[jksander]

MAY 14, 1957 . . . Bob Purkey (1-1, 2.61 ERA, 31.0 IP, 6 K’s, 0.97 WHIP) pitched the first game of a two-game set against Pittsburgh, facing Gene Conley (3-1, 2.38 ERA, 45.1 IP, 19 K’s, 1.19 WHIP). We come into the series with a 16-10 record, while they’re 12-13 and still figuring out whether they have what it takes to get back into the race. Jackie Robinson hit a solo homer in the bottom of the second, his sixth of the year, to put us up 1-0 on the Pirates, and Del Crandall hit a run-scoring double to expand the lead. Then, with the bases loaded, Roger Maris hit his third homer of the year, a grand slam, to extend the lead to six runs! The Pirates got a run in the top of the third, a homer by Rip Repulski, but we quickly answered in the bottom of the third, Al Kaline hitting an RBI double and Crandall hitting a sac-fly to center to make it 8-1. Maris came up again with the bases loaded and this time hit an RBI single that scored another pair, and Mays delivered an RBI double that added another. Pittsburgh in full meltdown mode by this point, we wound up leading 13-1 heading into the top of the fourth. Ernie Banks hit his fourth homer of the season in the bottom of the sixth, and Poppell hit an RBI double moments later to add to their pain. Maris batted in another run with a single to make it a 15-run lead heading into the seventh. Banks hit another homer in the bottom of the seventh, his second of the day, and though the Pirates got a run back in the top of the eighth (an RBI single by Rocky Colavito) the damage was already too deeply inflicted. Al Rosen added a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth, and though the Pirates never quit fighting, they still lost this one horrendously, 18-3.

Purkey pitched a complete game, giving up 10 hits with four strikeouts and no walks, allowing three earned runs to ding his ERA slightly to 2.70. But we had 20 hits ourselves, led by Roger Maris who had three hits for two runs and seven RBIs. Ernie Banks added three hits and a walk for four runs and two batted in, and Al Rosen added four hits and a walk for three runs and an RBI. Robinson also had three hits and a walk, scoring two and batting in three. It was a bloodbath out there, let me tell you.

MAY 15, 1957 . . . Hy Cohen (1-2, 3.15 ERA, 45.2 IP, 33 K’s, 1.12 WHIP) is going up against Johnny Kucks (1-1, 1.99 ERA, 22.2 IP, 7 K’s, 1.28 WHIP), which surprised us as he’s supposedly still fighting with a strained hamstring and was listed as day-to-day on their injury report. Poppell scored from third base in the bottom of the first off a groundout by Maris, giving us a 1-0 lead after a single inning. Al Kaline added a two-run blast out of right field in the bottom of the second, his second homer of the season, and in the bottom of the third Poppell strole third base and came around to score a fourth run due to an E2 throwing error, making it a 4-0 lead. Cohen had one of his best games of the season, and we added a run in the bottom of the eighth, Poppell picking up his fifth steal and then scoring from third on a popout by Maris to make it 5-0 Cubs! We loaded the bases but they got out of the inning without us running up the score, and Cohen stayed out to close out the complete game as we held on to easily beat the Pirates in a five-run shutout.

This was Cohen’s first complete game since his 10.2 inning effort in the loss to Cincinnati back on April 25, just his third nine-inning-or longer effort of the year. He allowed just six hits and struck out seven, improving to 2-2 with a 2.63 ERA. We had eight hits as a team, with “Jackrabbit” Poppell leading the way with three hits, one walk, five steals and three runs scored, giving him a staggering 42 steals so far this year. He’s easily been the best leadoff man in the game, and is becoming incredibly popular with our fans. Kaline also had a solid night, batting in two with his home run, but beyond that it was pretty much the Poppell show.

We’ve got Brooklyn up next with three games over the next three days. We’re 18-10 and on a four game winning streak, while Brooklyn (20-5) is riding a nine-game winning streak of their own. Somebody’s gonna have a bad weekend, but we’re within 3.5 games of them, so it should be a good weekend for baseball!
 
MAY 16, 1957 . . . Time to take on the Dodgers! Heading into this series we’ve got a 1-1 record against them, and as I mentioned before, we’re both riding legitimate winning streaks (us at 18-10 and on a four game streak, them at 20-5 and on a nine-game streak), and have built significant leads on the rest of the NL, with no other team in the league boasting a winning record. Saul Rogovin (3-3, 2.34 ERA, 50.0 IP, 54 K’s, 0.86 WHIP) will be going up against reigning Cy Young winner Connie Johnson (4-2, 1.77 ERA, 56.0 IP, 65 K’s, 0.61 WHIP) in this first game of the series. And as one would expect from a matchup of pitchers of this caliber, the game rightfully was a pitcher’s showcase. Del Crandall became the first player of the game to make it into scoring position, leading off with a double in the third, but their fielding was impeccable and he wasn’t able to advance. In the bottom of the fourth, Maris and Mays got us going with back-to-back singles, but Robinson hit into a double play, pushing Maris to third. Banks nearly grounded out, but an E6 throwing error allowed him to reach safely, driving in Maris to put us ahead 1-0. Rogovin blew a no-no in the top of the fifth, but was pitching with a real sense of urgency and control, striking out six batters in those first five frames. Robinson had himself a triple with one out in the bottom of the sixth, coming in to score off a flyout by Banks to make it 2-0. Al Rosen hit a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh to extend our lead to three runs via his third homer of the season, and Kaline hit one in the bottom of the eighth, his third, to make it 4-0. Rogovin held tough and added a pair of ninth inning strikeouts as we shutout the Dodgers by four runs to start the series off right!

Rogovin improves to 4-3 with a 1.98 ERA, allowing just two hits with 11 strikeouts against a single walk in the complete game shutout. We outhit the Dodgers 12-2, led by Maris (three hits and a run) and Rosen (two hits, a run and an RBI). Kaline hit twice as well, including his homer, and Crandall was solid at the bottom of the lineup with two hits as well.

MAY 17, 1957 . . . Camilo Pascual (4-0, 2.32 ERA, 42.2 IP, 27 K’s, 0.77 WHIP) started tonight’s game, facing Billy Loes (3-1, 2.57 ERA, 14 K’s, 1.26 WHIP). Robinson batted in a run in the bottom of the first with a single, allowing Maris to score from second to put us up 1-0. We loaded the bases, but they kept us from doing massive damage, settling for just the one run. Willie Mays added an RBI single in the bottom of the third, and in the bottom of the fourth Al Rosen hit a two-run blast to right, his second homer of the series, to put us up 4-0! Pascual had some trouble in the top of the seventh, loading the bases, but was able to get out of the inning without a run scoring, Don Gross came in to pitch in the top of the eighth, and didn’t have the best start to the inning, giving up back to back hits to put runners on the corners, but a heads-up play from Maris to Crandall off a fly-out by Frank Thomas got us two outs quickly. The Dodgers got on the board with an RBI double by Tommy Davis, and Carl Furillo batted one in with a single to make it 4-2. Carl Erskine came in to pitch with two outs and men on the corners, and a flyout to Maris by Roy Campanella got us out of the inning. We quickly loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth, and Maris took full advantage, hitting an RBI single into right field to get us back to a three-run lead. Mays popped out to center, driving in another run, and Erskine came back out to pitch in the ninth, shutting them down efficiently as we closed out the 6-2 victory!

Pascual came out of the game with his fifth win in a row, giving him a 5-0 record and a 1.99 ERA with five hits, a walk and five strikeouts through seven innings. Gross struggled, giving up five hits and two earned runs, but his ERA remains a solid 2.00, this being the first time he’s given up a run through six appearances and nine innings of work. Erskine, meanwhile, notched his second save of the year, striking out one batter and not surrendering a single hit in 1.1 innings, improving his ERA to 5.19. We outhit them 15-10, led again by Al Rosen with three hits, two runs and two RBIs, while Mays added three hits and two RBIs. Ernie Banks hit three times as well, bringing his average back up to .250 after a slow start to the year.

MAY 18, 1957 . . . Sandy Koufax (3-1, 2.13 ERA, 38.0 IP, 33 K’s, 0.92 WHIP) started our final game of the series against the Dodgers, facing Sal Maglie (2-1, 2.78 ERA, 22.2 IP, 13 K’s, 1.10 WHIP), and this quickly turned into a pitching duel of the highest order! Koufax allowed the first hit for either team in the game to start the top of the fourth, and an RBI double by Duke Snider put the Dodgers ahead 1-0 for the first time of the series, but Koufax continued to pitch well, striking out batter after batter with pinpoint precision. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Al Rosen continued his hot streak, hitting his third homer in three days to tie us up 1-1! Koufax stayed out in the top of the ninth with the score still knotted at one apiece, striking out leadoff man Don Hoak, getting Gil Hodges to bat himself out to Kaline in right field, and getting Duke Snider to hit a weak grounder to Poppell, who easily made the throw to Rosen for the third out. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Rosen hit a blistering drive into left, legging out a double, and they walked Maris intentionally, Mays then hitting into a fielder’s choice that pushed Rosen over to third. Reliever Joey Jay then committed a huge blunder, a wild pitch caroming off the backstop as Rosen came in to score the go-ahead run! Cubs win 2-1, and we swept the visiting Dodgers, pulling to within half a game of the NL lead!

Koufax threw 103 pitches in his complete game outing, allowing three hits and an earned run while striking out 10 batters, improving his ERA to 1.91 through his first six starts! We had three hits ourselves, led yet again by Al Rosen who hit twice, scoring two runs and driving in another. He is hitting .330/.453/.527 this year and has batted in 18 runs.

Tomorrow we have a double-header against the Phillies here at home, and then will welcome the Giants for a pair on the 21st and 22nd, followed by a four-game weekend set against Milwaukee before we go back out on the road for three weeks.