[jksander]

JUNE 14, 1955 . . . Before we take on the Phillies again, we’ve got a three-game homestand hosting the New York Giants (24-38) as we hope to keep our win streak going and go into the weekend series on a high note. The Phillies, meanwhile, will be putting their win streak on the line against Milwaukee (22-38) on the road, which has the Sun-Times buzzing about the potential of both streaks continuing into the four games this weekend. What a battle! We’ve won seven of ten games so far this year against the Giants, with Diehl, Rogovin and Koufax most likely to pitch in this series (Cohen and Pascual will go in games one and two this weekend, leaving us plenty of depth to handle the doubleheader on Sunday.

Today Robert Diehl (9-2, 1.71 ERA, 105.1 IP, 51 K’s, 0.76 WHIP) got the start against Giants pitcher Jack Harshman (6-6, 3.91 ERA, 99.0 IP, 57 K’s, 1.48 WHIP). Roger Maris got himself a triple in the bottom of the first with a weak grounder that managed to slow-roll all the way into the right field corner, but we couldn’t get him around to score. The Giants got on the board in the top of the second, Pidge Browne coming out with an RBI single to give them a 1-0 lead. Kaline tripled but came up empty in the bottom of the third, only our second baserunner of the afternoon, but they walked Mays and Robinson to start the bottom of the fourth, giving us our first glimmer of a scoring hope. Al Rosen got a hit with two outs that finally batted in the tying run, and we went into the top of the fifth knotted 1-1. We loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh but came up empty, heading into the eighth still tied up 1-1, bringing Harry Dorish in to try and keep this tight game from getting away from us. He allowed two baserunners but we were able to get out of the top of the inning with no score, Robinson got on board but was caught trying to steal second and Banks flew out to right, keeping this one in heart attack territory for our fans. Sandy Consuegra came in, top of the ninth, one out and a man on first, getting the runner out at second and then striking out pinch-hitter Zeke Bella to send us into the bottom of the inning knotted 1-1 with a chance to walk it off! Crandall batted out to left, but Al Rosen got himself on first with an infield single. Gene Baker walked, bringing up Consuegra with just one out. He tried to lay down a bunt but wound up hitting into an inning-ending double play. We’re going for extras! In the bottom of the 10th, Al Kaline got himself a base hit but turned it into a double as he slid safely into second. And Roger Maris created himself some future Cubbie lore by hitting a two-run walkoff homer into the throng of Bleacher Bums, winning this one for us 3-1 in extra innings!

Sandy Consuegra came into this one and gave us 1.2 innings with two strikeouts and no hits, keeping his ERA perfect at 0.00 and winning his third game of the year, improving to 3-0! Diehl had a great night with just four hits in seven innings, striking out six batters and giving up just the one earned run to keep his ERA at 1.68. And Harry Dorish came in with the game in a tight spot, and though he walked three batters through 1.1 innings, he got out of it with no hits, improving his ERA to 1.16 through 23.1 innings in 15 appearances. We outhit the Giants 7-4, led by Roger Maris’s two run homer (the homer being his second hit of the game) and by pairs of hits from Al Kaline (one run scored) and Al Rosen (one run batted in).

I’ve been told I was crazy to keep Consuegra in to bat in the bottom of the ninth when a pinch-hitter could have walked it off and saved us the extra inning, but I’d rather have him back out there pitching and win it in extras if necessary -- though we’re only 7-5 in one-run games, we’re undefeated in extra innings so far this year.
 
JUNE 15, 1955 . . . Sandy Koufax (0-1, 2.91 ERA, 34.0 IP, 18 K’s, 1.56 WHIP) got the start today, hoping this would be the day he gets through enough innings to qualify for his first decision as a starter. He’s had 81 and 72 pitches in his two starts, but has yet to get through the fifth inning in either start. He’s up against Ted Abernathy (2-7, 5.68 ERA, 82.1 IP, 50 K’s, 1.74 WHIP). This will be Koufax’s first start at Wrigley Field, and just hs eighth appearance here -- most of his pitching has been done in tough road enviroments. So fans here in the friendly confines are really looking forward to seeing him pitch well.

Ernie Banks hit a triple in the bottom of the second, but he tried for home on a flyout by Crandall and didn’t beat the tag. Koufax got through the fourth inning with just a pair of hits, but he’d thrown 69 pitches with three walked batters, so keeping him in for the fifth was going to be a battle if we couldn’t get some run support, still knotted 0-0 heading into the bottom of the inning. Mays got himself a single in the bottom of the fourth, and Jackie Robinson laid a hit down just past the fielder, bouncing off the center-field wall to give him an RBI double, giving us a 1-0 lead and some breathing room with just one out. They walked Banks and Crandall, loading the bases, and Al Rosen hit a flyout to center that still drove in a second run. So Koufax had some room to work in the top of the fifth, up 2-0. Unfortunately he walked a pair, and with Ferrick warming up in the bullpen, a wild pitch advanced both runners into scoring position. But a strikeout and a groundout got him through the inning, lead intact, and we were able to sit Ferrick down and prepare Bob Purkey to get us through a couple innings instead, with Koufax at 88 pitches and ready to come out of the game after giving us five. Purkey got us through the next three innings without incident, setting Consuegra up nicely for a save. He came in, top of the ninth with a 2-0 lead, and promptly loaded the bases ... what the hell, man? A flyout to center held the runners in place, and a throw from Rosen at first to Gene Baker at second picked off a runner there, allowing Bob Skinner to reach first safely, driving in a run from third -- two outs! A flyout to center field iced it as we escaped with a 2-1 victory by the skin of Consuegra’s teeth.

Sandy Koufax took the win, improving to 1-1 on the season with a 2.54 ERA, but he’s got a lot of work to do on his control. He only gave up two hits and struck out three batters, but he walked five -- without those walks, he wouldn’t have had 88 pitches in five innings and could have stayed in longer. Purkey got himself his first hold of the season, lasting three innings with no hits and a strikeout, and despite giving up a hit and two walks in the ninth, Consuegra got his sixth save of the year -- and his one earned run through 22 pitches only dropped his ERA to 0.66 through 13.2 innings, so he was probably due a rough inning and he still came out of it on top. We outhit them 5-3 in a pitcher’s duel, led by Robinson’s hit for a run and an RBI, as well as by Rosen’s sac-fly that batted in our only other run.

Our streak inmproves to six in a row as we improved to 49-14 on the season, gaining a game on Philadelphia (44-19) whose 10-game winning streak came to an end this afternoon in a 5-1 loss at Milwaukee.

JUNE 16, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (8-4, 2.26 ERA, 115.2 IP, 121 K’s, 0.79 WHIP) got his 17th start of the year this afternoon, facing down New York’s Seth Morehead (6-3, 3.12 ERA, 83.2 IP, 71 K’s, 1.25 WHIP). After a stretch of five wins in a row in late April / early May, Rogovin’s gone 3-4 since then, but he’s coming off a four hit, 12 strikeout win at Brooklyn, and he’s had five games this year where he’s struck out more than 10 batters, including his team-record 16 K effort on May 25th against St. Louis here at Wrigley. So there’s no reason to expect anything but a great matchup between these two today, a cloudy cool day on the north side.

Kaline hit a triple in the bottom of the third, and Robinson had a double in the bottom of the fourth, but we remained knotted 0-0 heading into the fifth inning, the pitching and fielding on both sides keeping this one an intense battle. Rogovin, however, was on a whole different plane from the rest of us ... by the end of the fifth inning he already had 11 strikeouts and had only given up one hit! When Roger Maris hit a three-run blast into the right field bleachers, his seventh homer of the season, you could see the wind going out of the Giants’ sails -- this one looked way out of reach. Rogovin tied his own Cubs’ strikeout record in the top of the eighth by striking out Willie Miranda, and he broke it, TYING THE NL REGULAR SEASON RECORD, by striking out Zeke Bella to end the inning! That record fell in the top of the ninth, as Rogovin stayed in to complete the 3-0 shutout win, a real pitching gem!

Rogovin improved to 9-4 on the season with a 2.09 ERA, throwing 132 pitches -- 91 of them strikes! -- as he gave up three hits against 18 strikeouts, with no walks! We had eight hits ourselves, led by Roger Maris’ three-run homer that was our only offense of the afternoon. Al Kaline had two hits for a run on the ground, Mays had two hits and was stranded both times, and benchwarmer Danny Lynch, subbing at second, got himself a hit and a run on the ground as well. We won our seventh in a row, and will go into the four-game series against Philly with 50 wins, still on pace for a major-league record 120 victories! The Phillies, meanwhile, lost their 20th of the season, bringing them to Wrigley on a two-game skid and trailing us by six games. Considering we’ve gone 6-1 against the Phillies despite margins of 3-1, 5-3, 4-1, 1-2, 3-1, 5-2 and 4-2, we should be able to expect two things -- close games, and for the Phillies to be absolutely GUNNING for us. We’ll play them eight times in July, twice in August and then one final time at Wrigley in September, and these 15 remaining rivalry games could decide who wins the NL.