[jksander]

JUNE 25, 1956 . . . We bring a six game winning streak into this series with Brooklyn, and we’re only 3.5 games back, so there’s a ton on the line. Saul Rogovin (9-2, 2.02 ERA, 120.1 IP, 160 K’s, 0.74 WHIP) got the start tonight against Connie Johnson (11-1, 1.71 ERA, 126.1 IP, 125 K’s, 0.84 WHIP). Poppell got himself a base hit in the top of the third, and quickly stole second, scoring on an RBI single by Rosen to give us a 1-0 lead! Rogovin struck out the side in the bottom of the inning, and we stayed locked in with the one run lead until Al Kaline hit a two-run blast in the top of the seventh to extend our lead to 3-0 with his ninth homer of the year. Brooklyn got on the board with a solo homer by Gil Hodges in the bottom of the seventh, and we went into the bottom of the inning still up by two runs. Rogovin stayed in to complete the game, and we won this one 3-1 to inch closer to the NL lead!

With the win, Rogovin improved to 10-2 on the year with a 1.95 ERA, giving up just two hits with 10 K’s and two walks and one earned run. We had six hits ourselves, led by Willie Mays with two hits and a run, Al Kaline with two hits, a run and two RBIs, Jack Poppell with a hit, a run and a steal, and Al Rosen with a hit and an RBI.

I realized I haven’t updated you all on the home run race lately -- Willie Mays currently leads all hitters with 27 homers this year, two up on Ted Williams and four up on Mickey Mantle. Through today’s game he remains on pace for 63, and though there hasn’t been a huge press impact so far, I suspect he’ll start getting a lot more media pressure if he keeps this pace into August, particularly at hitter-friendly Wrigley. He’s hitting .316/.359/.700 right now with ten doubles and five triples, and 36 strikeouts against 19 walks.

JUNE 26, 1956 . . . Hy Cohen (13-2, 1.34 ERA, 140.2 IP, 163 K’s, 0.66 WHIP) is up tonight against Brooklyn’s Johnny Podres (8-3, 2.58 ERA, 115.0 IP, 57 K’s, 0.99 WHIP). We loaded the bases in the top of the fourth, and Al Kaline hit an RBI single to put us up 1-0. Del Crandall reached base safely on a fielder’s choice, his hit driving in a second run, and we went into the bottom of the inning leading 2-0. Ernie Banks hit an opposite field homer to make it 3-0 in the top of the sixth, his 15th four-bagger of the year, and moments later Roger Maris drove in another run with an RBI single while pinch-hitting for Dick Whitman, making it 4-0 Cubs. Al Rosen then hit a three-run homer to left, his 12th of the year, and this one was officially a rout. Jackie Robinson came up and slammed one out of the park into the center field bleachers to make it 8-0 with HIS 12th of the year, and we went into the bottom of the sixth with about as comfortable a lead as you can want when playing on the road against a bitter rival. Maris stayed in to play left field for the remainder of the game. Cohen blew his shutout, giving up a homer to Gil Hodges in the bottom of the eighth that scored two runs for the Dodgers and cut our lead to six. Harry Dorish relieved Cohen in the bottom of the ninth, giving up a run on a fielder’s choice with Anthony Pint safely taking his base. He then got the two outs we needed, and we came out of this one with an 8-3 win heading into tomorrow’s final game of this series and this road trip.

Hy Cohen improved to 14-2 with a six-hit eight strikeout two walk two run game, keeping his ERA at 1.39 and his hopes for a back-to-back Cy Young campaign going strong. Dorish got through his inning with two hits and a run, dropping his ERA to 5.40 through 18.1 innings. They outhit us 8-7, but we walked six times and made great use of our runners. Al Kaline had a hit, a walk and two steals, scoring a run and batting in another, while Ernie Banks added two hits a run and an RBI. Al Rosen, however, was by far our best offensive player tonight, hitting once and walking twice, scoring two runs and batting in three more.

We’re now within a game and a half of the Dodgers in the NL pennant chase, with tomorrow’s game giving us a shot at a series sweep with our eight-game winning streak still intact! We then get a day off for our return trip to Chicago, where we’ll have four games against Milwaukee (30-35) and a pair against St. Louis (22-46) before we hit the road for an Independence Day doubleheader in Cincinnati (25-42). We then play four more against Milwaukee on the road before the All Star break, giving us a real chance to go into that three-day reprieve with a stranglehold on this league if we play our cards right!

JUNE 27, 1956 . . . Camilo Pascual (4-5, 3.20 ERA, 81.2 IP, 54 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) started our final game at Brooklyn, facing Sal Maglie (13-0, 1.71 ERA, 126.0 IP, 83 K’s, 0.87 WHIP), who is having his best season since going 23-6 in 1951! Pascual loaded the bases in the bottom of the second but was able to escape trouble with a double play to keep the game scoreless. But he gave up a homer to Hodges in the bottom of the fourth and the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead. Carl Erskine came in for the bottom of the sixth with the score still 1-0 Dodgers, setting down the heart of their lineup and keeping us in this one! Jackie Robinson got a base hit in the top of the seventh, just our second baserunner of the day, and Robinson advanced to second on a groundout by Mays to first, but Banks couldn’t get him anywhere and the shot was wasted. Erskine got us through the bottom of the seventh with three quick pop-outs, and in the top of the eighth with one out, Maris reached base safely with an infield hit, taking second on a throwing error to the first baseman from Maglie on the mound, giving us our second runner in scoring position of the night, but he got greedy trying to steal third, and they picked him off. Erskine stayed out and got three more outs in the eighth without looking stressed, sending us into the top of the ninth needing a run to prolong this one. But Maglie was damned near unhittable -- Al Rosen made it on base with two outs, and Jackie Robinson walked, giving us some hope. But Willie Mays popped out to short, and we lost this one 1-0, with the Dodgers rushing the field like they’d won the damned World Series instead of just avoiding a sweep.

With the loss, Camilo Pascual fell to 4-6 on the season, despite giving up just four hits with six strikeouts and two walks, the lone run actually improving his ERA to 3.12 in a five-inning effort. Carl Erskine, meanwhile, continues to show solid improvement, pitching three innings without a hit, striking out one batter and improving his ERA to 4.62. Brooklyn outhit us 4-2, and each pitcher allowed two walks, so baserunners were extremely limited all night. Jackie Robinson had both our hits, and one of our walks, while Al Rosen had a walk as well. Maris reached base on an error, but was caught stealing, but I can’t honestly blame him for taking the shot.

We’ll head back to Wrigley with a 45-23 record, and we’re only 2.5 games back of first, leading Brooklyn now 6-5 in the season series with 11 more games to play against our rivals this year.