[jksander]

JUNE 12, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual (3-4, 3.02 ERA, 62.2 IP, 42 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) got the start today against Jack Sanford (0-1, 1.80 ERA, 10.0 IP, 7 K’s, 0.90 WHIP). Willie Mays put us on the board with an RBI single in the bottom of the first, Dick Whitman, making his first start at left field since signing a one year deal with us out of free agency last month, got a hit in the second inning in his first at-bat, but he was picked off on a fielder’s choice that put Baker on base. Pascual reached base when they threw inside and plunked him on the shoulder, and Al Rosen reached first on a walk, loading the bases with two outs. Kaline hit a deep shot into left, adding a run and keeping the bases loaded. Robinson flew out to center to end the inning with us up 2-0 on the Giants. Norm Cash hit an RBI double for the Giants in the top of the sixth to make it a 2-1 ballgame, and in the top of the seventh Pascual gave up a hit to Norm Siebern, who tied the game up with an RBI single. Hersh Freeman came in with one out and a man on first, getting the outs we needed to get into the stretch tied up 2-2. Freeman got us safely through the top of the eighth as well, but we couldn’t get anything going in the bottom of the inning. Freeman stayed in to start the ninth, getting an out but then being hamstrung by a pair of errors in the infield, and we brought in Larry Jansen with one out and two on, hoping to avoid going down a run. Baker made a good throw to second off an infield hit, getting us out number two on a fielder’s choice that put runners on the corners, at which point Jansen gave up an ill-timed fastball and Hector Lopez had himself an RBI double to take the lead and put two in scoring position. A popup to Baker ended the inning, sending us into the bottom of the ninth down by a run. Dick Whitman walked to start the frame, and Bill Serena came in to pinch hit for Baker, hitting into a double play. But Del Crandall hit a homer into the bleachers, tying things up, and Daniel Howard got one into left field, rolling to the corner and allowing him to leg out a double! They intentionally walked Rosen, and Kaline took them to a full count and got his base on balls as well, giving us loaded bags with Robinson coming up to the plate! But he flew out to center, drawing a huge chorus of boos as we were forced yet again into extra innings.

Koufax came in to pitch in the top of the 10th, getting us out of the inning without any damage, though Robinson committed his first error at third base for the season -- our FIFTH of the game as a team ... though the error was on a foul ball, and did not result in a baserunner. Willie Mays thought he had the walk-off homer to end this one in the bottom of the inning, but the wind kept it in and their guy fielded it at the wall in right. Ernie Banks got himself a double and they walked Whitman, bringing up Bill Serena, who hit into a double play and kept this one going. Koufax got us through the 11th without incident, however, giving us another shot at putting this one away. Bouchee pinch-hit for Crandall to start the frame, but he hit it straight at the first baseman, who made a great catch to avoid taking one to the face. Roger Maris came in to pinch hit for Koufax, and he came out of it with a much-needed triple! They walked Rosen, and then Al Kaline got a blast into right field, rolling toward the wall as Maris came home to win this one for us, 4-3!

Pascual gave us 6.1 innings of five-hit ball, walking one, striking out three and giving up two earned runs as he kept his ERA at a solid 3.00. Freeman came in for two innings with two hits and a run, and Jansen held tough with one hit and the two outs we needed, setting up Koufax well for the eventual win. Sandy is now 2-4 with a 3.97 ERA, striking out two without a hit in two full innings of work in extra innings. We outhit the Giants 10-8 to survive this one, led by Kaline with three hits, a walk and two RBIs, while Whitman got a hit and two walks, doing everything he could to make something happen on the basepaths. Mays had a hit, a walk and an RBI, and Rosen hit once, walked three times and scored a run on the ground. Maris has been struggling offensively this year, hititng just .196 through 199 at-bats, but he came through big in this one.

Tonight’s 11-inning effort was our second multi-inning game in a row and our fourth so far in June, bringing our record in extras to 5-2 this season and improving our record in one-run games to 11-7. But I am concerned when I see that we’re 24-9 at home and 10-10 away, while the Dodgers -- only 3.5 games ahead of us now! -- are 14-3 at home while holding a stunning 24-13 record on the road. We’re not going to be able to get back to the World Series this year without a phenomenal run up to the All Star break, that’s for damned sure.

JUNE 13, 1956 . . . Tom Acker (2-1, 2.05 ERA, 30.2 IP, 23 K’s, 0.91 WHIP) started our last homegame of this long stretch of June, going up against Seth Morehead (5-4, 3.63 ERA, 84.1 IP, 51 K’s, 1.21 WHIP). And he opened the game by giving up a triple to Jim Gilliam on the very first pitch of the afternoon. Ed Bailey got himself an RBI single to put the Giants up 1-0 in the top of the first, but Acker got us out of it without too much damage, and he struck out two batters in the process. Jackie Robinson hit one off the wall at left to give him enough time for a double with two outs in the bottom of the first, and Mays tied it up with an RBI single to send us into the second inning tied up 1-1. The Giants retook the lead in the top of the third when Ed Bailey hit one into the left field bleachers to give them a 2-1 advantage, and Acker’s stuff was inconsistent, forcing us to make a move to the bullpen in the top of the sixth as he wore himself out. Carl Erskine came in to pitch in the sixth, and heading into the stretch we were still down only by the one run, but our bats remained silent. Erskine got us through the eighth inning without looking like he broke a sweat, which helped a ton considering we’ve had so many extra innings games lately which have taxed our bullpen. We started the bottom of the inning with an Al Rosen walk, and Kaline beat out an extremely weak infield hit to give us two runners in the blink of an eye! They walked Robinson to load the bases, and Willie Mays brought this place into pure pandemonium with a grand slam to give us a 5-2 lead! Erskine got himself a hit into the outfield with two outs, driving in a sixth run, and Al Rosen made it 7-2 with an RBI single as we’d batted around! Kaline walked the bases loaded, and Jackie Robinson got a hit into deep right, coming out with a triple that scored three more runs! No one even really noticed as Mays grounded out to first to end the inning, as we’d exploded for NINE RUNS in the bottom of the eighth to turn this one into a rout! Erskine stayed out to finish the game, a triumphant moment that showed this home crowd the reason I’d felt so strongly about signing him in the first place, and we beat the Giants handily 10-2.

Tom Acker had a rough five innings, giving up two runs off six hits, with a walk and four strikeouts. But Carl Erskine had the game of his year to make up for it, pitching four innings out of the bullpen with no hits and four strikeouts, a 42-pitch masterpiece that brought his ERA down to 7.31 while giving him a 1-1 record. We outhit the Giants 10-6, most of it in the eighth inning, led by Mays with two hits, a run and five RBIs. The grand slam gave him 22 homers for the year. Jackie Robinson added two hits two runs and three RBIs, while Rosen and Kaline each had two hits and two runs scored, making the top of our order a hundred percent lethal.

We’re now heading on the road, with a four game set at Philly (28-27) next on our agenda. We are now 35-19, just three games back of the Dodgers.
 
JUNE 15, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (10-2, 1.49 ERA, 114.2 IP, 134 K’s, 0.65 WHIP) pitched the first start of this four-game set at Philadelphia, facing down Joe Nuxhall (5-3, 2.24 ERA, 68.1 IP, 43 K’s, 0.76 WHIP). Al Rosen got things going quickly with a solo blast to center, a 430-footer that gave him 10 homers for the season. But the hits were few and far between from there, as this one stayed a tightly contested affair. Jackie Robinson started the top of the sixth off with a double off the right field wall, but we weren’t able to make anything happen and went into the bottom of the inning still leading just by the one run. We were unable to add any insurance runs, going into the bottom of the ninth with the one run shutout intact and Cohen still under 100 pitches. He got three quick outs and we were able to get out of here with a 1-0 win in game one! The Philly crowd certainly wasn’t happy with the result, but Cohen proved why he’s our ace.

Cohen improved to 11-2 on the year with a 1.38 ERA, giving up four hits with six strikeouts and no walks. We had eight hits, led by Rosen’s two hits and his first-inning leadoff homer, while Robinson had two hits as well. Kaline, Mays, Maris and Baker hit once each as well, and Mays walked twice as well, though he was unable to manufacture any runs himself.

JUNE 16, 1956 . . . Saul Rogovin (7-2, 2.35 ERA, 103.1 IP, 135 K’s, 0.79 WHIP) started tonight against Don Newcombe (7-4, 2.88 ERA, 100.0 IP, 53 K’s, 0.99 WHIP). Jackie Robinson hit a solo homer to left in the top of the fourth to give us a 1-0 lead and him his 11th homer of the season. Less than ten minutes later, Roger Maris hit his eighth of the year to right, giving us a 3-0 lead and drawing a chorus of boos from the home crowd. Baker hit an RBI double with two outs in the top of the sixth, extending our lead to four runs, and Rogovin, who had double-digit strikeouts for the seventh time this year, continued to rain fire on their batters no matter what he threw. Both pitchers threw complete games, and we held tough to shut them out for the second day in a row, blanking the Phillies 4-0.

Rogovin improved to 9-2 on the year with a 2.16 ERA, pitching a two-hitter with 11 strikeouts and just two walks. Newcombe only gave up six hits himself, striking out six and walking two, but he gave up four runs (three earned) and we made the hits we did get count. Mays led the team with two hits and two runs scored, Maris’s homer gave him a run and two RBIs, and Robinson’s homer got it all started. Mays is our only hitter currently above .300 for the year, hitting .320/.368/.703 with eight doubles, three triples and 22 homers, but we’ve found ways to get wins when we need them. If the rest of the team can find his level of consistency, we’ll be tough to beat as the summer heats up.