TRIBE WINS 11TH STRAIGHT IN WILD GAME WITH BROWNS
Doby Homers; AL Lead Now at 3
ST. LOUIS, Sept. 9 (AP) - The Cleveland Indians won their 11th consecutive game,
a wild, seesaw affair, beating the St. Louis Browns, 8-7, at Sportsman's Park.
Coupled with New York's doubleheader split with Washington, the Indians now hold
a three-game lead over the Yankees in the chase for the American League pennant.
Cleveland rallied from a 5-1 deficit to take a 6-5 lead in the top of the
seventh only to see the Browns score twice in the bottom half of the inning to
reclaim the lead. But Larry Doby hit a dramatic two-out, two-run home run over
the screen into the right field pavilion to give the Indians the game-winning
margin. It was Doby's first home run since August 12, but it couldn't have come
at a better time for his team.
Early Wynn started for Cleveland and had an uncharacteristically poor outing.
The game was scoreless through three innings and the Indians drew first blood
when Barney McCosky's bases loaded double play grounder scored Doby in the top
of the fourth.
The Browns immediately retaliated in the bottom half of the frame. Earl Rapp and
Hank Arft led off the inning with back-to-back singles and Sherm Lollar
sacrificed them to second and third. Jim Delsing plated both runners with a
double to right-center. Fred Marsh followed with a single to left, scoring
Delsing and putting St. Louis on top, 3-1. It could have been worse. Bill
Jennings doubled Marsh to third and pitcher Duane Pillette walked to fill the
bases, but Wynn narrowly escaped further damage by inducing Bobby Young to
ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
The Browns upped their lead to 5-1 in the fifth, driving Wynn from the game in
the process. Cliff Mapes led off with a single and Rapp followed by tripling
over Doby's head in center field, scoring Mapes. With the infield in, Arft
grounded to first and Lollar struck out. Delsing was walked intentionally but
Marsh came through with his second RBI single of the contest to put St. Louis
ahead by four runs and knock Wynn from the mound in the process. It was the
right-hander's shortest outing since June 24 (also 4 2/3 innings). George
Zuverink retired Jennings on strikes for the final out.
The Indians began their comeback in the sixth with two runs off Pillette. Al
Rosen singled through the box and Luke Easter drew a walk. Paul Lehner hit for
McCosky and rolled to second, with both runners advancing 90 feet. Ray Boone
grounded out to the right side, scoring Rosen and moving Easter to third. Jim
Hegan's two-out single plated Easter and the lead was reduced to 5-3.
After Zuverink held the Browns scoreless in the bottom of the sixth, Cleveland
took the lead in the top of the seventh. With one out, Bobby Avila doubled into
the right field corner. Doby grounded out, moving Avila to third with two outs.
Rosen then singled to center, scoring Avila and cutting the deficit to one run.
Easter followed by slicing a single to left and that finished Pillette for the
afternoon; he was replaced on the hill by Satchel Paige as part of a double
switch that saw Ben Taylor replace Arft at first base. Slumping Sam Chapman
lined a clean single to left-center, scoring Rosen and tying the game, with
Easter taking third. Boone's opposite field single to right then plated Easter
with the lead run before Hegan fanned to end the inning with the Indians on top,
6-5.
But St. Louis came right back in the home half of the seventh against Lou
Brissie. Lollar walked and was replaced by pinch runner Frank Saucier. Delsing
forced him at second for the first out but Marsh walked, putting runners at
first and second. Jennings followed with a double to right-center, scoring both
runners to make it 7-6, Browns. Brissie retired Taylor and Bobby Young, but the
damage was done.
In the top of the eighth, pinch hitter Bob Kennedy popped out and Dale Mitchell
grounded to short. But Avila came through again; his two out single to left kept
the inning alive, setting the stage for Doby's heroics.
Dick Rozek came on for Cleveland in the bottom of the eighth and barely got
through the frame. He allowed Mapes to reach on what was scored an infield
single when Eester missed the tag on a swinging bunt. Easter redeemed himself by
turning Rapp's grounder into a 3-6-3 double play. With the bases clear, Rozek
breathed a sigh of relief and immediately found himself back in trouble. Pinch
hitter Ken Wood walked and Matt Batts followed with a single to left, putting
the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base. But Rozek struck out Delsing to
end the inning.
Jim Suchecki held the Indians scoreless in the top of the ninth and Steve Gromek
came on to nail the game down for Cleveland in the bottom half of the inning. He
got Marsh on a fly ball to start the inning and then struck out pinch hitter Bud
Thomas for the second out. Taylor kept the game going by looping a single to
shallow left, bringing the potential winning run to the plate. But Gromek got
Young on a ground ball to Avila to end the game.
9/9/1951, 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 1 0 2 3 2 0 8 13 2 9 3 1951 Browns 0 0 0 3 2 0 2 0 0 7 15 0 12 1 Indians AB R H BI AVG Browns AB R H BI AVG Mitchell lf 5 0 1 0 .351 Young,B 2b 6 0 0 0 .279 Avila 2b 5 2 3 0 .290 Mapes lf 5 1 3 0 .263 Doby cf 4 2 2 2 .285 Rapp rf 5 2 2 1 .118 Rosen 3b 5 2 3 1 .246 Arft 1b 4 1 2 0 .304 Easter 1b 1 2 1 0 .232 Paige p 0 0 0 0 .000 McCosky rf 2 0 0 0 .232 Wood ph 0 0 0 0 .273 Lehner ph 1 0 0 0 .141 Lollar c 2 0 1 0 .242 Chapman rf 2 0 1 1 .168 Saucier pr 0 0 0 0 .214 Boone ss 5 0 1 2 .235 Batts c 1 0 1 0 .257 Hegan c 5 0 1 1 .233 Delsing cf 4 2 1 2 .265 Wynn p 2 0 0 0 .176 Suchecki p 0 0 0 0 .167 Zuverink p 0 0 0 0 .000 Marsh 3b 4 1 2 2 .223 Simpson ph 1 0 0 0 .278 Jennings ss 3 0 2 2 .213 Brissie p 0 0 0 0 .296 Thomas,B ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Kennedy,Bo ph 1 0 0 0 .240 Pillette p 2 0 0 0 .047 Rozek p 0 0 0 0 .000 Taylor,B 1b 2 0 1 0 .294 Gromek p 0 0 0 0 .290 39 7 15 7 39 8 13 7 Indians INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Wynn 4.2 10 5 5 3 3 93 55 2.42 Zuverink 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 5 3 2.70 Brissie W 7-4 2.0 2 2 2 2 2 39 24 4.11 Rozek H 2 1.0 2 0 0 1 1 20 13 3.52 Gromek S 5 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 14 10 2.31 9.0 15 7 7 6 8 171 105 Browns INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Pillette 6.2 9 6 6 3 0 103 59 5.38 Paige BS 1, L 0-2 1.1 4 2 2 0 1 27 18 4.50 Suchecki 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 13 7 5.19 9.0 13 8 8 4 2 143 84 Cle: Lehner batted for McCosky in the 6th Simpson batted for Zuverink in the 6th Chapman inserted at rf in the 6th Kennedy,Bo batted for Brissie in the 8th SLA: Taylor,B inserted at 1b in the 7th Saucier ran for Lollar in the 7th Batts inserted at c in the 8th Wood batted for Paige in the 8th Mapes moved to cf in the 9th Wood moved to lf in the 9th Thomas,B batted for Jennings in the 9th E-Rosen, Boone. 2B-Avila(22), Delsing(17), Jennings 2(11). 3B-Rapp(1). HR-Doby(12). RBI-Doby 2(64), Rosen(89), Boone 2(68), Hegan(49), Chapman(29), Rapp(2), Delsing 2(57), Marsh 2(34), Jennings 2(17). SB-Doby(2). CS-Arft. K-Hegan 2, Young,B 2, Lollar, Delsing 2, Jennings, Pillette, Thomas,B. BB-Doby, Easter 3, Lollar, Delsing, Marsh, Jennings, Pillette, Wood. SH-Lollar. HBP-Easter. HB-Pillette. GWRBI: Doby Temperature: 67, Sky: clear, Wind: out to right at 7 MPH. Attendance: 4,393 Game Time: 2:35