[jksander]

MAY 31, 1957 . . . Bob Purkey (4-1, 3.23 ERA, 53.0 IP, 17 K’s, 1.04 WHIP) started in our first game against the 14-27 Redlegs, facing Luis Perez (3-4, 3.62 ERA, 49.2 IP, 30 K’s, 1.27 WHIP). This one started off right where our last game ended, locked in a heated pitching battle with no one’s bats making any purchase. Al Rosen finally broke the stalemate, hitting one into right field to drive Poppell in to score from third, Cubs lead 1-0 in the top of the sixth. Del Crandall batted in another run in the top of the seventh with a single, sending us into the stretch leading by two runs. Mays hit a triple with two outs in the top of the eighth but didn’t get a chance to score. Dick Drott came in to pitch in the botom of the ninth, and though he put runners on the corners, he did get the outs we needed to complete the 2-0 shutout win.

Purkey is now 5-1 with a 2.80 ERA thanks to an eight inning five-hitter, striking out three and walking one. Drott earned his fourth save of the year, walking one and allowing a hit, but getting out of the jam to improve his ERA to 4.11 through 15.1 innings. We outhit them 9-6, led by Al Rosen with a pair of hits and an RBI, and by Crandall who also hit twice and batted one in. Poppell was also solid in the leadoff spot, getting a hit, stealing twice and scoring a run. He now has 57 stolen bases in 65 tries.

JUNE 1, 1957 . . . Saul Rogovin (6-3, 1.52 ERA, 77.0 IP, 85 K’s, 0.66 WHIP) got the start tonight against Max Surkont (3-3, 2.98 ERA, 54.1 IP, 27 K’s, 1.27 WHIP). Cincinnati got on the board quickly this time out, Frank Robinson hitting a two-run blast to left, his sixth of the year, to put the Redlegs up 2-0. Les Moss got an RBI single in the top of the second, pulling us back within a run, and in the top of the third Willie Mays hit a three-run blast out of right field to put us ahead 4-2! That was his 11th homer of the year. Mays picked up an RBI double in the top of the seventh to make it 5-2 Cubs, and Robinson batted in another pair with a double of his own. Kaline hit an RBI single as well, and we went into the stretch leading by six. The Redlegs picked up a run in the bottom of the seventh with a homer by Gus Bell, but that was all they’d get. We held tough and put the screws in down the stretch to come up with an 8-3 win heading into tomorrow’s doubleheader.

Rogovin is now 7-3 with a 1.67 ERA, allowing four hits and three earned runs but striking out six without a walk. We outhit them 11-4, with Robinson putting together a four-hit effort, scoring twice and driving in a pair. Willie Mays had two hits as well, including his homer, scoring twice and batting in four as well. We’ve now won nine games in a row, our second significant streak already this season, and we’ve extended our lead in the division to five games over the 27-15 Dodgers.
 
JUNE 2, 1957 . . . Camilo Pascual (6-1, 1.70 ERA, 68.2 IP, 52 K’s, 0.73 WHIP) started in game one of today’s doubleheader, facing Redlegs hurler Gary Bell (3-2, 3.55 ERA, 33.0 IP, 14 K’s, 1.27 WHIP). Jackie Robinson got a hit in the top of the second, stealing second immediately and then taking third on a one-out strike thrown to Kaline. Kaline eventually came out of it with an RBI single, batting Robinson home to put us up 1-0. Robinson has quietly worked on his baserunning, stealing successfully nine times out of 13 attempts, putting him on track to have his best baserunning season since his debut in 1946. Willie Mays hit an RBI single in the top of the third to make it a two-run lead, and Pascual kept it that way even though he did put men in scoring position in the bottom of the fourth before striking out a pair to end the inning. The Redlegs got on the board with an RBI single by Dick Groat in the bottom of the sixth, and we went into the stretch leading 2-1. Don Gross came in to pitch in the bottom of the seventh, and he was able to hold the lead for us, but he stayed out for the eighth and an error at third and a two-run homer by Ted Kluszewski put them in the lead 3-2. Without an out, Mike McCormick came out to pitch, and after getting a quick out, and then with the bases loaded and just one out, McCormick gave up a hit to Benny Valenzuela that increased their lead to two runs. Bases still loaded, he then got the outs we needed and we went into the top of the ninth down two and needing a rally. Ernie Banks reached first on an error, and with one out Del Crandall got a hit that put him into scoring position. Ed Bouchee struck out swinging, bringing up Poppell who took the count full and then struck out looking, bringing this one to a disappointing end as a 4-2 loss.

Pascual had a good night, giving us six innings with four hits, six strikeouts and just one earned run. But Don Gross allowed two hits and two runs (one earned) to blow the save and take the loss, and McCormick added a four-hit inning with one earned run, adding to our hole. The Redlegs outhit us 10-6, our team led by Roger Maris who hit twice and walked once without being able to score. Rosen scored our only run, which Mays batted in.

With Cohen and Koufax only on three days’ rest, and all our other starters on shorter than that, we decided to go with Carl Erskine (1-1, 2 SV, 3.05 ERA, 20.2 IP, 16 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) in game two this afternoon, facing Don Drysdale (1-6, 3.38 ERA, 77.1 IP, 44 K’s, 1.16 WHIP). Willie Mays hit a sac-fly that drove in a run to put us on the board in the top of the first, but Ted Kluszewski hit a run-scoring double in the bottom of the inning to tie us back up at 1-1. Valenzuela hit a homer in the bottom of the second to put them ahead 2-1, his first of the year, but Jackie Robinson hit a slow-rolling ball into right field, coming out of it with a triple that scored two and put us back up 3-2. Robinson scored on a groundout to make it a two-run lead, but in the bottom of the inning Frank Robinson hit a two-run blast into the right-field bleachers to tie it up 4-4. Vern Law came in with one out and two men on base, and he promptly gave up an RBI double to put the Redlegs back in the lead before we finally got out of the third inning. That’s nine combined runs between teams in just the first third! Poppell got on base with a walk, stealing second and third with just one out in the top of the fourth, scoring the tying run on a groundout to first by Rosen. Les Moss got us the lead back in the top of the fifth with an RBI single, and Law got us through the bottom of the inning without surrendering it. Maris then hit a moonshot into the second deck of the right field seats in the top of the sixth, extending our lead to 8-5, giving Tom Acker a good cushion when he came in to pitch in the bottom of the inning. Gus Bell hit a longball into left to pull the Redlegs to within a pair in the bottom of the seventh, but Jackie Robinson batted in a run in the top of the eighth with a double, giving us a 9-6 lead at which point Dick Drott came out to close this thing out. He got through the bottom of the eighth on seven pitches, and closed things out perfectly in the bottom of the ninth as we held tough to beat the Redlegs by three runs.

Erskine’s 2.1 inning “start” was a disaster, allowing six hits with three walks, three strikeouts and five earned runs. But Vern Law gave us 2.2 innings with four hits and a walk, earning the win as he improved to 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA through 5.2 innings, and Tom Acker held it through another two innings with two hits, a walk and a run scored. That set Drott up perfectly -- he picked up a two inning save, his fifth save of the season, striking out two and walking another as he improved his ERA to 3.63. This was a real group effort in a game where everyone was hitting like crazy, a dozen hits for each team. Roger Maris led the way with three hits for a run and two RBIs, while Robinson hit three times to score twice and drive in three more. Maris has been really hot lately, currently batting .314/.369/.455 with three doubles, three triples and six homers.

Next up we have a trip to Brooklyn, where the 29-15 Dodgers await after a day off tomorrow. We play them for three games over three nights, and then head to Philly (21-24, 12.5 GB) for four more over the weekend. Our record sits at 35-13, so we only lead the Dodgers by four games. We’ve won nine of our last ten games, with them on a 4-6 skid, but head-to-head anything can, and often will, happen.