POLLET FIRES 5TH CONSECUTIVE SHUTOUT
Cards Win 6th Straight, 24th of Last 30
ST. LOUIS, July 12 (AP) – Howie Pollet tossed his fifth shutout in as many starts, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 2-0 victory over the New York Giants in the first game of a doubleheader at Sportsman’s Park. Pollet’s string of shutouts is interspersed with a pair of relief appearances, including one in which he was nicked for a run. But as a starter, Pollet hasn’t allowed a run since surrendering a single tally in seven innings of work on June 17 against Boston at Braves Field. Pollet has won his last seven starts, last losing on June 6, also against the Braves. During that seven-start stretch, Pollet has allowed one run in 61 innings, an earned run average of 0.15. Overall, Pollet is the National League leader in wins, with 14.
The scoring summary of the game is a brief one. After Pollet retired the Giants in order in the top of the first, New York starter Bill Voiselle retired the first two batters he faced without incident. But Stan Musial extended his season-best hitting streak to 16 games with a single. Enos Slaughter followed with a base hit to right, advancing Musial to third. Whitey Kurowski then tripled to the gap in right-center, plating both runners for a 2-0 Cardinals advantage. Erv Dusak fanned to end the inning, but the damage had been done.
That was the end of the scoring. Voiselle settled down and pitched a strong game, holding St. Louis to only four more hits the rest of the way. The Cardinals had a chance to add some insurance in the bottom of the sixth when Red Schoendienst led off with a base hit, stole second, and advanced to third on Harry Walker’s sacrifice bunt. Voiselle walked Musial intentionally and then pitched around Slaughter, eventually walking him to load the bases. He then induced Kurowski to roll into an inning-ending double play. Voiselle went on to retire 11 of the final 12 batters he faced.
But the Giants, along with everyone else of late, simply couldn’t solve Pollet. New York’s best chance to score came in the fifth, when Walker Cooper drew a one-out free pass and Sid Gordon’s base hit put runners on first and second. Goody Rosen flied to left, with Cooper advancing to third, and Buddy Kerr tried Dusak in left, with similar results. The Giants never advanced another runner past first base.
The victory was the sixth in a row for the Cardinals, who have been white hot for the last month-plus, having gone 24-6 in their last 30 games.
7/12/1946, NYN46-SLN46, game 1, Sportsman's Park (N)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1946 Giants 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 3 1
1946 Cardinals 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 x 2 6 0 7 3
Giants AB R H BI AVG Cardinals AB R H BI AVG
Blattner 2b 3 0 0 0 .234 Schoendienst 2b 3 0 1 0 .276
Young ph 1 0 0 0 .284 Walker,H cf 3 0 0 0 .260
Marshall,W cf 4 0 1 0 .291 Musial 1b 3 1 1 0 .420
Witek 3b 4 0 0 0 .203 Slaughter rf 3 1 2 0 .284
Mize 1b 3 0 0 0 .330 Kurowski 3b 4 0 1 2 .243
Cooper,W c 2 0 0 0 .180 Dusak lf 3 0 0 0 .160
Gordon,S lf 3 0 2 0 .303 Garagiola c 3 0 0 0 .262
Rosen,G rf 3 0 1 0 .273 Marion ss 3 0 1 0 .248
Kerr ss 2 0 0 0 .266 Pollet p 3 0 0 0 .163
Voiselle p 3 0 0 0 .111 28 2 6 2
28 0 4 0
Giants INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Voiselle L 4-9 8.0 6 2 2 4 3 126 69 4.18
8.0 6 2 2 4 3 126 69
Cardinals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Pollet W 14-4 9.0 4 0 0 2 0 99 65 1.71
9.0 4 0 0 2 0 99 65
NYN: Young batted for Blattner in the 9th
3B-Kurowski(4). RBI-Kurowski 2(44). SB-Schoendienst(7). K-Walker,H, Dusak 2.
BB-Cooper,W, Kerr, Schoendienst, Musial, Slaughter, Dusak. SH-Walker,H.
GWRBI: Kurowski
Temperature: 84, Sky: clear, Wind: out to right at 3 MPH.
Attendance: N/A
Game Time: 1:57