[jksander]

MAY 17, 1955 . . . Hy Cohen (6-3, 2.04 ERA, 75.0 IP, 56 K’s, 0.72 WHIP) pitched today against Philadelphia’s Carl Simmons (2-3, 3.73 ERA, 41.0 IP, 11 K’s, 1.29 WHIP), with our team having prevailed in our first three matchups against the Phillies this season. Cohen gave up a walk and then struck out Willie Jones. But Richie Ashburn nailed a blistering line drive into the right corner, a solid double that put two in scoring position just minutes after first pitch. Cohen got the second out and should have had a third, but Al Rosen committed another error at first on a bobbled catch, allowing Smoky Burgess to reach safely and giving Earl Torgeson the chance he needed to make it home -- Phillies take an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first, an unearned run for Cohen. But Red Schoendienst hit an RBI single into left field, another unearned run that shook Cohen’s confidence even if it didn’t muss up his ERA. Cohen struck out the side in the fourth inning, staying razor sharp, just needing our bats to wake up and give him some support to make up for that first inning. The Cubs got on the board in the bottom of the seventh, a Gene Baker triple driving Al Rosen in to score, putting us within a run! Roy Sievers came in to hit for Cohen, who had thrown 122 pitches through seven innings, taking a walk (good patience at the plate!) to bring up Kaline with two on, a man in scoring position. And he hit a good one to left, but narrowly missed a homerun, the ball falling safely into the left fielder’s glove -- out number three. Sandy Koufax came in, getting two strikeouts and catching a runner stealing second, throwing 17 pitches to get through the eighth and keeping us in this one, but we couldn’t buy a hit in the eighth, bringing him back out in the ninth hoping to give us one more shot by keeping the Phillies from adding anything. Strikeout, flyout, groundout and he did just that, with Harry Dorish ready in case we had to take this into extra innings. But we went three up, three down, and the Phillies took game one by a slim 2-1 margin.

Cohen was clearly frustrated having to come out after seven, but slow start aside, he can’t let wanting a Cy Young keep him in games at the risk of his long term health. He fell to 6-4 with the loss, giving up six hits and two unearned runs, striking out seven against one walk, improving his ERA to 1.87. We need him more for the long haul rather than just for one win. Sandy Koufax gave us two good innings, striking out three and walking one with no hits or runs, improving his ERA to 1.69 through 15 appearances. Philly outhit us 6-5, walking us only three times, and we just plain came up short on offense. Gene Baker hit twice and batted in a run, bringing his average up to .336 through 125 plate appearances, and he kept us in this game. Al Rosen hit once and scored our only run.

MAY 18, 1955 . . . Robert Diehl (6-0, 1.23 ERA, 66.0 IP, 32 K’s, 0.80 WHIP) pitched today against Robin Roberts (6-2, 2.12 ERA, 72.0 IP, 33 K’s, 0.81 WHIP) in a matchup of star pitchers in their prime, and Diehl met with the press before the game and announced that he had inked a one year extension to keep him in Chicago through next season with a bump from $28,000 this year to $$93,000 next year as we stay a step ahead of arbitration.

Philly got a hit in the top of the second but a double play cut the runner off at the knees. But Alvin Dark got a solid hit in the top of the fifth and put the Phillies on the board 1-0 with a deep homer to center, just his second blast of the year. Del Crandall hit his 10th homer of the year, however, to tie us up 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth, our first hit of the entire afternoon! Kaline got a hit into left in the bottom of the sixth, and Maris hit a frozen rope to right, putting us up 3-1 with a two run blast (his third of the year). Jackie Robinson got his first hit of the game in the bottom of the seventh, but he was tagged out trying to steal second in a double play. Diehl stayed in for the top of the ninth, but with one out and two men on, we had to bring Koufax in to put out the fire before it could spread. He got a double play on just the second pitch, saving the 3-1 victory!

Diehl improved to 7-0 with a 1.21 ERA with just six hits with three strikeouts, two walks and a run scored, while Koufax earned his eighth save with minimal effort, improving his ERA to 1.64 with those two outs. Philly outhit us 6-4, but the three walks we got helped, and the homers by Maris and Crandall were enough to seal it. The split series keeps us solidly ahead of Philly heading into a three game road set at Milwaukee (12-22, 15.5 GB). In roster news, we’ve gone ahead and sent Frank Ernaga down to AAA Los Angeles, bringing Bob Purkey up to be an additional reliever and potential spot starter as we head into the heart of summer ball.