[jksander]

SEPTEMBER 11, 1955 . . . Camilo Pascual (17-5, 2.64 ERA, 198.0 IP, 221 K’s, 0.99 WHIP) pitched today against New York’s Seth Morehead (10-11, 4.01 ERA, 186.1 IP, 121 K’s, 1.39 WHIP). Kaline’s injury was superficial, and he’s back in the lineup today still batting lead-off. Willie Mays put us quickly up 3-0 with a three-run blast to left, his 32nd of the year, and moments later Daniel Howard hit a two-run blast to make it 5-0 with his second of the season to make it 5-0, bottom of the first. And Jackie Robinson hit a grand slam in the bottom of the second to make this one a rout right out of the gate, Cubs leading 9-0 thanks to his 41st homer of the year! The bleacher fans were busy, as Howard then hit his third of the year and his second today, extending the lead to ten runs heading into the top of the third. Ernie Banks hit a three-run blast in the bottom of the third, his 35th homer of the year, and though the Giants got themselves a run off a Jim Gilliam RBI single in the top of the sixth, we had them in a 13-1 chokehold already so it made no difference. And Al Rosen knocked his 19th homer of the year out of the park in the bottom of the sixth to add another pair. We brought Tom Ferrick in for the last two innings, coming in for the eighth with a 15-1 lead, and we added another in the bottom of the eighth on a wild pitch to make it 16-1. Ferrick gave up one more run in garbage time, but we destroyed them 16-2 in the end.

Pascual improved to 18-5, giving up seven hits in seven innings with six strikeouts and one earned run, keeping his ERA at 2.59. Ferrick pitched two innings in a mop-up role, giving up four hits with a strikeout, two walks and an earned run, giving him a 6.35 ERA through 12 relief appearances. We out hit them 15-11, but had six homers so the game was a rout almost from the first pitch. Willie Mays was named NL Player of the Week, hitting .579 with three homers and 9 RBIs. He’s currently hitting .308 for the season, with 32 homers, 96 RBIs and 106 runs scored.

SEPTEMBER 13, 1955 . . . The Phillies came to town for our final matchup of the season, with a lot less riding on it now that they’ve been officially eliminated. But they’re 102-44 and playing for a win out of pride, having posted their best season since 1915. Robert Diehl (16-7, 1.88 ERA, 225.1 IP, 116 K’s, 0.90 WHIP) pitched against Robin Roberts (22-7, 2.87 ERA, 263.0 IP, 135 K’s, 0.82 WHIP). Philly got on the board pretty quickly, with Diehl struggling in the second inning, an RBI triple by Willie Jones and a flyout by Alvin Dark leading to a quick two runs for the Phillies in the top of the second. It can happen quickly in this game. The Phillies added an RBI single by Earl Torgeson in the top of the fifth, and we brought Lovett Geeslin in to pitch starting with the sixth inning. Alvin Dark got a double in the top of the seventh and eventually came around to score their fourth run, and Epitacio Torres came in for the top of the eighth with the lead still 4-0 for Philadelphia, and Tom Ferrick came in for the top of the ninth with the situation unchanged. He got two outs and then gave up a solo blast to Jim Dyck that made it 5-0 Phillies, sending us into the bottom of the inning needing a barrage of offense. Didn’t happen. We got a hit out of Mays, but the rest of the guys batted themselves out, giving Philly the 5-0 victory pretty much on a platter.

Diehl fell to 16-8 with a seven-hit one strikeout three run effort through five innings, giving him a 1.95 ERA. Geeslin looked solid in his two innings of work, giving up two hits and a run for a 4.91 ERA through 3.2 innings since being called up with the expanded rosters. Torres got through his inning in eight pitches, and Ferrick gave up a pair of hits and two walks along with the homer to Dyck. His ERA through 18 innings this year is 6.50, and though he’s signed a deal to be with us through next year, I suspect he may choose to retire once the season completes -- we all know, however, how hard it is to leave this game. Philly outhit us 11-4 today as Roberts pitched a four-hit shutout. Crandall had two hits for us, and Kaline and Banks each hit once. But we never got anyone into scoring position.

SEPTEMBER 17, 1955 . . . The Yankees have collapsed down the homestretch, losing three in a row to snap their two-week win streak, losing 4-3 and 0-1 at Yankee Stadium to the Detroit Tigers and then dropping an 0-2 stunner against Boston, ALSO at Yankee Stadium. They’re now 7.5 games back, and Boston will clinch on their next victory, either against the Yankees or in one of their last two against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway. We’ve got two against the Redlegs this weekend, and then five road games next week against the Cardinals and the Redlegs.

Tonight Hy Cohen (27-4, 1.32 ERA, 307.1 IP, 276 K’s, 0.67 WHIP) pitched against Cincy’s George Susce (13-16, 3.32 ERA, 249.2 IP, 103 K’s, 1.16 WHIP). Cohen struck out the first two batters and then gave up a solo homer to Ted Kluszewski, giving the Redlegs an early 1-0 lead. But we answered right back with a slam to left field by Ernie Banks, his 36th of the year, to tie us up 1-1 in the bottom of the first. Banks hit a three-run blast in the bottom of the second to make it 4-1 Cubs, giving him his 37th and second of the game, and a Robinson sac-fly to center drove in a fifth. We loaded the bases in the bottom of the third, and Kaline hit himself an RBI triple to make it 8-1 a complete blowout. Willie Mays hit his 33rd homer of the year, another two-run blast, to make it 10-1, making this a complete blowout heading into the top of the fourth. Robinson batted in another run with a single in the bottom of the seventh, and Cohen stayed in to complete the game as we destroyed the Redlegs 11-1 to win our 114th game of the year.

Hy Cohen’s one earned run today snapped a 40-inning scoreless streak, as he improved to 28-4, giving up seven hits with 12 strikeouts as he held his ERA at 1.31 through his 37th start. We outhit them 17-7 with three homers, led by Ernie Banks who had four hits (two homers) for two runs and four RBIs and by Mays, who had five hits (one homer) for two runs and two RBIs.

The Yankees staved off elimination by beating the Boston Red Sox 6-1 at Yankee Stadium tonight, pulling them to within 6.5 games of first, though the Red Sox’ magic number is just one.

SEPTEMBER 18, 1955 . . . Saul Rogovin (23-9, 1.91 ERA, 282.0 IP, 316 K’s, 0.79 WHIP) got the start tonight against Tom Poholsky (9-10, 3.59 ERA, 200.1 IP, 83 K’s, 1.33 WHIP). Jackie Robinson hit a two-run blast over the right field wall, his 42nd of the season, to make it a 2-0 Cubs lead in the bottom of the first. Del Crandall hit one to left in the bottom of the second, his 21st of the year, to increase our margin to 3-0, and Al Kaline added an RBI single moments later to make it a four-run lead. Willie Mays finished out the inning with an RBI single, but Ernie Banks tried to steal home and was picked off for the third out making it 5-0 Cubs heading into the top of the third. Cincy got on the board with an RBI single by Nellie Fox, but one was all they’d get. We got the run back in the bottom of the third. We carried that 6-1 lead into the seventh inning stretch, and Rogovin completed the game and kept it that way as we handled the Redlegs easil in this one.

Rogovin improved to 24-9, pitching a seven-hitter with nine strikeouts and one walk, improving his ERA slightly to 1.89 despite the one earned run. We outhit them 12-7, led by Willie Mays, who hit four times with a run and an RBI, improving his average to .318 on the season.

The Yankees (86-62, 5.5 GB) beat the Red Sox (92-57) again 3-2 at Yankee Stadium, so they’ll head into their final road series at Washington (76-72) while the Red Sox get a night off and then return to Fenway Park for a pair against the Orioles (49-100) and then three home-games against the Yankees. Absolutely no one expects this race to survive until the Sox / Yanks series at Fenway, with a Yankees loss or a Bo-Sox win putting this one away long before then.