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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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BOSTON BRAVES
... May 17, 1948 ... In the presence of 32,209 of the faithful Dodger fans, the Braves walloped the whiskers off five Brooklyn pitchers, slamming out 18 hits for a lopsided 12 to 3 triumph. Johnny Sain struggled along for seven innings with a 5 to 3 lead and then the Braves exploded with a seven run outburst in the eighth, their longest inning of the spring. It produced their fourth straight victory on this road trip and put Boston half game ahead of the 2nd place Giants. It was Sain's third win and he celebrated it by knocking out three singles. He broke the game open in the eighth-inning against Hugh Casey, lining a scorching single to left, with the bases loaded, to drive in the first two runs of the inning. It was the Braves fourth win over the Dodgers of the season and the eighth and a row, counting last season's windup games. Brooklyn got a one run jump in the first inning on Marv Rackley's double and a single by Jackie Robinson. It was evened up in the second inning as the Braves hit Erv Palica for five hits and scored four runs, that gave Sain a lead he never relinquished. Jeff Heath's triple and Earl Torgeson's double were the most potent punches in the round that was started by Bob Elliott with a single. A double by Bill Salkeld in the third brought Jim Russell home with the fifth Braves run. The hit narrowly missed clearing the high screen in right-center field. The Dodgers pecked away at Sain for a couple of single runs in the third and fourth innings, on an error by Connie Ryan in the third, while two walks by Sain helped set up the other run. From that point on Sain clung to his lead with terrific pitching, holding the Dodgers hitless in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Clint Conaster started things up in the eighth. He knocked a 385 foot drive off the fence in center field for a triple. Torgeson and Salkeld were walked by an unsettled Casey to load the bases. After getting Connie Ryan on a pop foul, Sain came to the plate to face Casey and clipped the first pitch for his third hit to score Conaster and Torgeson. Before the inning ended, Mike McCormick laid down a perfect suicide bunt and Al Dark doubled through Pee We Reese. Russell walked and Elliott singled home two more runs, bringing in Preacher Roe from the bullpen. He hoped that the Braves had run out of base hits but they hadn't. Torgeson got another single before Salkeld struck out to end the hit parade, with a 12 to 3 Braves lead. Every Braves batter got at least one hit. The 12 run total was their top mark for the year as was the 18 hits. Bob Elliott, as well as Sain, connected for three base hits. Tommy Holmes batted .467 on the trip and Jeff Heath batted .400 with four homers, one triple and three doubles. Sain has fanned 25 batters in 50 innings this year and allowed but 11 earned runs over that stretch, just about two per game. The Braves caught the 2:30 AM train out of New York for Boston. Those who didn't, drove home brand-new cars. About 10 members of the Tribe bought new vehicles here and will be heading back to various destinations on their own. |
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