YANKS DROP 20 RUNS ON TIGERS

Keller 2 HRs, 5 RBIs; Henrich Belts 2^nd Slam

DETROIT, July 31 (AP) – The New York Yankees became the first major league team this season to score 20 runs in a single game, pounding the Detroit Tigers 20-2 at Briggs Stadium. Charlie Keller hit a pair of home runs and a triple and drove in five for New York. Tommy Henrich hit his second grand slam of the season. Hank Greenberg’s major league leading 36^th home run of the year was the lone bright spot for Detroit.

There have been only 10 instances of a major league club reaching 15 runs in a game this season, and the Yankees have accomplished the feat four of those times. No other team has reached the 15-run threshold more than once.

The game turned into a laugher fairly quickly. Keller hit his first home run of the game, a two-run shot that reached the upper deck in right field, off Al Benton in the first inning, driving home Henrich, who had reached on an error. The Tigers ended up committing five errors in the contest, setting a new team season high. Shortstop Eddie Lake was charged with three miscues, tying the single-game major league high for the season for an individual player.

The Yankees broke the game wide open in the third, with five runs scoring in the inning. Lake’s second error of the contest, with the bases loaded, made it 3-0, and Billy Johnson, who finished with four RBIs, drove home a pair with a base hit. Phil Rizzuto following by singling home two more runs.

A wild pitch in the fourth made it 8-0 and Greenberg’s homer in the bottom of the frame finally put Detroit on the board.

But New York scored four more runs in the fifth, with the tallies coming on Snuffy Stirnweiss’ double and Keller’s three-run blast. Johnson’s two-run double was the big blow in a three-run top of the sixth.

Henrich’s grand slam, which put the finishing touches on the scoring, came in the top of the eighth, off Johnny Gorsica. In so doing, Henrich became the third player in the American Legue this year with multiple grand slams, joining Ken Keltner of Cleveland and Rudy York of Boston.

7/31/1946, NYA46-Det46, Briggs Stadium

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

1946 Yankees 2 0 5 1 4 3 0 5 0 20 18 0 6 1

1946 Tigers 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 7 5 7 1

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

Stirnweiss 2b 5 2 1 1 .268 Lake ss 2 1 0 0 .211

Henrich rf 5 4 2 4 .295 Kell,G 3b 4 0 1 0 .354

Keller lf 5 4 3 5 .272 Evers cf 4 0 2 1 .301

Lindell cf 5 1 2 0 .211 Greenberg 1b 4 1 1 1 .288

Robinson,A c 6 1 2 0 .326 Wakefield lf 4 0 0 0 .348

Souchock 1b 5 3 2 1 .276 Cullenbine rf 3 0 0 0 .389

Johnson,B 3b 6 3 3 4 .196 Webb 2b 4 0 2 0 .250

Rizzuto ss 4 1 1 2 .286 Tebbetts c 4 0 1 0 .228

Russo p 3 0 0 0 .222 Benton p 1 0 0 0 .267

Etten ph 1 0 1 1 .271 White,H p 2 0 0 0 .000

Gumpert p 1 1 1 1 .125 Gorsica p 0 0 0 0 .000

Wade,J p 0 0 0 0 .286 Hutchinson ph 1 0 0 0 .255

46 20 18 19 33 2 7 2

Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA

Russo W 2-0 5.0 6 2 2 3 0 80 46 6.10

Gumpert H 1 3.0 1 0 0 0 1 44 28 3.97

Wade,J 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 15 8 2.48

9.0 7 2 2 3 2 139 82

Tigers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA

Benton L 2-2 3.2 8 8 5 3 2 71 44 5.47

White,H 3.2 9 10 10 2 1 76 47 15.43

Gorsica 1.2 1 2 2 2 0 23 10 5.63

9.0 18 20 17 7 3 170 101

NYA: Etten batted for Russo in the 6th

Det: Hutchinson batted for Gorsica in the 9th

E-Lake 3, Wakefield, Cullenbine. 2B-Stirnweiss(14), Robinson,A(10),

Johnson,B 2(6). 3B-Keller(5). HR-Henrich(20), Keller 2(24), Greenberg(36).

RBI-Stirnweiss(32), Henrich 4(63), Keller 5(76), Souchock(8),

Johnson,B 4(19), Rizzuto 2(26), Etten(66), Gumpert(1), Evers(18),

Greenberg(91). CS-Rizzuto. K-Stirnweiss, Souchock, Johnson,B, Webb,

Hutchinson. BB-Stirnweiss, Henrich, Keller, Lindell, Souchock, Rizzuto 2,

Lake 2, Cullenbine. WP-Benton.

GWRBI: Keller

Temperature: 79, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 18 MPH.

Attendance: 21,200

Game Time: 2:42