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Thirty-game winner Dean gets off to a rough start in the Series, as the Tigers belt a triple and a double in succession in the bottom of 2nd on their way to a two-run lead, but Pepper Martin's single and steal set up an RBI single by Jack Rothrock that cuts the Detroit lead in half the next time STL gets to bat. The starters then go into lockdown mode - Dean retires twelve in a row, but Crowder is nearly as sharp, escaping a first-and-third, one-out jam in the 6th by fanning Joe Medwick and getting Ripper Collins to ground to second. In the home 8th, Dean walks Charlie Gehringer and Hank Greenberg follows with a two-base hit into the left-field corner that chases Gehringer home with an insurance run. Carl Fischer comes on for the 9th to replace a tiring Crowder and gives up a leadoff single to Collins, but Bill DeLancey raps into a 361 double play that puts the Cards to bed and the Tigers triumph in a tightly-played Game One. Detroit 3-6-0, Saint Louis 1-7-1. [scoresheet]
It was very quickly evident that Game Two would look nothing like the contest of the previous afternoon. Detroit hammered Bill Hallahan in the bottom of the 1st, taking advantage of his three walks by clubbing a double and triple that produced four Tiger runs. The home club kept up the hitting until they forced Hallahan from the mound in the 3rd inning after moving to a 6-1 lead, but the Cardinals would not take the beating lying down. In the 4th, they solved Schoolboy Rowe for three scores, with two walks setting the table for RBI hits from Ernie Orsatti and from Martin. A pair of doubles in the 6th made it a one-run game and, when Vic Sorrell replaced Rowe to start the 7th, they completed the comeback as Frankie Frisch, Collins and DeLancey all singled to push across the tying run. Detroit, however, wasn't letting go quite so easily - they put together three straight singles off Jesse Haines to start the 7th, with Marv Owen (4-for-5, four RBI) knocking in the run that put DET in front again. Firpo Marberry came on for Detroit in the 8th, and was greeted by a pinch-hit home run by Virgil Davis that tied the score; Martin then singled and swiped second base, and Rothrock singled him home to put St. Louis in front as a the see-saw tottered their way again. Jim Mooney was asked to hold down the fort where a succession of others had failed on the day, and he escaped a leadoff double by Owen and and a Leo Durocher error in the bottom of the 9th to nurse the one-run edge to the finish and even the Series. Saint Louis 8-15-1, Detroit 7-14-0. [scoresheet]
The clubs each threaten to score early, but fail to do so - the Tigers get two aboard with none out in the 1st, and the Cards two singles with two gone in the 2nd - before Detroit breaks the seal in the 4th. Gehringer leads off with a double and then Durocher boots Greenberg''s grass cutter (the second of two STL errors on the day, and five in three Series games), before Goose Goslin yanks Dean into the right-field grandstand for a sudden three runs. The Tigers whack two more doubles in the 5th (they would hit seven two-baggers on the afternoon) to score a fourth run, and the Cardinals are finding it hard going against Bridges when they have a turn with the sticks. The right-hander from Tennessee holds them without a hit between the 2nd and 7th while his teammates are building their lead, and he scores the fifth Tiger run in the 7th when he reaches second on another Durocher error and Jo-Jo White (4-for-5, two doubles) singles him home. The visitors turn it into a cakewalk in the 9th, when Mooney is left in to soak up the punishment despite allowing seven runs on eight hits in the inning, and Bridges puts down seven of the final eight Cardinals to finish off a complete-game five-hit shutout. Detroit 12-17-0, Saint Louis 0-5-3. [scoresheet]
Needing a quick start in front of a nervous crowd at Sportsman's Park, the Cards strike first in the 3rd. Orsatti singles to start the inning and, two outs later, Martin doubles him home and then scores himself when Rothrock laces a bingle to center. Joe Medwick (1-for-14 thus far in the Series) singles to start the STL 4th, and he scores when Collins follows with a two-base hit to give St Louis a three-run lead. But Carleton can't hold onto the advantage, as a walk and back-to-back doubles by White and Mickey Cochrane get two back for Detroit in the 5th and another crucial error (this time by Collins) helps to set the table for Gehringer's two-run two-bagger in the 7th that puts the Tigers ahead by a score of 4-3. It stays that way into the bottom of the 9th with Auker looking to go the distance after getting two outs following a leadoff single by Orsatti. Martin singles the tying run to third, however, and Auker departs for Elon Hogsett with Rothrock at the plate; the STL right-fielder delivers the clutch hit to score Martin and tie the game at the last gasp, and the contest heads to extra innings. The Tigers get a leadoff double by Goslin in the 10th, but Dazzy Vance tap-dances out of trouble with the help of two intentional passes; White doubles to lead off the 1tth, but Vance again wriggles free without lasting harm - surely the baseball gods are looking out for the Cardinals today? The home team, though, can't muster much against Firpo Marberry, who silences them on two singles over three innings, and the breakthrough comes in the 13th inning. With two outs, Cochrane doubles (the Tigers stroked seven doubles for the second consecutive game!) and Gehringer then gives them the lead with a lined single to left. Fischer takes the ball from manager Cochrane for the bottom of the 13th, and promptly surrenders a leadoff base hit to DeLancey. Orsatti (3-for-6, double) is next and he lines a shot towards right field, but Gehringer lunges to his left to snare the ball and fires to first to double off the leaning baserunner and Durocher goes down swinging on three pitches to end the game and leave Detroit in command of the Series. Detroit 5-14-0, Saint Louis 4-17-1. [scoresheet]
The Cardinals were in desperate need of a top performance out of Dizzy today, with their backs against the Series wall and their relief options thinned out by yesterday's marathon. It's not clear that the 24-year-old wunderkind is up to the task at this point in his career, however, as Detroit jumps on him from the first pitch - a single by White and doubles by Cochrane and Gehringer put the Cardinals in a 2-0 hole after only three men have batted. But Dizzy rights the ship, fanning the final two men of the inning, and St. Louis goes to work in the 4th. Rothrock singles to start the frame, is bunted along by Frisch, and scores the first Cardinal tally on Collins' RBI single. The home club keeps the line moving in the 5th when Chick Fullis leads off with a walk, Durocher (ironically) reaches on Gehringer's error, and Martin and Frisch deliver run-scoring singles to give STL the lead. Dean now has the bit between his teeth, striking out ten while holding Detroit without further scoring through the 8th, and the Cards deposit some insurance from Collins' solo homer in the 7th and Rothrock's RBI double in the 8th. When Dean falters in the 9th, allowing a single, double and a walk with one out, Bill Walker comes on to pitch and he retires Gehringer and Goslin to thwart the Tigers and pull the Cards back within a game in the Series as it heads back to Navin Field. Saint Louis 5-11-0, Detroit 3-11-1. [scoresheet]
The Cardinals strike first, scoring once in the 2nd on doubles by Medwick and Orsatti, but Detroit answers in the 6th when Goslin singles, Billy Rogell doubles, and Greenberg hits a sacrifice fly to center. The starters are doing fine work, but when the Cards get two men on with two out in the 7th, Frisch decides to pinch-hit for Dean; Burgess Whitehead grounds out, and St Louis hands the ball over to the bullpen. A succession of zeroes goes up onto the scoreboard, although the Cards threaten with two on and one out in the 8th before Fischer comes on to retire Collins to end the inning. The Tigers send twelve straight men to the dish without a baserunner in the late innings, and the game goes to extra frames once again. The Cards get a runner to third in the 11th on a single, groundout and balk, but DeLancey pops out to third to leave Medwick stranded. Detroit finally gets some action on the basepaths in the bottom of the 12th as they start the inning with a single and a walk, but Bill Walker retires three in a row to short-circuit the threat. On the game goes - Marberry comes on for the Tigers, and matches Walker zero for zero as the innings march on. Walker (5 scoreless inning of relief) finally gives yields to Haines in the bottom of the 15th, and Detroit wastes no time expressing their relief - Pete Fox leads off with a single, steals second, and scores the Series-clinching run one out later when White grounds one through the left side for a base hit. Detroit 2-7-1, Saint Louis 1-8-1. [scoresheet]
The overall stats are skewed a fair bit by the Game Three blowout, but the Tigers were more patient at the plate (23 walks to 12 for STL) and did more damage when they were swinging (27 extra-base hits to 14). Detroit, who finished the regular season with the fifth-highest number of doubles in major-league history, twice came with a single two-base hit of tying the World Series record for two-base hits in a single game and the top of their order was absolutely relentless - White, Cochrane and Gehringer combined to hit 360/444/558 for the Series. [Series stats]
Not only did he reach base a staggering twenty times in the Series, but Tigers CF Jo-Jo White led all hitters with six extra-base hits and six runs scored, and was second with six RBI.
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