[jksander]

APRIL 22, 1957 . . . Bob Purkey is up to start in our first of two games against the Braves, who have started out strong in their first four games. Bob Turley will be starting for them for the first time this year as well, meaning they’re saving their ace to go against Rogovin tomorrow. The Braves got on the board quickly in the bottom of the first, an RBI single by Hal Smith putting them ahead 1-0. They picked up another when Turley himself hit an RBI double in the bottom of the second, and Johnny Logan drove in a third with a single. We loaded the bases in the top of the fifth, and Jack Poppell walked in a run to get us on the board. Kaline got a hit through the gap into center to drive in a second run while keeping the bases loaded, and Jackie Robinson then silenced the crowd with a double that scored another pair, putting us up 4-3 heading into the bottom of the inning. Robinson hit a sac-fly in the top of the sixth that drove Poppell in to score from third, and Ernie Banks hit a three-run homer a few minutes later to make it 8-3 heading into the seventh-inning stretch. Kaline hit a solo homer in the top of the eighth, his first of the year, and Jackie Robinson followed him with his third of the year to make it 10-3, which is where it would stay -- we dominated down the stretch and came out with the victory, improving to 3-3 on the young season.

Bob Purkey overcame a rough start to complete this game, allowing eight hits and three runs with just one walk and two strikeouts -- he’ll get to start the season with a 1-0 record and a 3.00 ERA. We outhit the Braves 11-8, led by Al Kaline with three hits, a walk, two runs and two RBIs. Jackie Robinson added two hits with a run and four RBIs, and Ernie Banks had two hits with a run and three RBIs. Poppell led off with no hits but managed to walk twice, stealing two bases and scoring twice, giving him five stolen bases this year in six attempts.

Brooklyn (5-1) now leads the NL by a game and a half over Milwaukee, while in the AL, the Yankees (4-1) have half a game’s lead on Detroit and a full game on the 4-3 Orioles. There are no winless teams left in baseball and no perfect teams.

APRIL 23, 1957 . . . Saul Rogovin (1-0, 2.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 13 K’s, 0.67 WHIP) started today against Warren Spahn (1-0, 2.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 3 K’s, 1.00 WHIP). The Braves got on the board quickly, as Rogovin allowed a solo homer off the bat of Gene Woodling on just the sixth pitch of the game in the bottom of the first, and it got worse -- Johnny Logan took it out of the yard in the very next at bat, back to back homers to give the Braves a 2-0 lead with just nine pitches thrown. Rogovin got out of the inning without a baserunner, and he seemed more fired up about it than anything, but it wasn’t the most auspicious beginning. Ernie Banks hit a solo homer to left in the top of the fourth to get us on the board, but the Braves hit another solo bomb in the bottom of the sixth, a second one by Logan, to give them a 3-1 lead. Dick Drott came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth with the score still 3-1 Braves, and the homer train kept rollling -- Hank Aaron got his first homer of the year, with two outs, to score two more runs and pretty much seal the deal on this bastard of a game. We couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, and they owned us the rest of the way, completing the 3-1 loss.

Rogovin fell to 1-1 with a 2.81 ERA, giving up three homers off five hits with five strikeouts and a walk. Drott came in and gave up one hit (of course, a homer) with two walks and a strikeout, and his ERA through his first two appearances is a gaudy 13.50. Then again, our bullpen has not been anything to write home about, and adjustments will almost certainly need to be made if it continues. The Braves outhit us 6-5, our offense being led by Roger Maris with a pair of hits but with nowhere to go. Only Banks managed to score, hitting his homer in the fourth to keep it from becoming a shutout. But he’s been struggling to make contact, hititng just .143 so far this season, as close to a slump as he’s ever been.

Maybe we can find our groove in Cincinnati where we’re now headed to play the 2-5 Redlegs for a pair.

APRIL 24, 1957 . . . Camilo Pascual (0-0, 3.12 ERA, 8.2 IP, 4 K’s, 1.27 WHIP) pitched today against the Redlegs’ Harry Josephson (0-1, 6.14 ERA, 7.1 IP, 6 K’s, 2.05 WHIP). Kaline got us started with an RBI single in the top of the first, and Jackie Robinson hit his fourth homer of the year over the center field wall to make it 3-0 in the snap of a finger. Al Rosen hit an RBI single to add another run, and Pascual hit an RBI single himself as we batted around! Poppell popped out to end the inning, but we led 5-0 so all was good in the world until Pascual opened the bottom of the inning with a solo homer by Nellie Fox -- what is it with us this year in giving up leadoff homers? Pascual came out with a double to lead off the top of the fourth but we weren’t able to get him around to score. With the bases loaded in the top of the seventh, Del Crandall hit a triple that scored three runs for us to put this one well out of doubt, leading 8-1. Pascual grounded out to add a run, and we went into the stretch leading by eight. But the Redlegs weren’t ready to quit -- Bobby Prescott hit a three-run blast to right, his first homer of the season, and cut the lead to five, and then just a blink of an eye later, Ted Kluszewski hit a three-run blast of his own and we were floundering, our lead now just 9-7 ... what the absolute hell? Pascual got out of the inning, but he was gassed and we were going to have to head to the bullpen the rest of the way.

Jackie Robinson batted in a run with a triple in the top of the eighth to give us a little more breathing room, scoring another run on a flyout by Mays. We walked the bases loaded and then Don Demeter hit a grand slam, his first-ever major league hit, to blow this one up 15-7. Al Kaline added another RBI single, and finally the inning came to an end, a seven-run inning for us following their six-run frame last inning and our four-run frame before that -- what a crazy game! We brought Miles McCormick in for the first time, pitching the remaining two innings with a nine-run cushion, and the insanity continued, the Redlegs picking a run back up off a wild pitch, and then pinch-hitter Wayne Terwilliger batting in another to make it 16-9. McCormick stayed out for the bottom of the ninth and was able to get through it without any further scoring as we completed an utterly unbelievable 16-9 victory over the Redlegs that took nearly three and a half hours to finish.

Camillo Pascual allowed nine hits and seven runs in a seven inning effort, striking out three and walking three as he improved to 1-0 but with a bloated 5.74 ERA. McCormick then lasted two innings with three hits, a strikeout, a walk and two earned runs, giving him a 9.00 ERA through his first relief appearance of the year. There were 33 HITS in this game, with our team leading 21-12. Robinson led with three hits, two runs and three RBIs, while Poppell had three hits, a walk, three steals and a pair of runs scored. Demeter, meanwhile, is still stunned about his grand slam in his first at-bat this season ... for the moment he’s batting a thousand, with perfect slugging!