THOMPSON, TRINKLE 1-HIT REDS

Emergency Start Works Out for G-Men

CINCINNATI, June 11 (AP) – Gene “Junior” Thompson, making his first start of the year, tossed eight innings of one-hit shutout ball and Ken Trinkle finished the game off with a perfect ninth as the New York Giants slipped past the Cincinnati Reds 1-0 at Crosley Field.  Reds starter Johnny Vander Meer nearly matched Thompson, but was nicked for a run in the eighth inning and suffered the tough defeat.

Thompson, who had struggled in his nine relief appearances this season, was forced into the unexpected start when Bill Voiselle woke up with lower back tightness and rose to the occasion.  He retired the first 10 batters he faced, before surrendering an opposite field single to Eddie Lukon with one out in the bottom of the fourth.  It would be the only hit the Reds would manage in the entire game.   Thompson set down seven in a row following the Lukon base hit, walking Dain Clay with two outs in the sixth.  He then retired the final seven batters he faced before leaving the game for a pinch hitter in the top of the ninth.

The Giants had some scoring opportunities before finally breaking through in the eighth.  They had runners on second and third with two outs in the second, following Buddy Kerr’s two-out double, but Thompson grounded to first to end the threat.  They had runners on the corners with just one out in the third, when Mickey Vitek reached on an error and advanced to third on Buddy Blattner’s base hit, but Vander Meer induced Johnny Mize to ground into an inning ending double play.  Thompson drew a leadoff walk in the fifth, moved to second on Johnny Rucker’s sacrifice and third on Witek’s fly ball, but Blattner grounded out to end the inning.

Finally, in the top of the eighth, New York broke the scoreless tie.  Witek singled with one out and Blattner drew a free pass from Vander Meer, putting runners on first and second.  Mise fanned for the second out, but Walker Cooper came through by looping a single to left, scoring Witek to give the Giants a 1-0 lead.

After Thompson worked through the bottom of the eighth, he could be seen talking to Giants manager Mel Ott in the New York dugout between innings.  Shortly thereafter, Trinkle began warming up in the Giants bullpen.  Thompson’s spot in the order was due up third in the top of the ninth, and when it arrived, with two outs and the bases empty, Jack Graham hit for Thompson and flied to right.

With Thompson having apparently run out of gas, having thrown more than twice as many pitches as in any prior outing this year, Trinkle came on to deal with the Reds in the ninth.  He did so with aplomb, fanning Vander Meer, retiring Clay on a pop to short and striking out Lukon to end the game.

It was just the third time this year that a major league club had held an opponent to one safety in a contest, all of them in the National League.  It was also the first time that a combined pitching effort had been used in a one-hitter.

6/11/1946, NYN46-Cin46, Crosley Field

                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP

1946 Giants            0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0     1  5  0     8  0

1946 Reds              0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0     0  1  2     2  1

Giants               AB  R  H BI   AVG    Reds                 AB  R  H BI   AVG

Rucker            cf  3  0  0  0  .324    Clay              cf  3  0  0  0  .215

Witek             3b  4  1  1  0  .205    Lukon             lf  4  0  1  0  .333

Blattner          2b  3  0  1  0  .281    Adams,Bo          2b  3  0  0  0  .222

Mize              1b  4  0  1  0  .307    Hatton            3b  3  0  0  0  .287

Cooper,W          c   4  0  1  1  .187    Libke             rf  3  0  0  0  .273

Gordon,S          lf  3  0  0  0  .333    Lamanno           c   3  0  0  0  .221

Rosen,G           rf  3  0  0  0  .247    Shokes            1b  3  0  0  0  .042

Kerr              ss  4  0  1  0  .291    Miller,E          ss  3  0  0  0  .241

Thompson          p   2  0  0  0  .000    Vander Meer       p   3  0  0  0  .133

 Graham,J         ph  1  0  0  0  .228                         28  0  1  0

 Trinkle          p   0  0  0  0  .333

                     31  1  5  1

Giants                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA

Thompson         W 1-0           8.0  1  0  0  1  3 102  63  4.15

Trinkle          S 2             1.0  0  0  0  0  2  11   7  1.23

                                 9.0  1  0  0  1  5 113  70

Reds                             INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA

Vander Meer      L 2-2           9.0  5  1  1  4  8 145  86  1.57

                                 9.0  5  1  1  4  8 145  86

NYN: Graham,J batted for Thompson in the 9th

E-Libke, Miller,E. 2B-Kerr(17). RBI-Cooper,W(5). CS-Mize. K-Rucker 2, Mize,

Gordon,S 2, Rosen,G, Kerr, Thompson, Lukon, Adams,Bo, Libke, Vander Meer 2.

BB-Blattner, Gordon,S, Rosen,G, Thompson, Clay. SH-Rucker.

GWRBI: Cooper,W

Temperature: 79, Sky: threatening, Wind: left to right at 11 MPH,

Rain Delays: 16 minutes.

Attendance: 6,304

Game Time: 2:08