TRIBE REMAINS RED HOT, WINS 12TH STRAIGHT
Gus Wins 14th; Ties for AL Lead
ST. LOUIS, Aug. 15 (AP) - The Cleveland Indians extended the longest winning
streak in the major leagues this season to 12 games, rallying late to beat the
St. Louis Browns 7-2 at Sportsman's Park. Trailing Ned Garver (10-10) 2-1
after seven innings, Cleveland had a pair of three-run innings in the eighth and
ninth to put the game away. Early Wynn (14-9) came up two outs short in
the quest for his 19th complete game but happily settled for his 14th victory,
tying teammate Bob Lemon and Vic Raschi of the Yankees for the American League
lead in that category. Wynn's 18 complete games give the right-hander sole
possession of the league lead.
Garver and Wynn matched scoreless frames until the bottom of the fourth when the
Browns took the lead when Bill Jennings' two-out double plated Hank Arft.
The Indians tied the game in the top of the fifth when the first three batters
of the inning--Harry Simpson, Ray Boone and Jim Hegan--all singled.
Hegan's safety drove home Simpson and left Cleveland with runners at first and
third and no one out. But Garver wiggled out of further trouble, striking
out Wynn, walking Dale Mitchell to fill the bases and then striking out Bobby
Avila and retiring Larry Doby on a fly ball to center to end the frame.
Garver's Houdini act appeared to pay dividends when St. Louis snapped the tie in
the bottom of the sixth. Back-to-back singles off the bats of Cliff Mapes
and Arft to open the inning left the Browns with runners on the corners and Ken
Wood's fielder's choice grounder scored Mapes.
The score remained 2-1 until the top of the eighth. With one out, Luke
Easter reached on Jennings' error and was replaced by pinch runner Sam
Chapman. Al Rosen grounded out to second, with Chapman advancing to
second, but the error proved fatal when Simpson followed with his sixth home run
of the year, over the screen in right field. The two-run shot put
Cleveland on top for good. Boone followed with a single and Hegan came
through with his second run-scoring hit of the game, a double to right-center,
to give the Indians an insurance run and a 4-2 lead.
Cleveland put the game away in the top of the ninth. Mitchell led off with
a single and Avila doubled him home to make it 5-2. Doby walked and Bob
Kennedy, who had come into the game in the eighth for defense, grounded into a
double play. But Rosen homered into the left field stands--his 18th round
tripper of the year--to cap the scoring.
Wynn retired Jennings to start the bottom of the ninth but yielded a double to
pinch hitter Frank Saucier and was replaced by Lou Brissie who picked up the
final two outs with ease to end the game.
Coupled with wins by New York and Boston, the Indians now find themselves in
second place, only a game-and-a-half behind the league-leading Yankees.
The Red Sox are just three games behind New York.
8/15/1951, Cle51-SLA51, Sportsman's Park (A) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1951 Indians 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 3 7 12 0 9 0 1951 Browns 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 7 2 9 3 Indians AB R H BI AVG Browns AB R H BI AVG Mitchell lf 3 1 2 0 .353 Young,B 2b 5 0 0 0 .297 Avila 2b 4 1 1 1 .277 Delsing cf 5 0 1 0 .258 Doby cf 2 0 0 0 .285 Lollar c 3 0 0 0 .240 Easter 1b 4 0 1 0 .228 Mapes rf 4 1 2 0 .276 Chapman pr 0 1 0 0 .168 Arft 1b 3 1 2 0 .311 Kennedy,Bo rf 1 0 0 0 .237 Wood lf 4 0 0 1 .279 Rosen 3b 5 1 1 2 .241 Marsh 3b 3 0 0 0 .237 Simpson rf 4 2 3 2 .276 Jennings ss 3 0 1 1 .234 Boone ss 5 1 2 0 .231 Garver p 3 0 0 0 .215 Hegan c 4 0 2 2 .242 Saucier ph 1 0 1 0 .250 Wynn p 4 0 0 0 .203 34 2 7 2 Brissie p 0 0 0 0 .320 36 7 12 7 Indians INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Wynn W 14-9 8.1 7 2 2 4 6 131 80 2.54 Brissie 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 8 5 4.34 9.0 7 2 2 4 6 139 85 Browns INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Garver L 10-10 9.0 12 7 4 6 4 143 86 2.88 9.0 12 7 4 6 4 143 86 Cle: Chapman ran for Easter in the 8th Kennedy,Bo inserted at rf in the 8th Simpson moved to 1b in the 8th SLA: Saucier batted for Garver in the 9th E-Arft, Jennings. 2B-Avila(18), Hegan(13), Jennings(5), Saucier(2). HR-Rosen(18), Simpson(6). RBI-Avila(48), Rosen 2(74), Simpson 2(31), Hegan 2(34), Wood(38), Jennings(8). SB-Arft(5). CS-Mitchell. K-Avila, Easter, Boone, Wynn, Young,B, Lollar, Mapes, Wood, Marsh 2. BB-Mitchell 2, Doby 3, Simpson, Lollar, Arft, Marsh, Jennings. SH-Avila. GWRBI: Simpson Temperature: 80, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 18 MPH. Attendance: 3,241 Game Time: 2:14