with two in scoring position. Instead, they used the open base to walk him, bringing up Elston Howard. We brought in Jackie Robinson to hit for Howard, and he flew out to deep left field, still managing to drive Al Kaline in to score! Gene Baker struck out swinging, but we were back in this one, trailing 3-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth with Koufax coming in to pitch. Koufax performed admirably, but we were unable to find a hit in the top of the ninth and the Giants came away with a 3-2 win as a result.

Cohen took the loss, falling to 5-2 with a 1.98 ERA, giving up just four hits, with six strikeouts and two walks, giving up three runs (two earned) in the seven inning effort. Koufax gave up a hit and nothing else, bringing his ERA down to 2.35. We matched them 5-5 for hits, but our eighth inning rally wasn’t enough. Gene Baker had two hits, and Ernaga and Robinson each batted in runs, with Ernaga scoring one as well. Al Kaline took a walk but had no hits and scored a run on the ground in spite of it.

MAY 5, 1955 . . . Robinson’s contract extension came through today, and he’s been very public about how he’s excited to be here for the rest of his career, knowing that not many teams were going to want to take such a long term risk at this stage of his career. Our fans, of course, are over the moon about it. We’re investing $510,000 over four years to keep him here through age 40, and even if his skills decline, his clubhouse leadership can’t be overvalued.

Tonight we played the Giants in game three of our series, our loss last night pulling Philly to within a game and a half of us as we will be heading into a four-game set at Pittsburgh (12-12) this weekend. Tonight Robert Diehl (3-0, 1.82 ERA, 39.2 IP, 23 K’s, 0.96 WHIP) got the start against Al Worthington (1-2, 3.60 ERA, 20.0 IP, 16 K’s, 1.40 WHIP). Jackie Robinson got our first hit of the game in the top of the fifth, and Roy Sievers then hit a two-run homer to right field to put us up 2-0, his third homer of the season! Out of nowhere we’ve got ourselves a solid lead! Jerry Bunyard got a hit in the top of the sixth, stole a base, and then moved to third on a wild pitch with Robinson at the plate. Robinson flew out to center, but Bunyard was able to get in safely at home to make it a 3-0 lead. Way to manufacture a run! Roy Sievers then hit his second homer of the game, a solo blast to left that put us up 4-0. An infield RBI single by Don Blasingame got the Giants on the board in the bottom of the sixth, but we got it back in the seventh on a flyout by Diehl which brought Elston Howard around to score, Howard having a solid game with his bat while playing right field on a day off from catching. Diehl stayed out for the bottom of the ninth, but we brought Koufax in with one out and men on first and second, and he ended the game on a strikeout and a groundout to first, securing the 5-1 victory!

Robert Diehl improved to 4-0, lasting 8.1 innings with seven hits and one earned run, striking out four and walking one batter as his ERA improved to 1.69. Koufax, coming in with two potential runs on base, earned his 7th save of the season, taking a high leverage situation and coming out of it with two quick outs, no hits, and his ERA improves to 2.25 on the year.