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VERN BICKFORD |
BOSTON BRAVES
...
SPAHN & SAIN and PRAY FOR RAIN ...
The Braves
split a doubleheader
but gain on the Dodgers
September 4, 1948 ... After
blowing a 3 to 1 lead in the seventh inning of the first game, and
losing 4 to 3, the Braves bounced back to beat the Phillies 8 to 1,
at Braves Field.
The Tribe may well have had a double victory, but Bill Voiselle was the
victim of some ragged defense in the seventh inning of the opening game.
Schoolboy Rowe pitched a credible game after granting two runs in the first and
captured his ninth victory of the year. The seventh inning was tough to take,
especially for Voiselle, who had been pitching good ball, having allowed but one
run in four hits in six innings.
The Braves got two in the first inning on Tommy Holmes' single, an error by
Bama Rowell on Earl Torgeson's grounder, and Jeff Heath's triple off the
centerfield wall. They then picked up another run in the sixth.
The Phillies had scored one in the first and then Voiselle coasted until the
seventh. He granted successive singles to Johnny Blatnick and Ralph Caballero to
open that inning. Then Phil Masi tried to pick Caballero off first, throwing low
and the ball went into right field, to advance the runners. Eddie Seminick came
up next and hit a hard ground ball to Bob Elliott, that he threw hurriedly and
bounced the ball three yards in front of Torgy getting by him. That scored
Blatnick and Caballero reached third, as Seminick jogged down to second base.
Rowe next hit a slow grounder to Alvin Dark, and with Caballero breaking for the
plate, only had a play to first. Seminick held on second base. Dark threw out
Harry Walker but Voiselle hit Granny Hamner with a inside pitch on the right
wrist. Rowell came up and slapped a ground ball to the right of Torgy at first,
which took a bad hop, and skipped by him for a double to score Seminick, with
the run that meant ballgame. Bob Hogue came in next and pitched hitless ball in
relief.
Vern Bickford went the distance in the nightcap, to win his ninth of the year
against five losses, and his first over the Phillies. He spread eight hits and
passed none until he lost Al Lakeman with two outs in the ninth-inning.
Walt Dubiel started for the Phillies and like Voiselle, in the first game,
was the victim of some erratic defense. The Braves got six runs in the second
when Hamner, playing shortstop, booted a doubleplay ball and the onslaught
followed. Elliott took his 19th round tripper of the year over the fence to left
of the scoreboard. Both Salkeld and Mike McCormick received walks from Dubiel
and Sisti hit a doubleplay ball right at Hamner, who made a fumble to fill the
bases.
Rowell next booted a ground ball off the bat of Bickford, that shot into
short right field. Salkeld and McCormick both scored on the play. Holmes knocked
in Sisti and Bickford on a triple to left-center after that. Veteran pitcher, Ed
Heusser came into pitch next and Holmes scored on a fly ball from Alvin dark out
to Johnny Blatnick.
Eddie Miller came in to replace Hamner at short in the third inning and
booted Mike McCormick's ground ball with one down in the seventh. Mike came
across on Bickford's double to the base of the scoreboard in right, making it
7-0. The last Braves run came in the eighth on Torgy single and Jeff Heath's
double.
The Braves gained a half game on their closest rivals, the second-place
Dodgers and the third-place Cardinals, both of whom lost. The Braves lead
Brooklyn by two games and the Cardinals by 2 1/2. Leo Durocher's Giants
continued to be a stumbling block for the Dodgers. They turned back their city
rivals for the third straight time by a 3 to 0 score. The defeat was Brooklyn
sixth in their last seven games.
Ken Raffensberger of the Reds set down the Cardinals on five hits by a score
of 3 to 1. But it took a fast doubleplay to save the victory, as the Cardinals
rallied in the ninth and put two runners on base with nobody out. |
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