[jksander]

JULY 31, 1955 . . . Robert Diehl (13-4, 1.82 ERA, 163.0 IP, 77 K’s, 0.82 WHIP) started today’s first game, facing down Philly’s Don Newcombe (16-6, 2.50 ERA, 194.1 IP, 129 K’s, 0.91 WHIP). Earl Torgeson hit a solo homer in the top of the third to put the Phillies up 1-0, but Al Kaline hit a three-run blast in the bottom of the inning, his 10th of the year, to put us up 3-1. Robinson drove in a fourth run with an RBI single, and we went into the stretch leading still by the 4-1 margin. Epitacio Torres came in to pitch in the top of the eighth, for his first major league bullpen appearance, getting us through the inning with a pair of hits but no one scoring. Sandy Koufax came in to pitch in the top of the ninth, getting two popups and a strikeout to ice the 4-1 victory. Onward to game two and let’s put these Phillies in our rearview!

Diehl improved to 14-4 with a 1.80 ERA, giving up seven hits and a walk for a single earned run. Torres got his first hold, giving up two hits but getting out of the eighth inning on 15 pitches. And Koufax earned his 16th save of the season with a strikeout and a walk, as we calmed things down and just played the way we’d been playing before the All Star break.

Bud Watkins (1-0, 1.80 ERA, 5.0 IP, 2 K’s, 1.60 WHIP) got the start in game two, up against Bob Rush (11-6, 2.79 ERA, 167.2 IP, 143 K’s, 1.03 WHIP). The Phillies got on board quickly with a two-RBI triple by Del Ennis, and Alvin Dark batted in a third run with a single before we got out of the top of the first. Red Schoendienst added an RBI single in the top of the third to make it 4-0. Roger Maris got us on the board with a solo blast in the bottom of the fourth, his 19th of the season, pulling us within three runs. Bob Purkey came in for the top of the sixth, and he handled himself well but Bob Rush hit a solo blast into left with one out in the top of the seventh to extend the Phillies’ lead to 5-1. Bob Porterfield came in with two outs and one on, getting us into the stretch trailing by four runs. Porterfield kept us from getting blown out any worse than we already were, but there was only so much he could do. We went into the bottom of the ninth still trailing 5-1, and though Jackie Robinson hit a solo jack to right with two outs to score a run, his 33rd homer of the year, we just didn’t have a rally left in us. The Phillies beat us 5-2 and split the series.

Bud Watkins fell to 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA, giving up six hits and four earned runs off three strikeouts and a walk in five innings. Purkey came back well from his recent injury, lasting 1.2 innings with a hit, a walk and an earned run, and Porterfield gave us 2.1 innings without a hit, striking out a pair. They outhit us 7-6, with Robinson (two hits, a run and an RBI) and Maris (two hits, a run and an RBI) leading the way. We fell to 85-24 on the season, 13-7 since the All Star break, and the Phillies (72-38, 13.5 GB) held their ground. With only three more games against them this season, their odds of overcoming us are slim, but with our magic number still at 32 I know this upcoming stretch in August is going to be where we need to put it all together and come through as a team.

Boston remains eight games up on the Detroit Tigers with a 66-38 record, and though there are others in contention in that league still hanging around, Boston has been the clear front-runner since late June and they look like they’re putting things where they need to be. The Yankees, however, are on a five-game winning streak, and though they are 11.5 games back and in fourth place, it’s never a good idea to count them out of it. Jackie Robinson was named NL Player of the Month, batting .369 with 10 homers, scoring 29 times with 36 runs batted in. Hy Cohen was named NL Pitcher of the Month, going 7-0 with a 0.88 ERA, striking out 58 and walking just nine batters while surrendering just 29 hits in 61.1 innings. And Sandy Koufax was named NL Rookie of the Month, going 2-1 with 10 K’s in 14 innings, with a 2.57 ERA.