[jksander]

AUGUST 5, 1955 . . . No days off, we’re right back at it, hosting the Brooklyn Dodgers (55-53) as we hang in there, battered, bruised and owners of an 88-25 record -- so don’t hear me acting like we’re struggling or anything. Camilo Pascual (12-4, 2.90 ERA, 142.2 IP, 156 K’s, 1.05 WHIP) took the mound today against Brooklyn’s Carl Erskine (2-3, 4.64 ERA, 75.2 IP, 34 K’s, 1.45 WHIP). Brooklyn got on board with an RBI triple by Sandy Amoros in the top of the second inning, and Bobby Morgan batted in a second moments later to give them a two run lead. Harry Dorish came in for us in the top of the sixth with two out and no one on, getting a strikeout, though the score remained 2-0 heading into the bottom of the inning. Willie Mays hit a monster of a jam over the center field wall to make it a 2-1 game with his 23rd homer of the year, the 101st of his career, and heading into the seventh this one was still a hard-fought battle. Dorish struck out the side in the top of the eighth, and Al Rosen pinch hit for him in the bottom of the eighth to start the inning, but he popped out to second. Kaline singled to right, and Banks hit a blazing line drive to center field, and Kaline came all the way around from first to score the tying run! Willie Mays hit a single to right that allowed Banks to get to third, and Banks scored on a flyout by Robinson to give us a 3-2 lead, our first of the game. Koufax came in and and shut things down immediately and we were able to hold on to the come-from behind 3-2 victory to keep our win streak going!

Camilo Pascual lasted 5.2 innings without a decision, giving up just four hits with two strikeouts and three walks, giving up two runs (one earned) and keeping his ERA at 2.85. Harry Dorish improved to 6-0, coming in for 2.1 innings without a hit, striking out five in the process and improving his ERA to 0.83 through 54 innings! Koufax then came out and, with the lead in hand, got his 17th save with three strikeouts and a walk, a dominant performance that simply adds to the Rookie of the Year buzz building around him. We outhit the Dodgers 8-4, led by Banks and Mays who each had two hits, a run and an RBI.

AUGUST 6, 1955 . . . Hy Cohen (22-4, 1.45 ERA, 236.2 IP, 208 K’s, 0.70 WHIP) piched today against the Dodgers’ Connie Johnson (10-5, 4 SV, 3.59 ERA, 133.0 IP, 69 K’s, 1.35 WHIP). And for the second straight afternoon, Brooklyn picked up a two-run homer to start the game -- this time it was a two-run blast by Duke Snyder in the top of the first. This time we answered quickly, however. Kaline hit a massive solo blast to right, his 13th of the year, to pull us within a run in the bottom of the inning, and we went into the second inning trailing by just a 2-1 margin. Willie Mays tied us up at 2-2 thanks to his 24th homer of the year, a massive shot to left in the bottom of the fourth inning. Cohen hit a sac fly to left with the bases loaded moments later, driving in the go-ahead run, and we took a one run lead into the top of the fifth. But Gil Hodges hit a solo bomb into the bleachers at center to tie it up again 3-3, and in the blink of an eye Campanella added a two-run blast to right that put us right back in a 5-3 hole, the two-run blast coming on two outs. The Homer show continued in the bottom of the fifth, with Jackie Robinson getting a shot out of center for his 34th four-bagger of the season, sending us into the top of the sixth trailing 5-4. Cohen got us through the seventh inning, and Koufax came in for the eighth inning hoping we could keep the game within the one run margin long enough for our bats to wake up. But Bobby Morgan hit an RBI triple that brought a run in to make it a 6-4 margin, and Brooklyn added a solo homer by Campanella off of Epitacio Torres in the top of the ninth to make it a 7-4 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, Del Crandall picked up a hit into right and Ernie Banks singled, setting up Jackie Robinson for a single into center to load the bases! With two outs, Gene Baker nailed a shot into the left field corner, and just like that we’d tied it up with a triple! Joe Brovia came in to pinch hit for Collins, two outs, a man on second, and they walked him! Ed Bouchee came in to pinch hit for Epitacio Torres, and he batted into a fielder’s choice to end the inning and send us into extras, knotted up 7-7. Bob Purkey came in and got us three quick outs, and Kaline got a hit into right in the bottom of the inning, but we couldn’t make anything happen. Purkey gave up an RBI single to Duke Snyder in the top of the 11th that made the score 8-7, and it turned out that was enough. We tried to rally in the bottom of the inning, but a walk by Willie Mays wasn’t enough -- Brooklyn held tough and beat us 8-7 in 11 innings.

Cohen gave us seven innings with nine hits, nine strikeouts and five runs scored (three earned), dropping his ERA to 1.51 through 243.2 innings. Koufax came in for one inning but got dinged up, two hits and a walk for a run through 25 pitches, so Torres came in for an inning and gave up one hit (a homer) for a run. When the game went into extras, that left it to Purkey, who took the loss, falling to 3-2 with a two inning three hit one run effort. Both teams put up 15 hits apiece in this 11-inning marathon. Kaline led our team with three hits for a run and an RBI, while Mays hit once and walked twice to score and drive in a run. Baker had three hits and three RBIs, while Robinson added two hits and a walk for two runs and an RBI.

The series is now even with two games left during this homestand. We remain 14 games up on the Phillies, at 89-26.

We’ve moved Ed Bouchee down to AAA, making room for our latest pickup off the Waiver Wire, Daniel Howard. Howard, a 23-year-old left fielder, was waived by the Pirates, and he’ll give us a trustworthy fielder with good plate discipline to fill in while Maris is out with his injury. He’s only earning $12,000 for the year, so he’s an inexpensive option that keeps us from flailing at the position as we would if we had to keep doing “fielder by committee.”