OVERMIRE’S 1-HITTER HELPS BEENGALS SALVAGE DH SPLIT

Lefty Stymies AL’s Top Offense

NEW YORK, July 14 (AP) – Stubby Overmire tossed the sixth one-hitter of the major league season, leading the Detroit Tigers to a 3-0 nightcap victory and a split of their doubleheader with the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.  New York won the opener 4-2 behind Al Gettel’s seven strong innings and home runs off the bats of Charlie Keller and Johnny Lindell.

The only hit surrendered by Overmire came with one out in the bottom of the third, when Joe Gordon singled.  Tommy Henrich walked with one out in the fourth and Keller drew a free pass with one out in the seventh.  Those were the only three baserunners the Yankees managed in the contest, and none of them advanced past first base.  Making Overmire’s feat even more impressive is the fact that it came against the top-scoring team—by more than a half a run per game—in the big leagues.  Nevertheless, this is the second time this year that the Yankees have been one-hit.  Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians held New York to a single safety in a 4-0 Cleveland victory on June 25 at League Park.

Yankees starter Joe Page matched Overmire’s shutout frames until the top of the seventh when the Tigers finally broke the scoreless deadlock.  Pat Mullin doubled with one out and moved to third when Gordon booted Jimmy Outlaw’s ground ball.  Jimmy Bloodworth’s soft grounder to second, with New York in double play depth, allowed Mullin to score the game’s first run.

Detroit added insurance in the eighth. Eddie Lake drew a leadoff walk from Page.  George Kell hit a potential double play grounder to Gordon, and the Yankees successfully forced Lake at second, but shortstop Phil Rizzuto’s relay throw to first was wild, and Kell ended up on second base on the error.  Hoot Evers flied to center for the second out, and Hank Greenberg was walked intentionally, but Mullin followed with a base hit, loading the bases with two outs.  Right-hander Randy Gumpert replaced Page on the mound to face Outlaw, but the Tigers left fielder foiled the move, lining a single to center, scoring Kell and Greenberg to give Detroit a 3-0 advantage.  Bloodworth grounded out to end the inning, but the damage had been done.

Given Overmire’s dominance in the game, it’s not clear that the insurance runs mattered.  The Yankees didn’t put a single man on base over the final two innings, as Overmire cruised the rest of the way.

7/14/1946, Det46-NYA46, game 2, Yankee Stadium

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

1946 Tigers            0  0  0  0  0  0  1  2  0     3  6  0     9  1

1946 Yankees           0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0     0  1  2     2  1

Tigers               AB  R  H BI   AVG    Yankees              AB  R  H BI   AVG

Lake              ss  3  0  1  0  .203    Rizzuto           ss  4  0  0  0  .274

Kell,G            3b  4  1  2  0  .341    Stirnweiss        3b  4  0  0  0  .282

Evers             cf  4  0  0  0  .278    Henrich           rf  2  0  0  0  .290

Greenberg         1b  2  1  0  0  .284    Keller            lf  2  0  0  0  .270

Mullin            rf  4  1  2  0  .242    Lindell           cf  3  0  0  0  .200

Outlaw            lf  4  0  1  2  .238    Souchock          1b  3  0  0  0  .111

Bloodworth        2b  4  0  0  1  .277    Robinson,A        c   3  0  0  0  .360

 Webb             2b  0  0  0  0  .000    Gordon,J          2b  3  0  1  0  .250

Richards          c   3  0  0  0  .141    Page              p   2  0  0  0  .294

Overmire          p   4  0  0  0  .080     Gumpert          p   0  0  0  0  .083

                     32  3  6  3           Johnson,B        ph  1  0  0  0  .169

                                                               27  0  1  0

Tigers                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA

Overmire         W 6-4           9.0  1  0  0  2  4  95  64  2.83

                                 9.0  1  0  0  2  4  95  64

Yankees                          INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA

Page             L 7-4           7.2  3  3  2  6  5 110  61  2.36

Gumpert                          1.1  3  0  0  0  1  26  17  3.47

                                 9.0  6  3  2  6  6 136  78

Det: Webb inserted at 2b in the 8th

NYA: Johnson,B batted for Gumpert in the 9th

E-Rizzuto, Gordon,J. 2B-Mullin(11). RBI-Outlaw 2(16), Bloodworth(17). K-Lake,

Kell,G, Evers 2, Mullin, Bloodworth, Keller, Lindell, Souchock 2. BB-Lake 2,

Evers, Greenberg 2, Richards, Henrich, Keller. SH-Kell,G.

GWRBI: Bloodworth

Temperature: 78, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 8 MPH.

Attendance: 51,357

Game Time: 1:59