[jksander]

JUNE 1, 1956 . . . It’s time for the showdown series here in Chicago, as our second-place Cubs (26-16) take on the first-place Brooklyn Dodgers (33-9) in a three-game series. We’ve played them five times prior to this afternoon’s game, and they have a 4-1 record against us, which makes these head-to-head games even more important -- we’re riding a two game winning streak, as are they, but trail the Dodgers by seven games. Hy Cohen (8-1, 1.73 ERA, 88.2 IP, 103 K’s, 0.71 WHIP) pitched for us this afternoon, facing Don Kaiser (4-2, 2.76 ERA, 45.2 IP, 14 K’s, 1.18 WHIP).

In the bottom of the first, Jackie Robinson hit a two-run homer to left, putting us up 2-0 with his ninth homer of the season! Willie Mays nearly broke it wide open in the bottom of the fifth, but his deep blast to right was blown barely safe, and made for a quick catch by the right fielder or we’d have added three runs to the total. As it stood, both pitchers had been locked in after the first inning, and we went into the sixth still holding our original 2-0 lead. And though we were outhitting them consistently, we weren’t able to string baserunners together, making this one a tight battle to the finish. Cohen entered the top of the eighth with just two hits and eight strikeouts, setting their batters down three in a row via flyouts to bring up the heart of our order in the bottom of the inning. Robinson walked to start the frame, advancing to second on a groundout to first by Ernie Banks which gave us our second out, and Roger Maris struck out swinging to send us into the top of the ninth just needing Cohen to stay sharp enough to complete the game. Unfortunately for him, he came out and gave up back to back runs to pinch-hitters Sandy Amoros and Deacon Jones, so we brought in Koufax to get the outs. Amoros advanced to third on a fielder’s choice, though Koufax did get Jones out at second. Duke Snider struck out looking, and Gil Hodges hit a frozen rope to center that made for an easy out via Willie Mays as we held tough to win this one 2-0.

Hy Cohen improved to 9-1 with just four hits through eight innings, striking out eight and throwing 116 pitches, improving his ERA to 1.58 on the season, while Koufax notched his fifth save of the year with a strikeout and no hits, giving him a 3.35 ERA through 37.2 innings pitched. We outhit Brooklyn 6-4, led by Robinson, who hit twice and walked once, scoring a run and batting in two with his homer. Al Kaline scored our other run on the ground, hitting once. Mays, Banks and Baker got hits as well, with Al Rosen reaching base once on a walk as well.

JUNE 2, 1956 . . . Saul Rogovin (6-2, 2.57 ERA, 77.0 IP, 97 K’s, 0.88 WHIP) pitched in game two of the series against Connie Johnson (7-1, 2.39 ERA, 75.1 IP, 74 K’s, 1.01 WHIP) who has been red hot for the Dodgers, having won seven games in a row, including a 6-1 win over us on May 8, the last time he faced us. So if any game had pitching duel written out in advance, this one was it. Both pitchers got through the first two innings with just one hit apiece, but Rogovin came out in the third and struck out the side, upping the ante in the battle. He struck out another pair in the fourth to ensure the game stayed scoreless, and after a walk by Al Rosen to start the bottom of the fourth Willie Mays came up with two outs and hit a two-run blast to center, his 20th of the season, to give us a 2-0 lead! Rogovin struck out the side again in the fifth, but in the top of the sixth he gave up a homer to Carl Furillo that narrowed the margin to one run. He then gave up one to Pee Wee Reese that tied things up, before a great catch in the outfield by Mays ended the inning. Rogovin kept the game close after that, but it remained deadlocked at two runs each heading into the top of the ninth. Saul stayed in, and struck out Reese, Snider and pinch-hitter Deacon Jones consecutively, but we couldn’t get a run in to walk it off, sending us into extra innings knotted up 2-2.

Rogovin stayed out in the top of the tenth, striking out Sandy Amoros to give him 18 for the game, tying his own regular season NL record! He then broke that record by striking out Solly Hemus, before a double by Don Hoak forced us to bring in Larry Jansen from the bullpen. A quick popout to left by Fred Hartfield sent us into the bottom of the inning still tied up. Maris was hit by a pitch to immediately take a base in the bottom of the inning, but we couldn’t bring him around. Koufax came in to pitch in the top of the 11th, getting us three quick outs and bringing us up with the top of our order ready to hit. Rosen and Kaline batted out quietly to left and center, and Robinson got robbed at the wall to keep this one going into a third hour. We brought Hersh Freeman out to throw in the top of the 12th, and he pitched around a baserunner to get the outs we needed. With two outs in the bottom of the 12th, Roger Maris got a hit into the outfield, taking second and putting himself in position to win this one. They walked Gene Baker, and we brought in Del Crandall to replace Roy Jarvis, but he struck out swinging -- and on it went! Freeman stayed out to pitch in the 13th, getting us three quick outs without a lot of fuss, but that was it for him -- we brought out Daniel Howard to pinch hit in the bottom of the inning. Howard grounded out to first, but AL Rosen hit a single just barely into the outfield to take his base. Kaline struck out looking, bringing up Robinson who popped out to short. Harry Dorish came out to pitch in the top of the 14th, allowing Snider to reach first, but striking out a pair and getting Amoros out via a grounder to second base. And FINALLY, with one out, Ernie Banks came out and walked it off with a homer to right, his 11th of the year, to win this one 3-2 in the bottom of the 14th!

Saul Rogovin lasted 9.2 innings with just five hits and two earned runs, striking out 19 batters, but he left the game with it tied in the 10th so it goes down as a no-decision despite his throwing 139 pitches. Jansen, Koufax and Freeman gave us 3.1 innings with one hit, one walk and one strikeout combined, and then Dorish came in to win it, improving to 2-1 on the year and a 4.86 ERA, giving up just a walk with two strikeouts as we held tough to win this one. We outhit the Dodgers 8-6 in the marathon -- Kaline hit three times but was stranded every time. Banks hit twice and won the game with his homer, while Mays added a hit for a run and two RBIs. Al Rosen got a hit and scored our other remaining run.
 
JUNE 3, 1956 . . . With a chance to sweep the Dodgers here at Wrigley, Tom Acker (2-1, 2.04 ERA, 17.2 IP, 9 K’s, 1.08 WHIP) pitched against Johnny Podres (6-1, 2.00 ERA, 81.0 IP, 41 K’s, 0.96 WHIP). This time Duke Snider put the Dodgers up quickly, a two-run blast to left in the top of the first giving them a quick 2-0 lead. But in the bottom of the fourth, Jackie Robinson got us on the board, hitting a run-scoring triple to make it 2-1. We loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth but were unable to bring in the tying run. Carl Erskine came out to pitch in the top of the sixth and got us through it unscathed, and Jackie Robinson opened the bottom of the inning with a triple that went into the deep left corner, his second triple of the game! Ernie Banks hit one deep into center, driving Robinson home to tie the score with an RBI double and we were able to head into the seventh tied up 2-2. Erskine stayed out and added another pair of K’s to his solid performance, keeping us in this one as he seems to finally be finding a groove against major league batters. Del Crandall doubled to start the bottom of the seventh, but though he eventually took third, we weren’t able to bring him home. Harry Dorish came in to pitch with two outs and a man on first in the top of the eighth, but his first batter proved disasterous. He gave up a hit single to Hodges, and an E9 throwing error at third allowed Duke Snider to come all the way around from first to score the go-ahead run. He struck out the final batter to send us into the bottom of the inning, but the lead was lost. Thankfully we had the heart of our order up to hit, and Ernie Banks got a two-run blast into left to put us back on top 4-3 with his 12th of the year. Gene Baker hit his fourth homer moments later, giving us a bit of breathing room up by two, amd we brought Koufax out to to close it out. Two strikeouts and a flyout was all it took and we came out of this one with a 5-3 win and the sweep!

He only threw for one out (and gave up an unearned run for Erskine in the process) but it was enough for Harry Dorish to take the win, improving to 3-1 on the season with a 4.76 ERA. Koufax got his sixth save and struck out a pair, set up nicely by Erskine who had his best effort of the season -- 2.1 innings, one hit, four K’s, one unearned run. Tom Acker gave us five innings with four hits, six K’s and two earned runs, dropping his ERA to 2.38 through 22.2 innings. We outhit Brooklyn 10-6, led by Banks (two hits, one run, three RBIs) and Robinson (two triples, one run, one RBI). Crandall also hit twice but was unable to score any runs.

We have tomorrow off, and then play three against Pittsburgh and four against Philly this week at Wrigley. We’ll then finish the homestand with a pair against the Giants on the 12th and 13th of June.