[jksander]

JUNE 10, 1955 . . . Sandy Koufax (0-1, 2.37 ERA, 30.1 IP, 16 K’s, 1.52 WHIP) took the mound tonight against Johnny Podres (6-5, 4.27 ERA, 86.1 IP, 64 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) in our first of four games against the Dodgers at Ebbetts Field. Koufax struggled in the first inning to find his rhythm, and Roy Campanella put the Dodgers up 1-0 with an RBI single, and with two outs Frank Thomas batted in two more with a standing double before Sandy could get that third out. Al Rosen got us on the board with a solo homer in the top of the second, his ninth of the season, and Koufax got us through innings two and three without incident. Ernie Banks batted in a run in the top of the fourth, Willie Mays coming around to score from second, with Jackie Robinson advancing into scoring position. Del Crandall dropped a shot into left, loading the bases, and Al Rosen flew out to right, driving in the tying run! Koufax, with two outs, drove a bullet into center field, putting us up 4-3, and Kaline got his 25th RBI with a double that scored another. By the time Roger Maris grounded out to first we’d scored four and taken a 5-3 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth. An error by Rosen, a wild pitch and a single by Sandy Amoros put Koufax in a tough spot in the fourth, and he loaded the bases on another error. With Porterfield still warming, Pee Wee Reese hit a run scoring single that drove Frank Thomas in to score, but Sandy Amoros tried to steal home and was called out for our second of the inning, with the score now 5-4. Bob Porterfield came in, two outs, men on first and second, and got one popped up straight to Baker to end the inning with the lead intact.

Podres walked Mays and Robinson to start the top of the fifth, and Ernie Banks got a hit into center that drove in a run. Al Rosen drove in another on one out, putting Banks into scoring position. With the bases loaded, Bob Porterfield got a hit into left field, keeping the bases jammed and scoring our eighth run of the day, and we went into the bottom of the fifth leading 8-4. Jackie Robinson legged out a triple in the top of the sixth, and Del Crandall hit his 13th homer of the year (tying with Banks!) and put us up 10-4. Al Rosen hit a dinger of his own to give us back-to-back four-baggers, giving him ten on the year as we increased our lead to seven runs. Willie Mays hit HIS 12th homer, a solo blast to left in the top of the seventh, and Ernie Banks took back his team lead with 14 homers, blasting one to left to give us a 13-4 lead as we headed into the seventh inning stretch. Bob Porterfield stayed in to start the eighth, but we went ahead and brought in Bob Purkey after he surrendered a no-outs two-run homer to Carl Furillo to make it 13-6 in the bottom of the inning. Robinson had another triple in the top of the ninth, scoring on a flyout by Ernie Banks, and Purkey stayed in to close out the blowout, getting us three efficient outs as we won this one 14-6!

Bob Porterfield lasted 3.1 innings with three hits, a strikeout, a walk and two earned runs, giving him a 3.63 ERA through 17.1 innings this year, putting him two shy of last year’s full season total as a Cub. Bob Purkey gave us six solid outs, no hits, one strikeout, closing the game out and bringing his ERA down to 1.50 through 12 innings. Koufax’s second start did not go as planned, but he made it through 3.2 innings with just five hits, though two walks plus the unfortunate string of errors in the fourth really hurt him. He finished with four runs (three earned) and his ERA slipped to 2.91 through 34 innings over 22 appearances. But we outslugged them 18-8, with Al Rosen hitting two homers, Crandall, Mays and Banks adding one each of their own. Banks and Rosen combined for seven hits and eight RBIs between them, and only Roger Maris and Bob Purkey went hitless.

JUNE 11, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (7-4, 2.34 ERA, 107.2 IP, 109 K’s, 0.81 WHIP) pitched tonight against Billy Loes (3-5, 5.04 ERA, 69.2 IP, 30 K’s, 1.25 WHIP). Charlie Maxwell subbed into the lineup today in place of Maris, who struggled in his last appearance and asked for a day to rest, so Maxwell will get his first start as a Cub at left field. Maxwell wound up getting a hit in his first at-bat, driving a hard shot into left field as he safely took first with one out. But Mays and Robinson struck out, keeping us scoreless. And there weren’t a lot of scoring opportunities from there -- we entered the top of the sixth inning tied 0-0 with just six hits between the teams. Willie Mays opened the inning with a double and they walked Robinson. But Banks batted out to left. Crandall loaded the bases, and finally Al Rosen was able to bat in a pair of runs with a double, sending us into the bottom of the sixth with a 2-0 lead! We loaded the bases in the seventh as well, but Del Crandall batted out to left to end the inning without any insurance. Rogovin struck out his 10th batter in the bottom of the seventh, but then let the Dodgers on the board with a solo blast to center by Frank Thomas. He got the outs to keep our lead safe, and he got us through the eighth as well, and with two outs in the top of the ninth, Jackie Robinson hit his 13th homer of the year to increase our lead to 3-1! Consuegra came in to close things out, and he set them down quickly to get us out of the game with a 3-1 win heading into tomorrow’s doubleheader.

Rogovin made it through eight four-hit innings, striking out a dozen batters with no walks, giving up just the one earned run via the Frank Thomas homer. He now has a 2.26 ERA and an 8-4 record on the year through 16 starts. Sandy Consuegra earned his fifth save, striking out a batter and giving up no hits or walks to stay perfect thorugh 11 innings over 10 appearances. Not bad for a guy who will turn 35 in September! We had nine hits, led by Kaline’s three (though he was stranded each time). Jackie Robinson had a hit and two walks, scoring two runs and driving in another! Al Rosen also had a hit with two RBIs as we picked up our 45th win of the season, giving me my 250th win as the manager of the Chicago Cubs, keeping us four games up on the Phillies (41-18).