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BOSTON BRAVES
...
SPAHN & SAIN and
PRAY FOR RAIN ...
The Sox
beat Warren Spahn
April 4, 1948
... Joe Dobson throttled the Braves on two
hits in six innings and Jack Kramer yielded three in the last three
frames as the Red Sox defeated the tribe, 3 to 1 and squared Boston's
"City Series" at a winner apiece. The experts are agreed that
pitching is the number one problem confronting Red Sox manager Joe
McCarthy the season. However no fault could be found with the brand
served up today by Dobson, who was the ace of the Red Sox staff a
year ago, or by Kramer, obtained during the winter from the Browns.
The Sox pitchers had to be good to stay on top of the Tribe's ace, southpaw
Warren Spahn, who pitched a full game. Spahn allowed 12 hits, three of them
singles off the bat of Ted Williams, but for the most part, did well when he had
to. The Red Sox made the going roughest in the fourth inning, when five of them
got on safely with base hits. They scored only two runs, but the damage might
have been far more extensive had Spahn's tricky delivery not picked off Sam Mele
on first base and a critical moment.
The Braves got out front thanks to Jeff Heath's second inning homer. When the
Sox came to bat in the fourth, Williams, the American league's leading hitter,
showed no respect for Spahn as he singled to center. Stan Spence's hard shot to
right-field got by Tommy Holmes and hit the fence on the bound for a double,
chasing Williams to third. Mele drove home both runs with a solid hit to left,
before getting rambunctious and getting nailed by Spahn.
Johnny Pesky's double and Williams third straight hit, accounted for the
other Sox run in the fifth inning. Once the Sox were in the lead, the Braves
gave Dobson no trouble. Following Heath's home run, Dobson retired 13 hitters in
order, before giving way to Kramer. Kramer was not as effective as Dobson,
although he experimented successively with a knuckleball, on which he had been
working for some time.
Rain threatened continually and the wind did not abate in the least. Jeff
Heath homer was a drive more than 400 feet and was helped by the wind.
Sam Mele was robbed of a single to center when Spahn deflected the ball to
Eddie Stanky, who made the play. Otherwise Sam would have tied Williams with
three base hits. |
