YANKEES WIN IN 10 AFTER BLOWING 4-0 LEAD LATE
McDougald Swats Game-Winning Hit
NEW YORK, Aug. 17 (AP) - If the Yankees go on to win the American League
pennant, they may well look back on the events of August 17 as tipping
point. Gil McDougald laced a single to right field in the bottom of the
tenth inning, plating pinch runner Billy Martin with the winning run as New York
bested the Philadelphia Athletics, 5-4, at Yankee Stadium before a crowd of
42,356. It represented a comeback of sorts for the Yankees; they had taken
a 4-0 lead into the seventh inning and blown it, with the A's tying the game in
the top of the ninth and very nearly taking the lead in that frame.
The Yankees, who have held first place in the American League nearly the entire
way, entered play with a mere one-game lead over second place Cleveland and just
three games over third place Boston. Having lost eight of their previous
ten games, the Yankees had seen their first place bulge of 6 1/2 games on August
eight dwindle rapidly.
Things began well enough for New York in this contest. The Yankees broke
on top in the home half of the fifth on Gene Woodling's lead off home run.
They added a run later in the inning when Joe Collins singled home Jerry
Coleman, who had tripled two batters earlier.
New York doubled its lead in the sixth on a two-run home run into the right
field grandstand off the bat of Yogi Berra.
Meanwhile, the Yankees were getting a fine start out of St. Louis Browns castoff
Stubby Overmire, who shutout the A's through six. Philadelphia dented the
scoreboard in the seventh on Pete Suder's RBI grounder and trailed 4-1 as the
game entered the eighth inning. Overmire appeared to tire and immediately
ran into trouble, yielding a leadoff single to Dave Philley and a double into
the left field corner by Eddie Joost. With runners on second and third
with no outs, New York manager Casey Stengel replaced Overmire with Allie
Reynolds. Elmer Valo greeted Reynolds with a single to center, scoring
Philley and advancing Joost to third. Allie Clark's fielder's choice
grounder to first scored Joost with the second run of the inning. Reynolds
then induced Gus Zernial to ground into a double play to end the inning, but the
A's had cut the lead to 4-3.
After a scoreless bottom of the eighth Philadelphia came up in the top of the
ninth. Reynolds quickly retired Hank Majeski and Suder with the first two
outs of the inning. But pinch hitter Billy Hitchcock doubled into the
right field corner to keep the inning alive. Joe Tipton followed with a
grounder to third baseman Gil McDougald; McDougald misplayed the ball for an
error, keeping the inning alive with runners at first and third. Sure
enough, Dave Philley doubled to right-center, trying the game on the unearned
run and chasing Tipton to third. Joost walked to fill the bases and
Reynolds escaped further damage by retiring Valo on a fly to left.
The Yankees went down in order in the bottom of the ninth and the A's threatened
to take the lead in the top of the tenth. With one out, Reynolds walked
Zernial and Majeski. But Suder followed by tapping one back to the mound
which Reynolds turned into an inning ending double play.
In the bottom of the tenth the Yankees finally regained some offensive
traction. Johnny Mize pinch hit for Reynolds, singled, and was replaced at
first base by pinch runner Martin. With Martin in motion Joe Collins
followed by grounding a single to right, advancing the runner to third.
And with the infield in McDougald lined a single to right to end the game.
Having won a game that they had seemed poised to give away, the Yankees may have
reversed their negative momentum.
8/17/1951, PhA51-NYA51, Yankee Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E LOB DP 1951 Athletics 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 4 9 0 8 1 1951 Yankees 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 5 10 1 6 3 Athletics AB R H BI AVG Yankees AB R H BI AVG Joost ss 4 1 1 0 .288 Collins 1b 5 0 2 1 .291 Valo cf 5 0 1 1 .323 McDougald 2b 4 1 1 1 .254 Clark,A rf 4 0 1 1 .248 Brown,B 3b 4 0 1 0 .263 Scheib p 1 0 0 0 .463 Rizzuto ss 0 0 0 0 .295 Zernial lf 3 1 0 0 .311 DiMaggio,J cf 2 0 0 0 .271 Majeski 3b 4 0 1 0 .293 Berra c 4 1 1 2 .280 Suder 2b 4 0 2 1 .280 Woodling lf 4 1 1 1 .308 Limmer 1b 3 0 0 0 .146 Bauer rf 4 0 1 0 .373 Hitchcock ph 1 1 1 0 .335 Coleman,Je ss 4 1 1 0 .287 Tipton c 4 0 0 0 .246 Overmire p 3 0 1 0 .042 Hooper p 2 0 0 0 .158 Reynolds p 0 0 0 0 .288 Philley ph 2 1 2 1 .296 Mize ph 1 0 1 0 .309 37 4 9 4 Martin,B pr 0 1 0 0 .263 35 5 10 5 Athletics INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Hooper 7.0 7 4 4 1 4 101 63 4.94 Scheib L 7-7 2.0 3 1 1 1 0 30 18 5.59 9.0 10 5 5 2 4 131 81 Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Overmire 7.0 6 3 3 2 2 104 66 6.23 Reynolds BS 2, W 10-6 3.0 3 1 0 3 0 49 23 4.37 10.0 9 4 3 5 2 153 89 PhA: Philley batted for Hooper in the 8th Philley moved to rf in the 8th Hitchcock batted for Limmer in the 9th Hitchcock moved to 1b in the 9th NYA: McDougald moved to 3b in the 9th Rizzuto inserted at ss in the 9th Coleman,Je moved to 2b in the 9th Mize batted for Reynolds in the 10th Martin,B ran for Mize in the 10th E-McDougald. 2B-Joost(23), Philley(19), Hitchcock(7), Bauer(22). 3B-Clark,A(2), Coleman,Je(2). HR-Berra(12), Woodling(15). RBI-Valo(60), Clark,A(25), Suder(55), Philley(51), Collins(40), McDougald(49), Berra 2(70), Woodling(50). SB-Suder(6). CS-Collins. K-Limmer, Hooper, Collins, McDougald, Bauer, Coleman,Je. BB-Joost, Zernial 2, Majeski, Suder, McDougald, DiMaggio,J. HBP-DiMaggio,J. HB-Hooper. GWRBI: McDougald Temperature: 67, Sky: threatening, Wind: right to left at 7 MPH. Attendance: 42,356 Game Time: 2:17