[jksander]

JULY 24, 1953 . . . Hank Sauer hit deep to center, driving Fondy in from third to score the game’s first run with a double, his 45th RBI of the season, and Bob Rush came out to pitch and had a solid early effort, making us think maybe he can find his way out of the cold streak he’s been in. But alas, his first two solid innings gave way to a three-walk third, and the Pirates took a 2-1 lead before he could get out of it. Kenneth Chapman got his first hit as a Cub in the top of the fourth, and a McCullough RBI single drove Randy Jackson home to tie the score. Vern Fear came in with one out in the bottom of the seventh with a man in scoring position, and though he got a quick strikeout to secure out number two, he surrendered a run for Rush to put Pittsburgh up 3-2. But he got the final out with no further damage, and we just needed a rally. Fear got us through the eighth inning without any additional scoring, putting us in the top of the ninth and down just 3-2, but Mays, Sauer and Jackson came up empty and we lost thie one by a single run.

Bob Rush took the loss and fell to 7-9, but he only gave up three hits and three walks in the game, striking out seven. He just had bad luck, as only one of his three runs was earned. Vern Fear pitched 1.2 innings of relief, giving up two hits with two walks and two strikeouts, bringing his ERA down to 3.86. We got outhit 5-4, with Fondy, Sauer, Chapman and McCullough ending up the only players with hits. Jackson walked and then scored a run, and Sauer had an RBI.

JULY 25, 1953 . . . Randy Jackson had an RBI single to drive Cavarretta in to score our first run of the game in the top of the first inning, and Hacker came in to pitch hoping to keep his four game win streak alive. But he made it hard on himself early, giving up a two-run homer in the bottom of the first, really waking this slumbering crowd. He couldn’t seem to buy an out, giving up five hits and four runs with nearly 30 pitches thrown by the end of the first inning. Willie Mays hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored Dee Fondy in the top of the third, and in the top of the fourth Hacker hit a blistering drive up the middle that scored Eddie Miksis all the way from second to make it a one run game. Eddie Miksis tied the score up in the top of the eighth, batting in Hank Sauer for the tying run, and Dee Fondy drove in the go-ahead runs with the bases loaded, making it 6-4! Don Newcombe came in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth, getting three quick outs and holding the lead. Bob Kelly came in for the bottom of the ninth with another save on the line, and he got them with a flyout and a double play to seal the deal -- we won this one 6-4 after trailing by three!

Hacker stayed in just long enough to seal the win, improving to 15-5 with a 2.82 ERA, having given up eight hits and four runs in seven innings while striking out six against one walk. Don Newcombe got a hold, his first of the year, with no hits and a strikeout in the eighth inning, and Bob Kelly got his 12th save with one hit and three outs made on just FOUR PITCHES! His ERA is now 5.75 on the season, in 51.2 innings pitched.

JULY 26, 1953 . . . Double-header day! Get these two wins and it’s back to Chicago for a few weeks of Wrigley fun! Klippstein got the start in the first game, looking for his 10th win in his 27th appearance, and he got run support from the very beginning as Sauer drove Willie Mays home from second to score the game’s first run in the top of the first inning. With Klippstein up to bat in the second inning, Eddie Miksis stole second, then Klippstein hit a fly-out to left, driving Clyde McCullough in from third to score, making it 2-0. In the top of the third, Randy Jackson had an RBI single to score Mays, and Kenneth Chapman singled the bases loaded, though we couldn’t do anything with the three extra runners. Klippstein had a three-hit fifth inning, spoiling what had been a perfect game to that point, and surrendered a run but nothing else, making it 3-1 Cubs after five. Vern Fear came in with two outs and two men on in the seventh, but he surrendered the two earned runs for Klippstein before getting the final out, leaving us tied up 3-3 heading into the eighth inning. McCullough hit a triple with just one out but we couldn’t get him home. Fear got us out of the eighth inning still knotted, but we couldn’t score, setting up a must-dominate bottom of the ninth if we wanted a chance at extra innings, and we got that and more from Vern Fear, who stayed in for another go and got two strikeouts and a fly-out to keep us alive!

Don Newcombe came in to spell Fear in the bottom of the 11th inning with the score still knotted 3-3 and this first game of the double-header already heading deep into the afternoon, and he got the three outs we needed, sending us into a 12th inning! Mays singled to left, but Sauer hit into a double play in the infield, and Randy Jackson struck out. Damn! But Newcombe got three more outs and kept us in this one. In the top of the 14th, Newcombe walked, and Fondy hit into a fielder’s choice that allowed Newcombe to advance to second. But Cavarretta flew out to right, bringing Mays up to bat and us NEEDING SOMETHING ... and he walked, keeping the hope alive! But Sauer flew out to center and the top of the inning was over. We brought Dutch Leonard in for the bottom of the inning, and he tried valliantly, but wound up surrendering the walk-off run as we lost this one 3-4 in 14 innings.

God help us if we need any bullpen help in the second game, as pretty much all we have left is Bob Kelly! No room for error ...

Vern Fear goes down with the blown save, since he came in with a two run lead and then forced the tie situation in the first place. But he powered through, pitching 3.1 innings of one-hit ball, striking out four and giving up no earned runs since the two that scored counted for Klippstein. His ERA through eight innings is now 2.53, showing incredible promise. Newcombe then came in for three innings and had just one hit himself, striking out four and walking one, bringing his ERA down to 3.96 on the year. Dutch Leonard took one for the team, making just one out and surrendering three hits and the run, allowing us to get a short break before coming out to do it all over again. We out-hit the Pirates 14-11, led by Willie Mays who had four hits in five at-bats, scoring twice. Sauer, Jackson and Miksis each had two hits as well.

Paul Minner came out to start for us in the second game. Chapman got himself an RBI double in the top of the second to put us up 1-0, and Willie Mays came up with the bases loaded but flew weakly out to right, ending the inning with just the one run scored. But the Pirates equalized in the bottom of the inning, before Banks hit a beautiful home run to left in the third to give us the 2-1 lead, and Chapman added to it with an RBI double to make it 3-1 before they were able to finally end the inning. Of course Minner had to blow it, loading the bases and then walking in a run before surrendering two more on a simple single to center. He finally got us out of the inning but trailing 4-3 after just three innings. And he was going to have to work his way out of this or accept the consequences because our bullpen is beat to hell after the noon game. Amd he decided consequences it should be, since he gave up another run in the fourth. Mays bailed us out to start the fifth inning, hitting a triple to spark what we hoped would be a rally. Banks was tagged out at first but allowed Mays to score, but Sauer and Jackson were quick outs, leaving us still down 5-4 midway through the fifth. In the top of the eighth, Kenneth Chapman hit an RBI single that drove in the tying run, with two men on and no outs. But Minner, Fondy and Cavarretta were quick outs, leaving us knotted 5-5 heading into the bottom of the inning. Minner loaded the bases and surrendered the go-ahead run with one out, bringing in Bob Kelly to try and finish the game out -- Minner was already at nearly 150 pitches. And he got the two outs, sending us to the top of the ninth and down one run. And we were exhausted, quickly getting out of the inning without any fuss, losing this one to the Pirates 6-5 and therefore losing the series 3-1 to the worst team in the NL.

Minner gave up 10 hits and six earned runs in 7.1 innings of work, taking the loss and dropping his ERA to 4.87 on the year. Kelly came in for two outs, with no hits no strikeouts and no walks. Again we outhit them 12-10 but couldn’t make it work in the end. McCullough and Chapman each had three hits -- Chapman got his first three RBIs of the year and brought his average up to .375 since joining us.

And now we return to Wrigley for our long home stretch, needing to find our way back to the winning ways of early July if we want to stay in the NL race. At 52-45 we remain 10-1/2 games out of first, but we have three chances to make some headway against Brooklyn. Our GM hasn’t said if he has any blockbuster trades in mind, but we’re three days out of the deadline and his time is fading fast if he has such plans.