Reds 11, Cardinals 5: St. Louis fell apart with a one-run lead and one out to go, as Cincinnati scored seven times in the 9th inning to earn a win that was a lot more complicated than the score would have you believe. The clubs exchanged early runs, and the score was tied at two runs apiece through five. In the top of the 6th, the Reds edged in front when Larry Kopf walked with two outs and then scored when Cards starter Bill Doak uncorked three straight wild pitches. In the home half of the frame, St. Louis got a little bit of help from the Reds defense - Doc Lavan led off with a base hit, and Verne Clemons' grounder then clanged off the glove of Kopf at shortstop. After a sacrifice and a pop out, Jack Smith ripped a line drive over the outfielders and spun around to third base for a two-run triple. He then scored when Milt Stock followed with a single to left, and STL led 5-3. Doak gave up another run in the 8th when Heinie Groh tripled with one away and scored on Kopf's single with two outs. The score was still 5-4 for the Cardinals when Doak toed the rubber to start the top of the 9th, and he promptly dispatched the first two hitters of the inning. Unfortunately for St. Louis, however, he left the game five batters later having not recorded the game's final out; four singles and a muffed fly ball by Cliff Heathcote scored three runs and put CIN in front before Doak (2-4) trundled head-down from the mound. Bill Sherdel replaced him and gave up a two-run double to Kopf (five RBI) and a triple to Jimmy Smith; before the inning was over, seven runs had scored, and Dolf Luque (6-0) pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the bottom of the 9th to finish off a third straight win at Robison Field for the visiting Reds. [box]
 |
| Larry Kopf, Cincinnati |
0 comments:
Post a Comment