DODGERS WIN RUBBER MATCH OVER GIANTS
Erskine, Maglie Lock Up in Memorable Duel
NEW YORK, April 22 (AP) - The Brooklyn Dodgers eked out a win in the rubber
match of their three-game series at the Polo Grounds, nipping the Giants 1-0
behind the complete game performance of Carl Erskine (1-1). The Dodgers
won an extra inning thriller in the series opener on Friday, then came out on
the short end of a 10-7 slugfest in the penultimate contest on Saturday.
Erskine, who was shelled in his first start of the year, the season opener at
Ebbets Field against Philadelphia and Robin Roberts, looked like an entirely
different pitcher against the Giants. Locating all of his pitches
masterfully, the right-hander limited New York to just four hits, all of them
singles.
The Giants only advanced one baserunner past first base and that was in the very
first inning. With one out, Whitey Lockman and Hank Thompson blooped
back-to-back singles. But Erskine immediately induced a double play ball
off the bat of Monte Irvin to end the inning.
That was the lone New York threat of the game. The only other hits were
off the bats of Eddie Stanky in the third and Wes Westrum with one out in the
eighth; neither amounted to anything. Erskine did issue a pair of
walks--with two outs in the fifth to Westrum, who was stranded when Sal Maglie
flied out; and with one out in the sixth to Thompson, who was erased by
Thompson's double play grounder.
Maglie, Erskine's mound opponent, was essentially as effective as his
counterpart. He held the Dodgers to a mere three hits and walked one--Gene
Hermanski, leading off the game. He also hit a batter--Roy Campanella, in
the fifth.
The games only run came courtesy of Campanella, who drove a Maglie off-speed
pitch in to the lower left field seats with one out in the second.
Brooklyn threatened to add to their lead in the fourth. Jackie Robinson
led off the inning with a single. Gil Hodges fanned, but Campanella was
clipped by an inside pitch to put runners on first and second. Pee Wee
Reese's deep fly to center moved Robinson to third, but Rocky Bridges was
retired on a pop fly to Al Dark at short.
After Campanella was hit with a pitch, Maglie retired the final 17 Dodgers in
order. And he still lost the game. Erskine helped himself
immeasurably by retiring the leadoff man in all nine innings.
4/22/1951, Brk51-NYN51, Polo Grounds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1951 Dodgers 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 4 2 1951 Giants 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 4 0 Dodgers AB R H BI AVG Giants AB R H BI AVG Hermanski lf 3 0 1 0 .375 Stanky 2b 4 0 1 0 .207 Furillo rf 4 0 0 0 .211 Lockman lf 3 0 1 0 .333 Snider cf 4 0 0 0 .227 Thompson, H 3b 4 0 1 0 .238 Robinson, J 2b 4 0 1 0 .333 Irvin 1b 4 0 0 0 .207 Hodges 1b 4 0 0 0 .167 Thomson cf 3 0 0 0 .143 Campanella c 2 1 1 1 .250 Mueller, D rf 3 0 0 0 .238 Reese ss 3 0 0 0 .250 Dark ss 3 0 0 0 .300 Bridges 3b 3 0 0 0 .200 Westrum c 2 0 1 0 .333 Erskine p 3 0 0 0 .000 Wilson, Art pr 0 0 0 0 1.000 30 1 3 1 Yvars c 0 0 0 0 .000 Maglie p 3 0 0 0 .000 29 0 4 0 Dodgers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Erskine W 1-1 9.0 4 0 0 2 5 121 74 3.86 9.0 4 0 0 2 5 121 74 Giants INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Maglie L 0-2 9.0 3 1 1 1 8 120 72 2.55 9.0 3 1 1 1 8 120 72 NYN: Wilson, Art ran for Westrum in the 8th Yvars inserted at c in the 9th HR-Campanella(1). RBI-Campanella(1). K-Hermanski, Furillo, Snider 2, Robinson, J, Hodges, Campanella, Erskine, Stanky, Lockman, Thomson, Westrum, Maglie. BB-Hermanski, Lockman, Westrum. HBP-Campanella. HB-Maglie. GWRBI: Campanella Temperature: 63, Sky: clear, Wind: in from left at 11 MPH. Attendance: 30,686 Game Time: 2:01