On a warm afternoon at Sportsman's Park (St. Louis had just broken out of a cool spell just prior to the start of the Series) the batters seemed disinclined to spend much time out of the shade of the dugouts. The first six innings therefore passed by quickly, with the Yankees amassing four hits and the Cardinals only two, but one of those was a Whitey Kurowski home run to lead off the bottom of the 3rd that enabled St. Louis to assume a 1-0 lead. Cooper seemed intent in riding that small edge to the end, but he couldn't make it last through the 7th. With one away Joe Gordon homered to tie the score and, with two outs, Buddy Hassett singled, Ruffing doubled and Phil Rizzuto singled home two runs to give the visitors the lead. In the 8th, Cooper fell to pieces, allowing two singles and a walk to the first three (and, it turned out, the last three) men to face him before Harry Gumbert was greeted by RBI singles from Gordon and Bill Dickey. Hassett then plated a third run in the inning in a ground out into the hole at shortstop. With the score now 6-1, it was Ruffing's turn to scuffle with the lead - two doubles scored a run for the Cardinals in the 8th, and Kurowski drilled his second home run of the game with two men aboard in 9th to cut the score to 6-5, before Johnny Murphy came out of the dugout to fan Marty Marion for the final out of the game. New York 6-12-0, St. Louis 5-8-0. [scoresheet] [broadcast]
St. Louis helped the home fans to forget the Game One disappointment by striking early in Game Two; after Terry Moore reached base when Buddy Hassett couldn't handle Gordon's throw to first, Stan Musial and Walker Cooper singled to push Moore across the plate for the 1st-inning lead. The Cards returned the favor in the 2nd when Hassett reached on Marion's miscue and scored on Rizzuto's two-out double, but Musial (3-for-4, two doubles) got them back the lead an inning later when he doubled to cash in Slaughter's base on balls. Rizzuto delivered again with men in scoring position when he hot a sacrifice fly in the 4th that produced a run from a pair of singles and the scores were level again. The starters tightened things up over the middle innings and the matter remained tied as the game finished seven frames. In the top of the 8th, Gordon singled with one out, and moved the third when Dickey looped a double down the left-field line. Billy Southworth decided it was time to relieve Beazley from his duties, and was thwarted when Max Lanier served up a two-run single to Hassett that again gave the Yankees their first lead of the game in its waning moments. Bonham had, at least temporarily, solved St. Louis at this point having retired thirteen of the previous sixteen and he carried that through a 1-2-3 8th and the first two outs of the 9th before Marion singles to bring up the tying run, but PH Harry Walker can only bounce one to third that forces the lead runner on the game's final play. New York 4-8-1, St. Louis 2-7-1. [scoresheet]
For the first time in the Series, the hitters seem to have the upper hand as things get underway at Yankee Stadium. New York scores twice in the 1st on Hassett's home run, and twice again in the 2nd and Rizzuto's two-out two-run single, but St, Louis counters with a three-spot of their own in the top of the 2nd when Walker Cooper and Kurowksi double for two of four Cardinal hits in the inning. Charlie Keller leads off the NY 5th by taking a White offering off of the forearm, and a single, walk and sacrifice fly by Chandler get the Yankees a fifth run and a two-score cushion. Chandler then proceeds to stifle St. Louis on one hit over the final four innings (after surrendering nine in the first five), brushing aside fifteen of the final sixteen Cardinals to finish off the game and give the American Leaguers a commanding lead in the Series. New York 5-6-0, St. Louis 3-10-0. [scoresheet]
With a three-game Series lead in hand, the Yankees tighten the screws in the 1st when Roy Cullenbine singles with two outs and Joe DiMaggio doubles him home. But Jimmy Brown's triple leads to a Cardinal run in the 3rd and the scored remains tied at one apiece though the first five innings. St. Louis grabs control of the game, though, in the 6th - one out after a leadoff single by Moore, Musial doubles home a run and, after Rizzuto dumps Cooper's grounder, Johnny Hopp drives one to the fence for three bases and two runs. They hold onto the lead in the bottom half, but barely, as Keller belts a two-run shot that makes it a game again. Breuer relieves Borowy in the 8th for the Yankees and keeps it close, and then the Yankees strike late again in the their half of the 8th; with a runner on second and two outs, Keller singles up the middle for the tying run and Gordon then triples off of Cooper to out New York on top. Kurowski singles to start the 9th, but Breuer holds his nerve and Cullenbine settles under Brown's fly ball to record the final out of the Series with the runner stranded on second base. New York 5-10-2, St. Louis 4-9-0. [scoresheet]
Two teams with 107-win Pythagorean records (talent had not yet started to be diminished by demands of the War), so you didn't expect a sweep in either direction, but that's what you got. Two two-run games, and two one-run affairs, but New York found a way to win each of them, scoring the winning run in the 7th inning once and the 8th twice. While the Cardinals had almost as many hits as did the Yankees, they got on base much less frequently, managing to coax only a total of two free passes from the Bronx pitchers in the four games and the Yankee offense got its necessary business done despite getting nothing at all from DiMaggio. [Series stats]
Yankees SS Phil Rizzuto (.412, 6 RBI) was the spark at the top of the Yankee lineup, but more as a run-producer than as a table-setter. He led the Series in hits and in runs batted in, and provided the game-winning hit in two of the four contests.
0 comments:
Post a Comment