GIANTS SHRUG OFF EARLY DEFICIT, PUSH DODGERS TO EDGE
5-Run Braves 1st Overcome; NY Wins 16th in Last
17th
BOSTON, Sept. 30 (AP) - Things briefly looked bleak for the New York
Giants. In a must-win contest--to have any chance to tie the Brooklyn
Dodgers and force a playoff for the National League pennant the Giants had to
win this game--New York starter Larry Jansen surrendered five first inning runs
to the Boston Braves. Yes, four of those runs were unearned, but they all
count. And yet, the Giants never wavered. For the fifth time in
their last 10 games the Giants tallied double digits in the run column and
whipped the Braves 10-5. New York will now await word of Brooklyn's game
against the Phillies at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. If the Dodgers lose,
there will be a three-game playoff beginning tomorrow. If the Dodgers win,
the pennant will reside in Brooklyn.
Regardless of what happens at Shibe Park, the close of the Giants' season has
been nothing short of remarkable. The Giants entered the final month of
the season eight games behind the Dodgers, but played .800 ball in September
(20-5), including winning 16 of their final 17 games to give themselves a chance
to claim the flag.
After a scoreless top of the first inning, things fell apart for Jansen and the
Giants in the bottom half. Sam Jethroe punched a one-out single to right
and stole second. Earl Torgeson struck out but Sid Gordon singled to left,
driving home his 127th run of the season in the process. Walker Cooper's
ground ball to short appeared to bring the frame to a close, but Alvin Dark
booted it and the inning remained alive. The Braves took full advantage of
that fact. Willard Marshall sliced a double to left, scoring Gordon and
moving Cooper to third. Sibby Sisti lined a double of his own to
right-center, scoring Cooper and Marshall to make it 4-0. Buddy Kerr
followed by bouncing a single through the right side, scoring Sisti and giving
Boston a five-run advantage. Pitcher Jim Wilson grounded out to end the
inning, but the Giants were staring up at a substantial disadvantage.
New York got back in the game in the third. It began when Wilson hit
Jansen with an 0-2 pitch to lead off the inning. Eddie Stanky singled to
center to put runners on first and second. Dark, in an attempt to atone
for his huge error in the first, doubled over Jethroe's head, scoring Jansen and
chasing Stanky to third. Don Mueller flied to center for the first out,
but Stanky tagged and scored the inning's second run. Monte Irvin followed
by tripling off the left-center field fence to make it 5-3. Wilson kept
the damage from getting any worse by retiring Whitey Lockman on a pop fly to
short and striking out Bobby Thomson, but the momentum had swung to New York.
The score remained unchanged until the sixth when the Giants seized control of
the game. Lockman singled to left to open the frame and Thomson followed
by drawing a base on balls. Willie Mays then cranked a triple into the
right-center field gap, tying the game at five. Wes Westrum drew a walk
and Jansen sacrificed Westrum to second. The Braves then made a pitching
change, pulling Wilson and replacing him with George Estock. Stanky flied
to center, but it was just deep enough to allow Mays to tag and score to put New
York on top for the first time, 6-5. Dark then grounded a single into left
field, scoring Westrum to give the Giants a two-run lead. Mueller flied to
center to end the inning.
The bottom of the sixth was a bit nervous for the Giants. With one out,
pinch hitter Bob Elliott reached on Thomson's error. Addis singled to
center, putting runners on first and second. Jethroe's slow roller to
second moved both runners up 90 feet and, with the lefty swinging Torgeson due
up, New York manager Leo Durocher lifted Jansen in favor of port-sider Dave
Koslo. Koslo moved ahead 1-2 and retired Torgeson on a soft line drive to
right.
The Giants effectively put the game away in the eighth. With one out, Dark
doubled down the third base line. Hank Thompson was brought on to pinch
hit for the pitcher and on the very first pitch cleared the right field wall for
his 11th home run of the season. The Giants added an insurance run in the
ninth when Dark singled--his fourth hit of the game--to score Mays.
Sheldon Jones recorded the game's final out, making a winner of Jansen, who had
recovered from the poor first inning to shut the Braves down into the
sixth. The New York bullpen tossed 3 1/3 innings of shutout relief,
allowing only one baserunner.
Should a playoff with the Dodgers be forthcoming, it's unclear who the Giants
would start in the first game, but all signs point to Jim Hearn. A
three-game playoff would open at Ebbets Field with the second and third games
(if necessary) being held at the Polo Grounds.
9/30/1951, NYN51-BoN51, Braves Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1951 Giants 0 0 3 0 0 4 0 2 1 10 14 3 11 2 1951 Braves 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 10 0 8 0 Giants AB R H BI AVG Braves AB R H BI AVG Stanky 2b 6 1 2 1 .262 Addis lf 4 0 1 0 .240 Dark ss 6 2 4 3 .285 Surkont p 0 0 0 0 .145 Mueller,D rf 4 0 1 1 .272 Marquez ph 1 0 0 0 .176 Corwin p 0 0 0 0 .091 Paine p 0 0 0 0 .000 Kennedy,M p 0 0 0 0 .105 Jethroe cf 5 1 3 0 .308 Thompson,H ph 1 1 1 2 .252 Torgeson 1b 5 0 0 0 .283 Spencer p 1 0 0 0 .087 Gordon 3b 5 1 2 1 .334 Jones,Sh p 0 0 0 0 .034 Cooper c 4 1 0 0 .286 Irvin lf 5 0 1 1 .331 Marshall rf 3 1 2 1 .248 Lockman 1b 4 1 2 0 .268 Sisti 2b 4 1 1 2 .274 Thomson 3b 4 1 1 0 .270 Kerr ss 3 0 1 1 .228 Mays cf 4 2 2 2 .283 Wilson,J p 2 0 0 0 .184 Westrum c 3 1 0 0 .199 Estock p 0 0 0 0 .667 Jansen p 1 1 0 0 .148 Elliott ph 2 0 0 0 .301 Koslo p 0 0 0 0 .093 38 5 10 5 Rigney ph 1 0 0 0 .232 40 10 14 10 Giants INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Jansen W 23-5 5.2 9 5 1 1 4 92 59 2.74 Koslo H 2 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 3.46 Corwin H 2 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 3 2 3.84 Kennedy,M H 3 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2.86 Spencer 1.2 0 0 0 0 0 20 10 6.08 Jones,Sh 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 3.18 9.0 10 5 1 1 4 122 77 Braves INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Wilson,J L 5-6 5.1 8 7 7 2 2 96 58 5.09 Estock 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 5 4 5.46 Surkont 2.0 4 2 2 1 0 34 18 4.20 Paine 1.0 1 1 1 2 0 19 8 7.20 9.0 14 10 10 5 2 154 88 NYN: Rigney batted for Koslo in the 7th Thomson moved to rf in the 7th Rigney moved to 3b in the 7th Thompson,H batted for Kennedy,M in the 8th BoN: Elliott batted for Estock in the 6th Gordon moved to lf in the 7th Elliott moved to 3b in the 7th Marquez batted for Surkont in the 8th E-Dark, Thomson 2. 2B-Dark 2(40), Marshall 2(24), Sisti(16). 3B-Irvin(11), Mays(5). HR-Thompson,H(11). RBI-Stanky(69), Dark 3(76), Mueller,D(81), Irvin(104), Mays 2(79), Thompson,H 2(36), Gordon(127), Marshall(58), Sisti 2(39), Kerr(20). SB-Jethroe(36). K-Thomson 2, Addis 2, Torgeson, Kerr. BB-Thomson, Mays, Westrum 2, Rigney, Marshall. SH-Jansen. HBP-Lockman, Jansen, Kerr. HB-Spencer, Wilson,J, Surkont. GWRBI: Stanky Temperature: 60, Sky: clear, Wind: in from right at 24 MPH. Attendance: 6,100 Game Time: 2:47