[jksander]

June 6, 1947: Diomedes Olivo (4-6, 3.81 ERA, 78.0 IP, 36 K, 1.10 WHIP) got the start in game one against the Yankees, facing off against Bill Bevens (3-2, 5 SV, 2.25 ERA, 56.0 IP, 24 K, 1.16 WHIP). New York struck first in the top of the second with a Joe Gordon RBI double, but we tied it in the bottom of the inning off an RBI double by Wally Moses, taking the lead moments later off an RBI single by Richie Ashburn, who started today in left field (if he’s going to get the starts to improve as a hitter, he’ll have to learn left and right field and become a true utility defender). New York tied us again in the top of the fifth with a homer by Hank Majeski, and we left the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, failing to retake the advantage. This one turned into a real duel, both starters locking in for the good of their teams, but Olivo got blasted in the top of the eighth when Johnny Lindell hit a two-run homer over the center field wall on two outs, giving them a sudden advantage. Al Javery took over in the top of the ninth, trailing still by two, and with two outs and the bases loaded he walked right fielder Charlie Keller to add on. We showed signs of life in the bottom of the inning, scoring off an RBI single from Vern Stephens with two outs against us, bringing up Wally Judnich with runners on the corners trailing by two runs. But he grounded out harmlessly and we lost 5-3. Olivo took another tough loss, allowing just five hits and a walk with four strikeouts ... but he gave up four runs, and that was far too many. Al Javery’s first appearance was an inauspicious one -- a hit, three walks and a run against him -- and though we outhit the Yankees 9-6, we didn’t capitalize on it. Vern Stephens led the way with two hits and an RBI, on what was another ho-hum outing for our hitters.

June 7, 1947: Dutch Leonard (5-4, 2.97 ERA, 91.0 IP, 31 K, 1.25 WHIP) pitched against Joe Page (7-2, 2.90 ERA, 62.0 IP, 34 K, 1.21 WHIP) in today’s game, with Leonard putting his pinpoint control up against the 29-year-old Page’s incredible stuff. The Yankees hit first, scoring off a groundout by DiMaggio and an RBI single from Nick Etten in the first inning. Vern Stephens batted in a run with a single in the bottom of the inning, and though the Yankees got two more runs in the fifth (Berra singled in a pair of runs thanks to an E7 error) we stayed in the game with an RBI single by Ashburn and a sac-fly by Bob Dillinger that kept us within a run. The Yankees extended their lead to 5-3 with a solo homer by Charlie Keller in the top of the sixth, but we loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning on two outs, and Ashburn walked to bring in another run and cut it back to one. Harry Walker came in to pinch hit for Leonard, but he popped out to left as the wind kept the ball in the park, the Yankees holding on to their slim 5-4 margin as Amos Watson came out to the mound for the seventh inning. He got two outs, but DiMaggio hit himself a two-run homer out of left to pile back on, two steps forward and one step back for us all afternoon. The wind blew a final hole in our hopes in the bottom of the ninth when a potential two-run homer by Vern Stephens turned into our final out of the game in left field as we lost 7-4. With two more games against these Yankees tomorrow, we’re not feeling a lot of hope in this clubhouse right now as we look for a spark ... any spark ... to salvage things before this season turns fully southward. Dutch Leonard fell to 5-5 with a 3.15 ERA, allowing just five hits in his six innings, but four walks helped contribute to five runs, four of which were earned ... another great start that “could have been” but wasn’t. Watson was stellar though -- three innings with three hits, a walk, a strikeout and a pair of unearned runs has his ERA now at 0.77 thorugh 23.1 innings as a rookie. We even outhit them again 10-8, but these Yankees have a lot more power behind them, and Joltin’ Joe batted in three of their runs to seal it. Joe Schultz hit four times for us with one run scored, and Richie Ashburn had a hit and two runs batted in.

June 8, 1947: We started Al Javery in game one of today’s doubleheader, hoping to use a bullpen start to give our starters a bit of a chance to catch back up. He went up against Dizzy Trout (3-5, 4.01 ERA, 74.0 IP, 28 K, 1.49 WHIP), and it didn’t start smoothly. He gave up five hits and a walk in the top of the first, and considering he loaded the bases, he was lucky to get out of the inning with just three runs against him. He gave up a fourth run in the top of the second on two outs, Charlie Keller continuing to be the bane of our existance, but we did finally get on the board with a sac-fly by Javery in the bottom of the third that scored Ashburn, who had tripled moments earlier. Javery stayed out there and seemed to settle in, getting us through the fifth without any additional disasters striking. Ned Garver took over for him in the top of the sixth, still trailing 4-1, and though he struck out three across the sixth and seventh innings, he gave up another pair of runs in the top of the seventh to make coming back from this seem next to impossible. Ashburn batted in another run in the bottom of the seventh with a single, and Garver got three quick outs in the eighth so we still had hope. In the bottom of the inning Phil Cavarretta hit an RBI single and he later scored off a single by Arky Vaughn to cut our deficit back to two runs. Unfortunately, with two outs in the top of the ninth, a wild pitch by Garver let another run in, and that was all she wrote. We lost this one 7-4, continuing to struggle as we try to find our way ... we’re not a team that can keep giving up this many runs and expect our offense to carry us. Javery pitched five innings with six hits, four walks, a strikeout and four runs (three earned), managing to imrpove his ERA to 6.00 through his first six innings ... but his WHIP is a miserable 2.33, his lack of control a major hinderance. AGAIN we managed to out hit them 10-9 and still lose big. Ashburn hit twice and walked once, scoring and batting in a run each as he improved his average to .318.
 
Fred Sanford (2-3, 3.91 ERA, 69.0 IP, 21 K, 1.41 WHIP) started game two of the day, facing Spud Chandler (4-7, 3.04 ERA, 94.2 IP, 25 K, 1.23 WHIP). He spotted them four runs across the first and second innings, and this one was looking as bleak as the rest of our games have this past week or so. He gave up a two-run homer to Charlie Keller in the fourth to make it a 6-0 deficit, and he proved incapable of even getting out of that inning. Sam Zoldak took the ball from him with two outs and a man on third -- that man being Joe Gordon, who had just tripled in a run a moment before to make it a seven run beatdown. Gordon scored off a wild pitch, and we went into the top of the fifth trailing 8-0. The rest of the game is a blur in my mind, as we got abjectly humiliated by the Yankees on our own field 11-0, and fans streamed out of the place making it clear they see us as the “same old Browns, just more expensive.” Sanford fell to 2-4, giving up nine hits, five walks and eight earned runs in 3.2 innings without a strikeout. Zoldak pitched 4.1 innings with two hits, two walks and three runs (two earned) and Al Javery got us through the ninth with just a hit ... but we were outhit 12-7 including five runs off two homers. Nobody on our offense came off looking good, and we’re heading into our final series of this home stretch (against the 27-28 Senators of Washington) in total free-fall ... we’re now 23-28 and eight games out of first, only the absolute mediocrity of the Chicago White Sox (20-35) keeping us out of last place. We’ve lost seven games in a row and are in danger of this season getting completely away from us.

Our owner, Kelly Nau, insists we’re in “win now!” mode, but the way we’re playing right now that kind of strategy could hurt us in the long term -- we’ve got improved players but no depth to our system, and an injury or two will have us in the cellar quickly.