[jksander]

AUGUST 30, 1955 . . . Philly comes into this game on a 12-game winning streak and they’re only ten games out, with our magic number to clinch now holding at 11. Hy Cohen (25-4, 1.45 ERA, 278.2 IP, 255 K’s, 0.70 WHIP) pitched today against Gordon Jones (9-4, 3.77 ERA, 93.0 IP, 98 K’s, 1.17 WHIP). The first four innings went quickly, over in barely an hour, as both teams combined for four hits with no errors and no runs. Nothing changed in the fifth -- but in the top of the sixth Al Kaline got a single into left field, our third hit of the game, and with two outs they walked Robinson, giving us our first runner in scoring position since the first inning! Rosen promptly struck out swinging, however, sending us into the bottom of the inning still knotted up scoreless. We went into the top of the ninth still scoreless, and with two outs and men on first and second, Willie Mays stole third, his 15th stolen base of the year, to get into position. But Del Crandall flew out to right to end the frame, sending Cohen out to get us into extras. A flyout and a strikeout had us on the verge of escaping the inning, but Earl Torgeson got a base hit to get safely on base. Cohen walked Red Schoendienst, but then successfully got the final out, sending this one into extras still knotted 0-0!

We remained in a deadlock through the 10th and the 11th, with Cohen staying in as he continued to pitch very efficiently -- both teams went into the top of the 12th with three hits each, but with Philadelphia going to its third pitcher to start the inning. Al Rosen got a hit to start out the inning, but Daniel Howard hit into a double play, and Del Crandall grounded out to first. Cohen stayed out for the bottom of the 12th and got two outs, before finally admitting he was worn out and we went to the pen, bringing out Sandy Koufax! Richie Ashburn hit one straight to Robinson for the third out, and we were heading for the top of the 13th for the second time this month! With one out in the top of the 13th, Koufax was walked, but Kaline popped out to first, and Banks flew out to left. Jesus H. Christ! Willie Mays got a hit into center to start the top of the 14th, and with one out Rosen reached first base on balls, putting Mays in scoring position. Daniel Howard walked the bases loaded, and Crandall popped out to center, deep enough to finally put a run on the board as Mays crossed home plate, a big smile on his face. Danny Lynch got a hit into the outfield that was deep enough to send Rosen around to score a second run, and once Koufax struck out swinging, we were able to go into the bottom of the inning leading 2-0. But Koufax kept us on a razor’s edge, giving up two hits in a row as we started warming up Epitacio Torres and Harry Dorish just in case. Dale Mitchell hit into a double play, leaving Alvin Dark on third with Earl Torgeson coming back up to the plate. But Koufax had icewater in his veins, getting a nice, easy groundout to first to finally end this one as a 2-0 Cubs victory after 14 innings and nearly four hours on the field.

Hy Cohen all but won himself the Cy Young with this performance alone -- 11.2 innings of three-hit ball for Cohen, with three strikeouts and just one walk in the longest no-decision I’ve ever seen, bringing his ERA down to 1.39 on the season. Sandy Koufax got the win, improving to 7-3 with a 2.1 inning two-hit one strikeout performance, helping complete the shutout and bringing his ERA down to 2.25. We outhit the Phillies just 6-5, and no one hit twice for either team. Mays got a hit for a run, Al Rosen hit and walked twice for the other run, and Crandall and Lynch each batted in runs. The win drops our magic number to nine and puts the Phillies at 11 games back with two head-to-heads left and 18 total games left on our schedule.