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MIKE McCORMICK |
BOSTON BRAVES
...
SPAHN & SAIN and PRAY FOR RAIN ...
The Braves
come from behind
and capture first place
June 11, 1948 ... The
Boston Braves captured first place in the scramble for the National
League pennant. They staged a sparkling come from behind sweep of the
three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals, taking the finale 7
to 3, for their sixth consecutive victory on the road trip. Of
greater importance was the stirring relief effort of Ernie White. He had not
pitched since April 25th and tonight he hurled the final three innings for the
Braves, holding the Cardinals runless on one hit. Stan Musial doubled with two
outs in the seventh, but White got Enos Slaughter on a hot shot back to the box.
Bill Voiselle worked six mediocre innings to start. He retired for a
pinch-hitter in the seventh as the Braves put on a three-run rally to overcome a
3 to 1 Cardinals lead. Al Brazle was the starter for St. Louis and had mown down
11 out of the 12 Braves hitters from the third inning through the sixth. He got
himself in a hole to open the seventh, when he walked Sibbi Sisti. Voiselle was
taken out for pinch-hitter Alvin Dark and on the first pitch he pulled a hot
single in the left-field. After Eddie Stanky laid down a sacrifice to put Sisti
and Dark in scoring position, Mike McCormick poked a single to short right
field. Sisti scored with ease and was followed by Dark. Cardinal catcher, Joe
Garagiola tried to block the path of the charging Dark, but Alvin dove over him
to square the game at 3 to 3. While all this was going on, Mike McCormick
hustled down to second base. He went to third on a groundout and Bob Elliott
smashed a single through short to give the Braves a 4 to 3 lead.
The Braves added to their total in the eighth, on a Jim Russell single, a
sacrifice by Masi, a walk to Sisti and a smash by Stanky that missed being a
home run by inches. The ball caromed off the wall in left-center for a double
that scored Russell and Sisti. The final run in the ninth-inning was scored on a
pass to Torgeson, a single by Heath and a sacrifice fly by Jim Russell.
In last place during the first week of the season, the Braves have made a
magnificent drive to the top of the National League. They arrived at the
ballpark and found themselves leading the league as the Giants had been knocked
out by the Cubs in the afternoon. As a result of their latest success they are
in first place by one half game over the Giants. |
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