[jksander]

July 10, 1958: Milt Pappas (10-3, 2.48 ERA, 119.2 IP, 71 K’s, 1.14 WHIP) pitched against Orioles ace Dave Wickersham (7-9, 5.22 ERA, 98.1 IP, 36 K’s, 1.62 WHIP). The Orioles took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to a two-run homer by Billy Williams, and in the top of the second Daryl Spencer was again injured sliding into second base ... can we teach this guy how to get extra bases without sacrificing himself? It looks like knee soreness only, so he should just be day to day for a few days, but it’s a frustrating start to the second half of the season. Del Crandall hit an RBI single to get us on the board in the top of the seventh, but they got it back in the bottom of the inning with a Triandos homer. But Banks hit a two-run double to tie it up in the top of the eighth, and Sawatski hit a solo homer to put us into the lead in the top of the ninth! Bob Blaylock came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning and held them off nicely as we won this one 4-3. Pappas pitched eight innings with six hits, five strikeouts and three earned runs, improving to 11-3 with a 2.54 ERA while Blaylock saved his 15th game and only allowed one hit while throwing six pitches. We outhit the Orioles 10-7, led by Banks with two hits and two RBIs.
 
July 11, 1958: Carl Erskine (8-6, 4.13 ERA, 109.0 IP, 63 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) went cold as we headed into the break, so he was looking for a solid start against Jim Owens (3-7, 6.95 ERA, 80.1 IP, 39 K’s, 1.97 WHIP). Chuck Diering batted in a run with a sac-fly in the top of the first, but we gave Baltimore three runs back in the bottom of the inning for a poor start to the game. Billy Martin tied it up with a two-run homer in the top of the second, but Lenny Green hit an RBI double to put them back on top in the bottom of the frame, and Erskine let them have two more in the third as we dug a 6-3 hole. Art Ditmar took over for him in the fourth inning, but it didn’t matter ... he got blown up in the sixth and by the time Bob Miller took over in the bottom of the seventh we were down 10-3. We would get four runs back in the eighth and ninth but lost this one 10-7. Erskine took the loss, falling to 8-7 thanks to a three inning start with nine hits, a strikeout and six earned runs, and Ditmar didn’t do any better in his three innings, with six hits, two walks, four runs (three earned) and a strikeout. We were outhit 17-15 in the end, led by Spencer who hit three times for two runs.

July 12, 1958: Richard Sovde (5-4, 3.56 ERA, 81.0 IP, 49 K’s, 1.47 WHIP) pitched against Ted Wills (3-8, 4.20 ERA, 109.1 IP, 65 K’s, 1.54 WHIP). Daryl Spencer was injured in the top of the first after we’d built a 3-0 lead (scoring off a wild pitch and a two-RBI double by Spencer). It appears he reaggrivated that knee injury, but we’ll know more after the game -- but as good as he’s been for us, the overall fragility of the third-baseman has me wondering if we can count on him through long MLB seasons. Billy Martin hit a solo homer to add on in the top of the second, and Phil Jantze, who took over for Spencer at third, hit a two-run homer to put us up 6-0 in the top of the third! Martin hit a two-run single in the top of the fifth, and Carl Sawatski added a two-run single in the sixth as this one became a blowout. Bill Wight took over in the bottom of the seventh, and Jantze hit a two-run triple in the top of the eighth that was followed by an RBI single by Sawatski. Wight stayed out the remainder of the game as we shut the Orioles out 13-0! Sovde improved to 6-4 with a six inning effort, allowing just three hits and two walks with five strikeouts, while Wight saved his first game of the year with a three-inning one hit, one walk, one strikeout effort. We outhit the Orioles 15-4, led by Jantze who had three hits, three runs and four RBIs, more than he’d batted in all season combined.

Turns out it wasn’t his knee -- Spencer strained a rib muscle and will need at least two weeks on the IL. This is the 29-year-old’s fourth injury of the season, but he’s hitting .296 with nine doubles and four homers, batting in 14 runs during the time he’s been healthy.

July 13, 1958: Today we head to Washington for a doubleheader, which will be followed by a day off and then seven games against the Red Sox and Yankees over a six day stretch. Milt Pappas (11-3, 2.54 ERA, 127.2 IP, 76 K’s, 1.11 WHIP) pitched in the first game, facing Camilo Pascual (12-6, 2.35 ERA, 164.1 IP, 87 K’s, 1.14 WHIP). Ernie Banks had a solo homer in the top of the first, his 26th of the season, but Gene Freese hit a two-run single in the bottom of the third to flip Washington into the lead. Willie McCovey hit a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh to add on, and though Pappas batted in a run with a single in the top of the eighth, we were in a two-run hole when Don Bessent took over in the bottom of the inning. We’d go on to lose this one 4-2, with Pappas taking the loss with 10 hits, four walks, four runs (three earned) and four strikeouts in his seven innings. The Senators outhit us 10-7, our offense led by Sawatski who hit twice for a run scored.

In game two, Johnny Kucks (4-8, 2.99 ERA, 105.1 IP, 50 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) got the start against Cal McLish (3-1, 2 SV, 5.06 ERA, 26.2 IP, 7 K’s, 1.80 WHIP). Ernie Banks hit a two-run homer in the top of the first, but we gave them three runs in the bottom of the inning along with the lead. Johnny Kucks was injured in the bottom of the fourth with two outs as we trailed 4-3, and Dean Stone promptly gave up three hits in a row including an RBI single by Eddie Yost to dig our hole deeper. A fourth straight hit, an RBI double by Gene Freese, drove in two more, and by the time we went into the top of the fifth we trailed 7-3 and looked completely lost out there. Banks drove in a run with a sac-fly in the top of the fifth to cut the lead to three, at which point lefty Bill Wight took over on the mound. Bill Miller pitched in the eighth inning, but by then it was a lost cause and we blew this one big time, losing 10-4. Kucks took the loss, and has gone 0-2 with a 3.65 ERA since the trade ... tonight he had six hits, two strikeouts and four runs (two earned) in his 3.2 innings before the injury, and we were outhit 13-7 which kept us from clawing back. Joe Astroth led the way with two hits and a run, while Banks had his three-run homer as well, giving him 27 for the season and two today alone. That puts him one up on Pittsburgh’s Frank Thomas, but behind Mantle by one, with Cleveland’s Roger Maris (25) and Cincy’s Frank Robinson (25) right there in the mix as well.

July 15, 1958: Ron Negray (2-10, 5.59 ERA, 96.2 IP, 43 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) started against Boston’s Frank Baumann (7-8, 4.94 ERA, 109.1 IP, 57 K’s, 1.55 WHIP). Del Crandall hit a two-run double in the top of the second to put us on the board, and Carl Sawatski hit an RBI single to give us a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth. Billy Martin hit a sac-fly to put us up 4-2 in the top of the sixth, and Dan Osinski came out to pitch in the bottom of the inning. Sawatski hit a sac-fly to make it a three-run lead as we went into the stretch, and Bessent took over in the bottom of the seventh, completing the remainder of the game as we won 5-2. Negray pitched five innings with seven hits, two runs (one earned) and two strikeouts, getting the win, while Osinski held his ninth game and Bessent pitched a three-inning save (his second) with two hits, two walks and two strikeouts. We outhit them 13-11, led by Sawatski who hit twice with a walk, a run and two RBIs.
 
July 16, 1958: Milt Pappas (11-4, 2.61 ERA, 134.2 IP, 80 K’s, 1.16 WHIP) pitched against Boston’s Frank Sullivan (8-8, 4.64 ERA, 132.0 IP, 68 K’s, 1.31 WHIP). Ernie Banks homered in the top of the first to put us up 1-0, and Sawatski scored off a wild pitch in the top of the second. Banks and Jantze each had RBI singles in the third, and Billy Martin scored off a groundout by Fairly in the top of the fourth. Milt Pappas reached on an error to drive in our sixth run in the top of the fifth, but Boston did finally get on the board in the bottom of the inning with a two-run double by Jim Piersall. Leading by four we left Pappas out in the sixth, and that proved to be costly. Billy Goodman hit a two-run single, and Jackie Jensen tied the game with a two-run double, bringing Tom Gorman out to relieve Pappas with two outs and Jensen sitting on third. Jenson took the lead on an RBI single by Marty Keough, and though we got out of the inning with a strikeout, we’d given up seven unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth combined. Chuck Diering tied us up with a solo homer in the top of the seventh, and Dan Osinski came out in the bottom of the ninth to get us into extra innings. Bob Miller took over in the bottom of the 10th, and Bob Blaylock came out in the bottom of the 12th. In the bottom of the 14th, Billy Klaus struck out swinging and Floyd Robinson was caught stealing second, sending us into the 15th still knotted up. Dean Stone came out to take the ball from Blaylock in the bottom of the 15th, and finally Billy Martin put us on top with a solo homer in the top of the 16th! But our luck has been completely nonexistant in these extra innings games this year, and tonight proved no different ... Stone walked Jackie Jensen, who then advanced to third on a single by Keough. Willie Jones walked to load the bags, and with one out Billy Klaus hit a single that scored Jensen and Keough, walking this one off as a 9-8 loss for us. The game took five hours and 16 innings, and we still couldn’t pull a rabbit out of our hats.

Pappas had a rough night, allowing nine hits, two walks and seven runs (five earned) to go with eight strikeouts, but he still left us in a position to win. Gorman, Osinski, Miller and Blaylock combined for 8.1 innings with four hits, three walks and five strikeouts, but Stone stumbled in the final 1.1 innings, allowing three hits, two walks and two earned runs, giving him the loss as he falls to 0-2 with a 5.19 ERA. Boston outhit us 16-14, our offense led by Banks, who hit three times and walked twice, scoring three runs and batting in two more.

July 17, 1958: Carl Erskine (8-7, 4.50 ERA, 112.0 IP, 64 K’s, 1.34 WHIP) pitched in our third game of the series, facing Boston’s Willard Nixon (1-, 20.65 ERA, 5.2 IP, 1 K, 3.00 WHIP), who has just recently returned from having bone chips removed from his elbow. Erskine struggled, giving up three runs in the first five innings, and we replaced him with Bob Miller in the bottom of the sixth still trailing 3-0. Miller pitched wonderfully the remainder of the way, but our offense again chose a rough night to just scratch themselves in the dugout ... we lost 3-0, getting outhit 9-5. Erskine fell to 8-8 with eight hits, a strikeout and three earned runs in his five innings, and since he went 5-0 during a stretch of six games from May 13th through June 5th, he’s been ice cold ... his ERA has fallen from 3.42 to 4.54, and he’s lost six of eight starts since then. Miller went three innings with a hit and a strikeout, improving his ERA to 2.84 through 63.1 innings, making him a real bright spot in our bullpen. Banks was the only runner to get on base more than once with a hit and a walk.

July 18, 1958: Richard Sovde (6-4, 3.31 ERA, 87.0 IP, 54 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) pitched against New York’s Mike McCormick (9-5, 3.70 ERA, 143.1 IP, 87 K’s, 1.16 WHIP). The Yankees took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single by Bob Cerv, and Lee Thomas added another RBI single in the bottom of the fifth. Ernie Banks tagged up and scored off a sac-fly by Sawatski to put us on the board in the top of the sixth, and Dean Stone took over in the bottom of the inning. Sievers batted in the tying run with a single in the top of the seventh, Bessent taking over for Stone after the seventh inning stretch. Sawatski hit a solo homer to give us a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth, but Earl Torgeson hit into a fielder’s choice that allowed Lee Thomas to score when we couldn’t make the out at home plate ... tie game once again. Dan Osinski came out in the bottom of the ninth still tied up, and he got us into extras once again. But in the bottom of the 10th, Earl Battey hit a walk-off single with two outs that won it for the Yanks 4-3 -- once again we got to extra innings and couldn’t find a way to score our way to victory. Osinski had two hits, two walks and a run scored in his 1.2 innings, but because of our lack of scoring he took the loss again, falling to 1-7 despite a stellar 3.28 ERA ... he has pretty much the worst luck of anyone on this team. We each had nine hits, our team led by Sievers with two hits and an RBI and by Martin with two hits, a walk and a run scored.

July 19, 1958: Johnny Kucks (4-9, 3.06 ERA, 109.0 IP, 52 K’s, 1.22 WHIP) pitched against Vinegar Bend Mizell (7-7, 3.87 ERA, 132.2 IP, 84 K’s, 1.41 WHIP). Again the Yankees went up 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth, this time off an RBI triple by Bill Skowron, but Ron Fairly hit an RBI double to tie it up in the top of the fifth. Don Bessent took over for Kucks on the mound in the bottom of the seventh, and the Yankees retook the lead 2-1 thanks to a solo homer by Woodie Held in the bottom of the eighth -- that was all they needed, as we lost another one run game. Bessent took the loss, falling to 2-2 with a 4.74 ERA, allowing just one hit, one walk and one run with two strikeouts in his two innings of work. The Yankees outhit us 7-6, Diering leading the way with two hits and a run.
 
July 20, 1958: Oh glory be, here comes another doubleheader right when our team is about as beat up as one can get. We’ve lost four in a row including seven of our ten games since the All Star break, and 13 of our 18 games during this never-ending road trip. Milt Pappas (11-4, 2.82 ERA, 140.1 IP, 88 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) pitched for us in game one, facing Saul Rogovin (4-8, 4.72 ERA, 122.0 IP, 59 K’s, 1.42 WHIP). This time, just for fun, the Yankees took the lead in the bottom of the THIRD inning, Mantle batting in the run with a line drive single. They added three more runs in the bottom of the fifth thanks to an error that scored Tony Kubek and a two-run single by Bob Cerv. Del Crandall got us on the board with an RBI single, and Martin got us within two thanks to an RBI single later in the inning, sending us into the stretch trailing 4-2. Pappas got us through the seventh, and added two strikeouts and a pop-out to left to get us through the eighth as well. But our bats failed him once again and we lost this one in a 4-2 heartbreaker despite his complete game with nine hits, four walks, four runs (only one of them earned) and eight strikeouts through 131 pitches. We were only outhit 9-8, but only Martin (two hits and an RBI) and Crandall (a hit, a walk, a run and an RBI) did anything of note.

In game two, Ron Negray (3-10, 5.40 ERA, 101.2 IP, 45 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) pitched against Billy O’Dell (8-5, 2.48 ERA, 141.2 IP, 88 K’s, 0.97 WHIP), and the Yankees took the lead in the bottom of the fifth with a sac-fly by Billy O’Dell. Bob Cerv batted in a run with a single in the bottom of the sixth, and Bob Miller took over fur us in the bottom of the seventh still trailing 2-0. He gave up three more in the eighth and we got stomped 5-0 as the losing streak continues. Negray had his best start since joining our team, allowing seven hits, two walks and two runs with four strikeouts through six innings, but it still meant another loss -- he’s now 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA since the trade. We were outhit 10-7, with Sievers leading the way with two hits and a walk, nothing else.

We’ll return to Kansas City with a 40-51 record, having gone 5-15 on this road trip that surrounded the All Star activities. We’ve lost six in a row and have fallen to seventh in the AL, just four games up on the White Sox. In the next two and a half weeks we’ll face Boston (45-45) for three, Baltimore (42-51) for three, the Yankees (49-43) for four, Washington (50-43) for three and the White Sox (37-56) for two. At least we can say there are no doubleheaders in this stretch, and owner Richard Doyle is happy with how many homegrown players we have in the mix right now (six draftees currently putting up 8.2 combined WAR) ... but the fans are bailing, and the goodwill we gained from the creation of the team charity in the offseason has now almost completely eroded.

July 22, 1958: Carl Erskine (8-8, 4.54 ERA, 117.0 IP, 65 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) pitched against Frank Sullivan (8-8, 4.70 ERA, 138.0 IP, 74 K’s, 1.35 WHIP). Boston went up 2-0 in the first inning thanks to an RBI single by Jim Piersall and an RBI single by Willie Jones. But Ron Fairly hit a solo homer in the bottom of the second and Billy Martin tied it up with an RBI single in the bottom of the third. Bob Miller took over in the top of the fifth, and Ted Williams hit a two-run homer to push them back on top almost immediately, though Banks hit an RBI single that combined with an E9 throwing error to allow Billy Martin to score a run and keep us in the fight. Tom Gorman came out to pitch in the top of the sixth and Ron Fairly tied us up in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a passed ball. But Gorman gave up an RBI single to Billy Klaus in the top of the eighth, and we brought in Don Bessent with one out and a man on first to try and keep us in it. He got the outs we needed, sending us into the bottom of the eighth trailing 5-4. He gave up a pair of runs in the top of the ninth, and we put our hands up in surrender, losing yet another game, this time by a 7-4 margin. Gorman took the loss, falling to 5-2 with a 3.05 ERA, and we were outhit 11-10. Ernie Banks had two hits, two walks and an RBI, while Ron Fairly hit twice, walked once, scored twice and had an RBI.

July 23, 1958: Richard Sovde (6-4, 3.33 ERA, 92.0 IP, 60 K’s, 1.41 WHIP) got the start against Willard Nixon (2-1, 7.98 ERA, 14.2 IP, 3 K’s, 1.77 WHIP), who dominated us the last time we faced him. This time was no different ... Boston got a lead in the top of the first and by the time Art Ditmar took over in the top of the seventh we trailed 4-1, Jantze having scored our only run with a homer in the bottom of the fifth. Ditmar got shelled, giving up four runs with just two outs, and Dean Stone finished the game out as we lost 9-1. Sovde fell to 6-5 with five hits, five walks, four earned runs and two strikeouts in his six innings, and we were outhit 10-6, Jantze’s homer our only offense of the evening.

July 24, 1958: Johnny Kucks (4-9, 2.97 ERA, 115.0 IP, 57 K’s, 1.24 WHIP) pitched against Mike Fornieles (7-4, 5.12 ERA, 103.2 IP, 52 K’s, 1.55 WHIP). We took the lead in the bottom of the first off a sac-fly by Sievers, but Boston took control from there, building a 5-1 lead by the time we brought out Bill Wight to pitch in the top of the sixth. Del Crandall hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth, but that was all we had in us. Wight pitched well the rest of the way but we still lost 5-3. Kucks had seven hits, a walk, three strikeouts and five earned runs in his five innings, and though Wight pitched four innings with three hits, two walks, three strikeouts and no runs, we were outhit 10-5 and only Crandall came out looking good with two hits, a run and two RBIs.

July 25, 1958: We’ve now lost nine in a row, so we head into this series against the Orioles with a 40-54 record to their 43-53, with the O’s having won seven of their last ten. Milt Pappas (11-5, 2.73 ERA, 148.1 IP, 96 K’s, 1.21 WHIP) pitched against Dave Wickersham (9-9, 4.48 ERA, 120.2 IP, 57 K’s, 1.52 WHIP). Baltimore took the lead off a passed ball in the top of the first, but Billy Martin tied it up with a solo homer in the bottom of the third, his fourth of the year. Billy Williams answered with a solo homer of his own in the top of the fourth, and they added on three runs in the top of the fifth as they took firm control. Dan Osinski took over in the top of the seventh trailing by four, and he pitched the rest of the way as we’d go on to lose our 10th straight by a 7-1 margin ... this is officially the worst losing streak we’ve had in my tenure. Pappas took the loss, falling to 11-6 with a 2.92 ERA, allowing six hits and five earned runs with three walks and two strikeouts in his six innings, while we got outhit 8-5. Ernie Banks hit twice, keeping his average over .340, but he hasn’t had a homer since July 16th. He and Mantle remain tied at the top, with Maris at 28 and closing in on the lead.
 
July 26, 1958: Carl Erskine (8-8, 4.39 ERA, 121.0 IP, 67 K’s, 1.35 WHIP) pitched against Don Johnson (1-1, 1 SV, 4.50 ERA, 64.0 IP, 32 K’s, 1.47 WHIP). Ernie Banks had a groundout to first but scored Billy Martin from third, giving us a 1-0 lead heading into the second inning. Banks hit his 30th homer of the year in the bottom of the fifth to make it a two-run lead, and Bob Blaylock came out in the top of the eighth to try and hold it all together. He did just that, pitching two solid innings to hold the shutout as we won 2-0, FINALLY snapping the losing streak in double digits. Erskine got the win in the pitching duel, going seven innings with two hits, a walk and four strikeouts, while Blaylock earned his 16th save, his first in more than two weeks, allowing just a hit, a walk and two strikeouts. We hit three times and walked five, led by Banks who hit once, walked once, scored once and drove in two runs.

July 27, 1958: Richard Sovde (6-5, 3.49 ERA, 98.0 IP, 62 K’s, 1.43 WHIP) pitched against Ted Wills (3-9, 4.52 ERA, 123.1 IP, 72 K’s, 1.57 WHIP). Baltimore went up 7-0 in the second inning, Sovde getting absolutely destroyed through 1.2 innings of work. Dean Stone took over with a man on third and two outs, getting us safely out of the inning at long last, but this one became a complete and total rout ... Ditmar came out with two outs and a man on first in the top of the third, trailing 11-0, and we were down 14-1 when Bill Wight took over to start the top of the sixth. Wight took one for the team from there and remained out the rest of the way as we got destroyed 17-3. Nobody came out looking like roses, but at least Wight made it through four innings before giving up his three runs. We were outhit 20-10, Sawatski leading the way with three hits and an RBI, while Banks had a hit, a walk and a run scored.

Daryl Spencer came off the IL this evening, and will be available starting with tomorrow’s game against the Yankees.

July 28, 1958: Johnny Kucks (4-10, 3.23 ERA, 120.0 IP, 60 K’s, 1.26 WHIP) started against Billy O’Dell (10-5, 2.38 ERA, 158.2 IP, 95 K’s, 0.95 WHIP). Ernie Banks hit an RBI single to drive in Martin, giving us the lead in the bottom of the third, and Ray Sievers followed with an RBI single of his own, Fairly then driving in two more with a flyball double to put us up 4-0. Don Bessent came out in the top of the seventh and pitched the rest of the way as we held tough to win 4-0. Kucks got his first win in Kansas City, allowing three hits, a walk and four strikeouts in his six innings, while Bessent picked up his third save with three innings of two hit, one walk three strikeout baseball. We outhit them 11-5, led by Fairly with two hits and two RBIs.

July 29, 1958: Tonight’s game got postponed due to severe weather in the area, and will be played as part of a split doubleheader tomorrow, which will allow us to go back to the top of our pitching rotation.

July 30, 1958: With an extra day’s rest, Milt Pappas (11-6, 2.92 ERA, 154.1 IP, 98 K’s, 1.22 WHIP) was good to go in game one of today’s doubleheader, facing Whitey Ford (5-2, 1.64 ERA, 49.1 IP, 32 K’s, 1.14 WHIP), who has spent most of his season so far pitching from the bullpen. Woodie Held got the Yankees on the board first with an RBI single in the top of the first, but Sievers tied it up with an RBI double and Fairly hit a single that drove the go-ahead in as we went up 2-1 heading into the second inning. Held hit a two-run blast in the top of the third to put the Yanks back in the lead, but we tied it in the bottom of the inning with a sac-fly by Daryl Spencer. We continued to trade runs -- Yogi Berra reached on an E5 error and allowed Andy Caray in for the go-ahead in the top of the fifth, and we brought Bob Miller out to pitch in the top of the sixth still trailing 4-3. Dan Osinski took over in the eighth, and Del Crandall hit a solo homer in the bottom of the inning to tie it up at four each. The game went into extra innings, with Blaylock coming out to pitch in the top of the 10th, with Gorman taking over in the 12th with us still tied up. Unfortunately Gorman choked, giving up three runs in the top of the inning as our extra-innings woes continued. We’d go on to lose 7-4, a frustrating finish to what had been a hard-fought game. Gorman took the loss, falling to 5-3 with a 3.57 ERA, allowing three hits, a walk and three earned runs with just one strikeout. We outhit the Yankees 11-10, led by Fairly (two hits, two walks and an RBI) and by Sievers (a hit, three walks, a run and an RBI) but couldn’t get a hit when it counted. At this point we’re a team that hits well but has zero clutch ability.

Carl Erskine (9-8, 4.15 ERA, 128.0 IP, 71 K’s, 1.30 WHIP) pitched in the second game of the afternoon, going up against Vinegar Bend Mizell (7-8, 3.77 ERA, 155.0 IP, 100 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). The Yankees took the lead in the top of the sixth with a solo homer by Mantle (his 30th) and Bill Wight came out to pitch in the top of the eighth trailing by a run. He pitched two solid innings but our bats were completely ineffective and we lost this one 1-0, barely looking like we even wanted to be playing anymore. Erskine, who had just four hits, with three walks, a run and five strikeouts in his seven innings, deserved better than that -- he now is 9-9 with a 4.00 ERA. Wight had two innings with just two hits, his ERA improving to 5.10. We outhit them 7-6 with Diering hitting twice, but nobody could make anything happen on the bases.

July 31, 1958: Looks like a quiet deadline day, as we face New York for the last of four games this series. Richard Sovde (6-6, 4.06 ERA, 99.2 IP, 63 K’s, 1.52 WHIP) pitched against Saul Rogovin (5-9, 4.50 ERA, 138.0 IP, 68 K’s, 1.37 WHIP). Ernie Banks hit his 31st homer of the year to put us up 2-1 in the bottom of the first, but McDougald tied it up with an RBI single in the top of the second, so Sovde himself had to put us back on top with an RBI single of his own in the bottom of the second. Ron Fairly hit a flyball double to drive in another in the bottom of the third, but in the top of the sixth Sovde gave up an RBI single by Berra and the tying run scored off a sac-fly by Hank Bauer, tying us at 4-4 mid-inning. Art Ditmar took over in the top of the seventh, and he remains an enigma on the mound ... New York took full advantage, adding three runs, and we would go on to lose the game 7-4. Ditmar, who pitched two innings with four hits, a walk and three earned runs, took the loss and fell to 0-2 with a 6.61 ERA., but New York outhit us 14-7 so it was never really close at all. Banks led the way with a hit, a walk, two runs and two RBIs, and his home run put him ahead of Mantle and Maris, and tied him with Cincinnati’s Frank Robinson at the top of the statistical standings.

The loss puts us in a tie for dead last with the Chicago White Sox, as the trade deadline passed without any real fireworks.