[jksander]

JULY 17, 1955 . . . Camilo Pascual (11-3, 2.65 ERA, 118.2 IP, 127 K’s, 0.99 WHIP) pitched in the first game of today’s doubleheader, up against Philly’s Bob Lemon (11-6, 3.16 ERA, 153.2 IP, 72 K’s, 1.15 WHIP). Roger Maris hit a two-run homer in the top of the third to put us up 2-0, but in the bottom of the fourth, Pascual threw a fastball to Del Ennis, who hit a two-run blast into the right field bleachers to tie the game up 2-2, his 19th homer of the year. Maris hit another two-run blast in the top of the fifth, however, to put us back on top, and at the least, the fans were getting to see some offense today without anyone punching each other. In the bottom of the sixth, the Phillies got a run back thanks to an RBI single by Smoky Burgess, but Pascual got us out of the inning without surrendering the lead. Unfortunately he was not so lucky in the seventh, walking their pitcher and then giving up a two-run homer to Earl Torgeson, putting Philly up 5-4 and forcing me to start warming up Purkey, even as Pascual got the final out safely. And though Purkey did a great job closing out the game, we were unable to get anything going on offense, dropping this one to our rivals by a 5-4 margin.

Camilo Pascual took the loss, falling to 11-4 with a 2.86 ERA, giving up eight hits and five runs with six strikeouts and a walk through seven innings. Bob Purkey handled his inning well, giving up just a single hit, and his ERA improved to 1.71. The Phillies outhit us in this one 9-5, and only Maris’ two homers kept us in this one -- he scored two runs and batted in four. Robinson had a hit and a stolen base but was unable to manufacture anything.

For game two of today’s doubleheader, Hy Cohen (19-4, 1.37 ERA, 197.0 IP, 175 K’s, 0.66 WHIP) says he’s ready to go on three days’ rest. So we’re putting him up against Philly’s Curt Simmons (7-5, 3.02 ERA, 128.1 IP, 45 K’s, 1.18 WHIP) as we try to get back into the lead in this series. Jackie Robinson got us going with a two-run homer on two outs, putting us up 2-0 in the top of the first and giving him his 30th homer of the season. This time there would be no “no-no” talk, as Cohen gave up a hit to Alvin Dark for a single in the bottom of the second, but he struck out Jim Dyck to get out of the inning. In the top of the fourth, Gene Baker used his excellent plate discipline to draw a walk off Simmons, the pitcher’s fifth of the day. Purkey then successfully bunted AND reached first on a throwing error, which gave us two men on and no outs. Baker tried to steal third, but was caught, though it allowed Purkey into scoring position. Cohen hit a high hopper for an easy out at first, but Purkey advanced, bringing up Al Kaline with two outs. He struck out swinging, and we headed into the bottom of the inning still leading 2-0, but having taken their starter to 70 pitches through four innings of work. Carl Simmons stayed out for the top of the seventh, and Al Kaline got himself a hit into center field, stretching it into a double, and Maris, taking the count to 2-2 with one out, swung on a fastball and wound up hitting out to right, holding Kaline at second. Willie Mays took a walk, and Simmons got the hook, two outs, two on, after throwing more than 120 pitches. Jackie Robinson grounded out to second and we went into the stretch still leading 2-0.

Their reliever, Gordon Jones, got through the eighth on some really solid pitching, keeping our guys looking and sending us into the bottom of the inning with Hy Cohen still going strong, having thrown 80 pitches. He got two quick outs, then walked catcher John Turk, and then got the pitcher on a flyout to left, sending us into the ninth still ahead by the runs we’d scored in the first inning. Purkey and Cohen quickly batted themselves out, bringing up Kaline, who got a hit up the middle, only our fifth of the night. Maris got an infield hit to bounce just right, allowing him to race safely to first, giving us two on with a chance at some insurance runs. But Willie Mays hit one straight to the right fielder and we were headed for the bottom of the ninth, with Cohen staying in to complete his game. With one out, pinch-hitter Sandy Burgess got a hit up the gap to take his base, and then Ritchie Ashburn hit one to third, with the throw to second picking off Burgess, though Ashburn safely made it to first. We intentionally walked their cleanup man, Del Ennis, and Red Schoendienst got a hit up the gap to load the bases! **** ... we made a visit to the mound, and Cohen shook it off, saying he knew what we needed. He threw a curve to Eddie Waitkus who took the bait, swung, and hit it right to Kaline in right field, ending this one as a 2-0 Cubs victory!

This was another of our tightly contested rivalry games with the Phillies, and we were lucky to have had the Jackie Robinson two-run homer in the first inning, because the rest of the game was neck and neck with every hit contested. Cohen won his 20th game of the year, improving to 20-4 with a four-hit shutout, throwing 99 pitches with six strikeouts and just two walks, improving his ERA to 1.31 through 206 innings. Willie Mays added a hit and two walks, scoring a run, and Kaline had two hits with nothing to show for them. Thankfully we had the lead ten minutes in, and despite some stress in the ninth, we never relinquished it.

JULY 18, 1955 . . . With a chance to win this series outright, Saul Rogovin (15-5, 1.99 ERA, 181.1 IP, 207 K’s, 0.76 WHIP) stepped up and said he wanted the ball, so he’ll be pitching today against Philly’s Bob Rush (9-5, 3.01 ERA, 140.2 IP, 111 K’s, 1.10 WHIP). Rush came out pitching fire, and Saul Rogovin gave up a homer to Torgerson on just the sixth pitch of our half of the inning, quickly putting Philly up 1-0. Robinson got a double to start the second inning, then stole third with the count 2-1 against Banks. Banks flew out to left for out number one, but Robinson was quick and made it home to tie things up 1-1. The Phillies went back up 2-1 in the bottom of the third thanks to an RBI double by Willie Jones, and Ashburn batted in a run with a single, making it 3-1 Phillies heading into the top of the fourth.

Robinson got hit by a pitch with one out in the top of the fourth, and we had to pull him from the game! I had to move Al Rosen over to 3B and bring in to take Robinson’s base and play 1B the rest of the way. God, I hope he’s not seriously injured ... we were unable to do anything the rest of that inning, and suddenly this hole looked a whole lot deeper. Rush kept us on our heels through the seventh inning stretch, still trailing 3-1, but Rogovin did what he could to keep us within striking distance -- we just needed some hits! Al Rosen took Rush to a full count to start the top of the eighth before striking out swinging. Baker did the same, though he grounded out to first to keep things interesting. He struck Rogovin out swinging as well, and we went into the bottom of the eighth desperately needing three outs so we could at least have a shot for the top of our order. Richie Ashburn got a double, however, and was able to reach third on a fly-out by Del Ennis. But Rogovin didn’t even blink, throwing a changeup that led to a groundout at first to end the frame. We came into the top of the ninth needing two runs to prolong this game ... Rush struck Kaline out swinging, and then did the same for Maris. And he wound up striking out the side, as we dropped this one 3-1, still wondering whether we’ve lost Robinson for an extended period of time. Call this Philly series a split.

Bob Rush was PHENOMENAL in this one, holding us to two hits the entire way, striking out 14 of our batters and making us, in general, look like chumps. Rogovin did his best, striking out seven, and nobody walked for either side the entire night. But he gave up eight hits for three earned runs, falling to 15-6 with a 2.04 ERA. Rush just had our number the whole night. Robinson had a hit before his hit-by-pitch injury, stealing a base and scoring our only run. Crandall had our only other hit, with Ernie Banks contributing a sac-fly. We fell to 76-19 with the loss, and the Phillies stay within 13.5 games of us.

JULY 19, 1955 . . . Good news! Robinson’s injury was a bruised elbow, and he should be able to play in our Dodgers series starting tomorrow evening.