The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-07-03
HOME RUN BY JOE BLACKS OUT
 KEELER'S MARK
Red Sox Tried Hard to Stop Yankee Star; Dodg.
 CTS Move Up
nY pAur scHErrErs

United Press Stan Correspondent
 New York, July 3.--(UP)-- The hero of the hour, of course, is out- fielder Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees who set Q new major league batting record by hitting safely ia his 45th consecutive game yesterday, but spare a thought for the deeds Of another outfielder, Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox.
 DtMaggio today is the a1l-round batting star of the major leagues that is, until you come to the bat ting averages and there, perched at the top, .053 percentage points ahead of 'pal Joey" is Williams with a league Heading mark of .4O1.
 Comparatively little attention has been paid Williams hitting achieve lnents but if ever anybody is to crowd DiMaggio out of the American league batting picture, 1t will be this laconic, young left-handed slugger. The battle for the league batting title should be as interesting as the pennant fight.
 Tanks Three Up
 The Yankees defeated the Red Sox, 8-4 for their sixth straight win, ran their American league lead over the idle Cleveland Indians to three games and Williams added another hit to his already impressive aver craze but the crowd of 8,682 had cheers only for DiMaggio.
 Joe blasted 400-foot homer into the left field stands, his 18th of the season, in the fifth inning off rook- ie Dick Newsome, 31-year-old right handler. Joe's blow showed Wee Wil- lie Keeler's 44-year-old record into the obscurity baseball accords all second-besters."
 Newsorne, with the aid of sparkling fielding by his teammates, had stop- ped DiMaggio in his first two trips. Stan Spence made running, over- his-head catch of DiMaggio's hard liner in the first inning and third baseman Jim Tabor thrilled the crowd with a remarkable stop of 8 hot bounder in the third.
 Then with the count two balls and one strike, DiMaggio slammed out the four-bagger that preserved the most sensational hitting streak in baseball.
 Here's a comparison of Keeler's and DiMaggio's records:
 c. AB H. 2b 3b HR I'll Pct. DiMa'gio 45 lT9 67 12 3 13 124 .374 Keller A 20l 82 Il 10 o 113 .4O8
 Buck Gets ''Hot'
 Buck Newsoin, prize pitching flop of 194l, reverted to the form that brought him 21 victories in 1940, as the Detroit Tigers blanked the Chicago White Sox, To last night. NewsoTn, who had failed to go the route since June Il, allowed only three hits to break three-game irl- dividual losing streak and won his sixth victory against il defeats. Pat Mullins single, Charlie Gehringer's sacrifice and Rudy York's double scored the winning run. Mullin sus- tAined dislocated shoulder when he crashed into Box pitcher Bill Die trich in play at first base.
 Bob Johnson hit his 17th homer in the 10th inning to give the Phila- delphia athletics 8 7-6 triumph over the Washington Senators. It was the As third straight win and their eighth in IA starts.
 Close to Top
 The Brooklyn Dodgers climbed to within a half game of first place in the National league by knocking off the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-3 while the leading St. Louis Cardinals were idle. Kirby Higbe, Dodgers Iron Man" pitcher, appeared in his 2Sd game Of the season-more than any other major league hurler-but allowed nine hits in 3 1-S innings and was releived by Newt Kimball, who pitched of1e-hit ball the rest of the way to get credit for the win.
 The Pittsburgh Pirates walloped the Cincinnati Reds, 8-3. Max But cher gave up 13 hits but staggered to his seventh win while Paul Derringer lost his 10th decision.
 New York split with the Boston Braves. The Braves captured the opener. 5-4 but dropped the night cap, 60 to Bill Lohrman's four hitter.
 YESTERDAYS HERO--Joe Di- Maggie of the New York Yankees who blasted his 18th homer of the