Evening star., 1943-05-20
Dodgers Strike
Snag in Cards.
Left-Handers
Stumble Again as Hub
Club Wins Pair for
Seventh Straight
BY JUDSON BAILEY,

The Brooklyn Dodgers are in the
position of the noisy tenants who
are going to get kicked out of their
top-floor apartment as soon as the
lease expires.
The Buns have been occupying
the penthouse of the National
League ever since the season started,
but two consecutive defeats by the
st. Louis Cardinals have placed
them in jeopardy of losing their
flrst-place perch-not to the world
champions but to the Boston Braves.
Boston. with good pitching and
surprisingly well-balanced attack,
has won seven straight games. in
cluding a double header yesterday
from the Pittsburgh Pirates, 81, in
II innings. and So.
If the Braves should win again
and the Dodgers lose, Boston would
move into top place by percentage
margin of .652 to $50.
This is enough to boost the blood
pressure in Brooklyn to the berling
pernt, because the Dodgers have not
shown to advantage in the first
three games of their four game Sc
ries with st. Louis.
Again Victims of Southpaw.
They were smothered by south
paw pitching again yesterday, 80, as
Max Lanier and Rookie Harry Bre-
cheen combined to hold them to six
hits. The Cardinals counted run
in the first inning when Stan Musial
scored all the way from first base
on a terrific single by Walker Coop
er, and they cinched the game on
Coaker Triplett's two-run homer in
the sixth.
At this stage Lanier showed signs
OF weakening as Brooklyn bagged
one run in the sixth and another in
the seventh. but Brecheen rushed
to his rescue and allowed no hits
the remainder of the way. He now
has pitched six hitless innings in re-
lief in two days.
Brooklyn's hopes for todays final
game rested chiefly in the fact that
they would be facing a right-handed
pitcher for the first time in the Sc
ries-but the right-hander happened
to be Mort Cooper, the leagues lead
ing pitcher last year.
In a move of desperation, Man.
ager Leo Durocher planned to call
on Rube Melton to pitch for the
Dodgers on two days rest 1t was
the former Philly ace who beat the
Redbirds, 10, in twilight game
Monday. Buck Newsom would have
drawn the assignment except that
he was called to his home in South
Carolina by illness in the family.
Mccarthy Braves Hero.
The Braves had difficulty downing
the Pirates in their first game, al
though Nate Andrews kept nine hits
we'll spaced and allowed no runs
after the first frame However, the
Braves weren't able to score against
Rookie Xavier Rescigno from the
third till the 1lth, when Johnny Nc
Carthy singled, stole second and
sped home on a single by Whitley
Wietelmann. Mccarthy made four
of the Braves eight hits.
In the second game the first four
Braves who came to bat against
Hank Gornicki hit singles and
knocked him out of the box in the
midst of three-run rally. George
Jeffcoat, pitching flve-hit ball, muz-
zled the Pirates on one run till the
ninth, when they tailed twice and
forced Jefcoat to have help.
In the days only other game Mel
OFT hit two-run homer off Johnny
Wander Nicer in the first inning to
lead the New York Giants to a 80
conquest of the Cincinnati Reds.
New York was outhit, IL to S, but
the Reds were unable to take ad-
vantage of their opportunities till
the ninth, when a two-run rally fell
short.
All games in the American League
were postponed for the third day in
a row because of weather conditions,
and the Chicago Cubs at Philadel-
phia in the National League also
were postponed.