[jksander]

MAY 6, 1955 . . . Game one of a four game roadtrip to Cincinnati is tonight, and we have Saul Rogovin (5-0, 2.17 ERA, 54.0 IP, 49 K’s, 0.76 WHIP) up against Redlegs starter Bobby Shantz (2-1, 5.47 ERA, 26.1 IP, 20 K’s, 1.48 WHIP). Rogovin had a rough third inning, giving up three hits in a row to put a Cincy run up on the board, with runners on the corners and no outs. A second run scored on a flyout to center, but he was able to limit the damage and get the next two outs on flyouts as well, getting us into the fourth inning with a 2-0 deficit to make up. Rogovin pitched well enough to keep us in the game, but our bats were completely dead ... nothing was getting out of the infield, and we couldn’t string anything together to build a rally. We went into the top of the ninth still trailing 2-0, and they set Mays, Robinson and Banks down like they were rookies, a dominant Cincinnati win as we just couldn’t find our offense.

Rogovin took the loss in a complete game shutout, falling to 5-1 with a 2.18 ERA, giving up just six hits and two earned runs with seven strikeouts and one walk. Gene Baker had two hits and Ernie Banks had one, but none of them even got into scoring position. Al Kaline didn’t hit, but was walked twice and stranded.
 
MAY 7, 1955 . . . Tonight we had Camilo Pascual (2-1, 3.09 ERA< 23.1 IP, 18 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) on the mound facing down former Cub pitcher Paul Minner (0-1, 4.96 ERA, 16.1 IP, 5 K’s, 1.35 WHIP). Willie Mays hit a solo shot to left with two outs, his 6th homer of the year, putting us ahead 1-0 in the top of the first. Ernie Banks hit a triple in the top of the second but was caught trying to score on am Al Rosen flyout to right. Roger Maris added an RBI single though in the top of the third, batting in Al Kaline from third base to put us up 2-0. But Pascual gave up a three-run homer to Ted Kluszewski in the bottom of the third to surrender our lead. Pascual gave up another run in the bottom of the fourth, and he loaded the bases, forcing me to bring in Bob Porterfield ... who then gave up a hit that Al Kaline couldn’t catch, it went over the wall in the corner, and f--- it, we’re down 8-2. GRAND SLAM. Porterfield got his out on the next pitch, getting us out of the fourth, only getting charged for the one run (the other three went on Pascual), but the damage was done. We scored a run in the top of the seventh on a Jackie Robinson flyout to right that allowed Porterfield to score from third, and Ernie Banks then hit an RBI single to make it 8-4. Tom Ferrick came in, bottom of the seventh, one on and two outs, and got us out of the inning without anyone scoring. Ferrick got us through the eighth, but we’d need four runs to get back in this one in the top of the ninth. Robinson took a walk, and Crandall managed to hit a double to send him to third, but Al Rosen flew out to right and we lost this one, our second in a row, 8-4, outhitting them 10-8 but not managing to do anything once we gave up all those fourth inning runs.

Pascual drops to 2-2 with the loss, with a now-bloated 5.00 ERA thanks to four hits, two strikeouts and four walks leading to seven earned runs. Porterfield gave us three good innings after Pascual’s early exit, two hits for one earned run with a strikeout, and Tom Ferrick lasted two innings with two hits and a walk. Banks and Baker each had two hits, with Banks batting in one of our four runs. Roger Maris got a hit with two walks, scoring a run and driving in another.

We have a doubleheader against the Redlegs tomorrow which now has big implications -- we’re 20-6, but the Phillies are only two games back, and the Redlegs (now 14-9) are 4.5 games back and in a real position to make this a crowded race in the NL. It’d be nice to get some wins back here on the road before we head home to Wrigley.

MAY 8, 1955 . . . For the first game of today’s doubleheader we’ve got Hy Cohen (5-2, 1.98 ERA, 59.0 IP, 40 K’s, 0.69 WHIP) pitching against Tom Poholsky (2-1, 3.91 ERA, 25.1 IP, 13 K’s, 1.58 WHIP). In the top of the first with two outs, Willie Mays got a hit down the line in right field, making it safely to first, but Jackie Robinson couldn’t get his hit out of the infield. Elston Howard hit a double in the top of the fifth, our first real scoring opportunity of the day, but we left him stranded as well, the score knotted 0-0. Cohen let two men on in the bottom of the inning but got out of the jam without anyone scoring, and this one was setting up to be a real barnburner. Ernie Banks doubled with one out in the top of the seventh, making it to third on a Rosen groundout to first, but Elston Howard popped up to the catcher and it stayed scoreless heading into the stretch. But we couldn’t buy a hit, and this one stayed knotted heading into the bottom of the eighth, with Cohen nearing 100 pitches. He came in and got two strikeouts and a flyout, however, and we went into the ninth with the heart of our order coming up. Maris batted out to center, but Willie Mays got a hit into right, ekeing out a base hit, and Jackie Robinson finally got himself something to hit, deep into center, and he legged out an RBI triple to put us up 1-0! Al Rosen added an RBI single to make it 2-0 with two outs, and we went into the bottom of the inning just needing to hold them off. Cohen got three quick outs to end this one and save the bullpen for the second game, as we finally got a win against the Redlegs 2-0!

Cohen improves to 6-2 with a 1.72 ERA, shutting out the Redlegs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and a walk. We only had seven hits ourselves, with Mays notching a pair and scoring a run, Elston Howard adding two hits, and Jackie Robinson had his hit for a run and an RBI. Al Rosen added the insurance we needed, getting an RBI off a hit as well. Only one player walked on each team, with incredibly efficient pitching all around.

In game two, Robert Diehl (4-0, 1.69 ERA, 48.0 IP, 27 K’s, 0.96 WHIP) pitched against Redlegs starter George Susce (2-3, 2.77 ERA, 39.0 IP, 11 K’s, 0.85 WHIP). Jackie Robinson got a base hit in the top of the second, and used his still superior speed to steal second, but Rosen and Howard batted out and left him stranded. Robinson hit again in the top of the fourth, reaching first with a blast down the right field edge that wasn’t enough for extra bases, and again the batters behind him were unsuccessful. Two hits, nothing to show. This game again lacked offense, just a pair of hits apiece in the first five innings as we remained knotted 0-0. In the top of the sixth, Willie Mays walked with two outs, stealing second with the count 2-1 against Robinson. But Robinson wound up batting out to center, and we stayed locked up with nothing. And it stayed that way, just like in today’s first game ... Diehl went into the bottom of the eighth having thrown an efficient 64 pitches through the first seven innings, and he got us into the ninth inning still knotted 0-0 as fans on both sides grew restless.

Roger Maris walked to start the ninth, and Willie Mays got himself a hit into left field to give us a man in scoring position without an out. They walked Robinson to give us loaded bases, and Banks flew out to center but allowed just enough room for Maris to slide in for the go-ahead run! Al Rosen hit into a double play to end the frame, and we held a slim 1-0 lead with Diehl coming in for the bottom of the inning. But Diehl gave up a hit to start the inning, and then the runner moved into scoring position on a flyout to right. Gus Bell got a hit into right field to drive the runner to third, and then Elmer Valo hit into a fielder’s choice, with Diehl picking off the runner at second and holding Whitey Lockman at third. Two outs, Robert Broome at the plate, and a popup to short wins this one for us by a 1-0 margin! It wasn’t the dominating series we’d hoped for, but coming out of this four game set with a split, and with the two games today having been such tight defensive affairs, I am happy with the way it turned out. We’ll return to Wrigley with some momentum on our side, and the hope that our bats will awaken so they all don’t have to be nailbiters like this one!

Robert Diehl improves to 5-1 with a six hitter tonight, striking out two and walking no one in a 90 pitch complete game shutout. It wasn’t always pretty, but damned if he didn’t get the job done! His ERA through 57 innings is now 1.42. The Redlegs outhit us 6-3, but we made ours count, walking four times to give us a bit of an edge. Jackie Robinson hit twice but failed to score. Roger Maris scored a run on the ground off a walk, and Ernie Banks had a sac-fly that scored our run. Neither had a hit, but we were able to manufacture the needed run nonetheless.

Finally we get to head back to Chicago, with a day off before two games against Brooklyn (10-14), two against Pittsburgh (14-14) and three against the Giants (12-15). We’ll then have a day off, with two more against Philly (19-8) before a three game road set against Milwaukee (7-17). The month then finishes with three games against St. Louis (5-18) and three against Milwaukee before a May 30th doubleheader on the road against St. Louis. So the last 11 games of the month will be against the worst two teams in our league. At 22-6 we hold a 2.5 game lead on the Phillies for the NL lead. In the AL, Cleveland (17-7) holds a 3.5 game lead on the Yankees (13-10) the Tigers (14-11) and the Red Sox (15-12).