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BILLY SOUTHWORTH |
BOSTON BRAVES
...
SPAHN & SAIN and PRAY FOR RAIN ...
Johnny Sain pitches a great game,
and the second game gets called
a tie after 13 innings
July 15, 1948 ... The
Braves battled to a 1 to 1, 13 inning deadlock with the Chicago Cubs
at Wrigley Field this afternoon, as plate umpire, Lou Jorda, called
the second game of a doubleheader at 7:11 PM. Nelson Potter rescued
Bill Voiselle in the ninth-inning and pitched brilliantly to keep the
Braves' five-game winning streak alive. In the first game, the
Braves, behind Johnny Sain's 12th win of the year, picked up a half game on the
second-place Pirates with a 2 to 1 victory. They are now six full strides ahead
of the field in the National League.
Except for the seventh inning, when the Cubs scored their lone run, Sain was
in charge all the way. He walked the leadoff batter for his only gift of the
day, striking out five. The Braves got only five hits, but as usual Sain was
brilliant in the clutch.
The game was settled in the very first inning. Cubs starter Ralph Hamner
faced four batters and didn't retire anybody. He walked Tommy Holmes and Alvin
Dark, and then Earl Torgeson lined a single to center to score Holmes. When
Hamner walked Bob Elliott to load the bases, he was replaced by Emil Kush. On
Kush's first pitch, Jeff Heath lined a smash to center that Hal Jeffcoat caught.
Dark tagged up after the catch and Jeffcoat uncorked a terrific throw that
almost nailed Dark, who had to make a last-second fadeaway slide to prevent
being tagged out. That put the Braves up 2 to 0
The Cubs scored their run in the seventh and had Sain in a jam. Andy Pafko
opened with a single and Phil Cavaretta smashed a triple to right-center. But
Sain buckled down and got out the next two batters on a ground ball and a pop
up.
Voiselle and Bob Rush, a 22-year-old right-hander, would have had shutouts in
the second game, except for faulty defense. Rush was clipped for 11 base hits,
including an infield By Dark, who had been hitless in his last nine times at
bat. The Braves scored an unearned run in the third inning. Connie Ryan led off
with a double and Voiselle hit one down to Gene Mauch, who tossed over to Pafko
at third. Ryan was a dead duck, but Pafko dropped the ball after tagging him
out. He then scored when Tommy Holmes grounded into a doubleplay.
The Cubs got that run back when Cavaretta stroked a long drive to left-field.
Heath got his glove on the ball but dropped it for a double. Rube Walker brought
in Cavaretta with a single to right, tying up the game, and there it stayed for
13 innings. It was the fifth extra inning game the Braves have played this year
and they have yet to win one.
The 23 game hitting streak by Alvin Dark was terminated in the first game.
After walking in the first inning, he flied out twice and grounded out twice. |
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