[jksander]

AUGUST 26, 1956 . . . Still deadlocked with the Dodgers, we now get ourselves a pair of games today against the 62-62 Pittsburgh Pirates, who while still ostensibly in the race still at 22 games back, are close enough to elimination to warrant considering themselves spoilers at this point. So we’re going into this one with Hy Cohen (26-3, 1.86 ERA, 251.1 IP, 243 K’s, 0.80 WHIP) taking the start against their red-hot ace Hank Aguirre (12-6, 1.88 ERA, 187.0 IP, 122 K’s, 0.90 WHIP) in game one. Ernie Banks hit a solo homer in the bottom of the second, his 27th of the season, to give us the early 1-0 lead, and Robinson hit a two-run blast into the bleachers in the bottom of the third to increase our margin to 3-0, hitting HIS 27th of the year! Danny O’Connell hit an RBI triple to put the Pirates on the board in the top of the fifth, scoring himself on a flyout by Billy Klaus to cut our lead to one run, but Cohen got out of a tight spot and kept the 3-2 lead intact for us in the middle of the frame. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Poppell avoided the tag at first because of a dropped catch, taking second because of the error, and then stealing third to put himself in a position to add insurance. He then made a truly ballsy move, trying for home on a called strike that loaded the count on Rosen, AND HE WAS SUCCESSFUL! That’s his 94th steal of the season and his second time stealing home, and it put us up 4-2! Rosen wound up flying out to center to end the inning, but we definitely had our share of momentum at the moment. That wound up being all we needed, as Cohen stayed sharp through the remainder of the game, and we pulled off the 4-2 victory!

Cohen is now 27-3 with a 1.87 ERA, throwing a complete game seven-hitter with one walk, 10 strikeouts and two earned runs. Poppell didn’t manage a single hit or walk, but reached base on that throwing error in the fifth to ice it with three consecutive steals! Robinson was our hitting leader, notching a pair of hits with a run and two RBIs.

Saul Rogovin (18-4, 1.98 ERA, 240.1 IP, 298 K’s, 0.78 WHIP) pitched against Johnny Klippstein (11-12, 3.97 ERA, 206.1 IP, 145 K’s, 1.13 WHIP) in game two of the afternoon against the Pirates. Willie Mays hit an RBI double in the bottom of the first to put us up 1-0, and Rogovin got his 300th strikeout of the season to get out of the top of the second with the Pirates still blanked. Mays then hit his 46th homer of the year in the bottom of the third to increase our lead to 2-0, at which point all scoring stopped. Rogovin had himself a hell of a game, keeping the two-run shutout safe into the top of the ninth, though with one out in the frame, Leon Wagner hit a solo homer for the Pirates to cut our lead to a run. Rocky Colavito hit a high flyer straight to Kaline in right for out number two, however, and another brilliant catch by Kaline ended the game as a 2-1 victory, a statement win for the 32-year-old veteran starter. From what I can tell, Rogovin is just the fourth pitcher to have at least 300 K’s in a season, joining Rube Waddell (1903, 1904), Walter Johnson (1910, 1912) and Bob Feller (1946). At this point in history, the record was 349, owned by Waddell, with Feller’s 348 in ’46 a close second. Holy hell!

Rogovin improved to 19-4 with a 1.95 ERA, thanks to a complete game five-hitter, with eight strikeouts, one walk and the one earned run. Each team had five hits in this duel, with Mays our undisputed leader, hitting twice with a run and two RBIs. On pace to hit 55 homers, he leads Mantle by six homers as it becomes likelier he’ll take the crown. And though Hy Cohen remains in the Cy Young running, he’s been eclipsed in pitching WAR by Connie Johnston of Brooklyn, who is currently 20-4 with a 1.62 ERA through 244 innings, with 247 strikeouts, a 0.76 WHIP and 13.8 WAR. Cohen is currently 27-3 with a 1.87 ERA through 260.1 innings, with 253 strikeouts, an 0.80 WHIP and 12.6 WAR. The race may wind up being decided in a head-to-head battle in one of our remaining three-game series against the Dodgers. Johnson, at 33, has broken out as a star for the Dodgers seemingly out of nowhere since finishing 14-7 last year with four saves and a 3.80 ERA to go with 109 strikeouts, as the right pitcher at the right time to get the Dodgers back into relevance -- and he’s recently signed a four year deal worth $400,000 to stay with the club. So I expect this rivalry to be a big thing for years to come, especially if we can get Cohen locked up long term next season.

Speaking of Brooklyn, our next three game series at home is against them, with tomorrow off to prepare ourselves. We’re currently 87-41 and they are 85-39, still tied in the standings despite their still being four games behind us in total games played.