Evening star., 1943-06-03
.FightingChamp5
Miss Top Spot
In Keen Duel
St. Louis Club Bows
To Macon; Red Sox
Split Long Games
BY JUDSON BAILEY,

HsSoSio Gu IIeoo cpOItS " lttt.
The st. Louis Cardinals may be
the world champions, or, as Man
ager Billy Southworth calls them,
the worlds greatest ball club, but
the Brooklyn Dodgers have to be
rated as the most dogged. deter
mined gang of diehards in the major
leagues.
This spring the Cardinals have
spanked and glittered and won the
admiration of all their rivals in the
National League.
The Dodgers haven't looked good.
a collection of old geezers with
aches and pains No fewer than
four of them were treated on the
same afternoon this week by the
club physician.
Yet the Dodgers have held first
place since the first day of the sea-
son and noAhing the Cardinals have
been able to do has been sufficient
to dlSlod9e them.
Last night they seemed ready to
fall The Cardinals had Inundated
all the Dodgers strongest, fastest
pitchers and were within half a
game of taking over the lead
Southworth had Max Lanier ready,
a southpaw who had beaten Brook
lvn five times last year and once
this spring.
Dodgers Always in Command.
Leo Durocher had TO take
chance on the only lefthander he
has on his staff, Max Macon. who
couldn't dent custard pie At arm s
length and who hadn't pitched
complete ball game All season
Macon still haSn pitched a COM
plete game. but he beat the Cardinals
last night to even their four game
series and restored BROOKLYN to a
game and a half lead. The score
was 80 and the raging Redbirds
who had made 20 hits the day be-
fore. who had obtained Danny
LitWhiler from the Phillies and in
stalled him as cleanup hitter, were
limited to seven safeties.
The Dodgers. with a revamped
lineup that included Second string
Catcher Dee Moore on third base.
made nine hits of Lanier before he
gave way to a pirchhitter in the
eighth. They scored twice in the
first inning and again in the eighth
so that the Cardinals never had a
chance to get off their backs The
best St. Louis could do was run in
the fifth and anOlier in the ninth.
when Curt Davis came in to snuff
out potential rally.
Tigers Cling to Third Spot.
Meanwhile, the American League
scramble for first place became even
closer than the National as the
Chicago White SoX whipped the New
( York Yankees, FL, and Washington
Squelched the Cleveland Indians.
1871. New York still had the benefit
OF few percentage points, SIG
to 568
Flve-hit pitching by Lefty Jake
Wade proved the stumbling block
for the Yankees. who have lost four
out Of five games to the lowly Sox.
Detroit held onto third place by
/ beating the Philadelphia Athletics
u, behind fve-hit hurting bv
Frank (Stubbyl Overmire. and the
St. Louis Browns and Boston Red
Sox divided another pair of extra
inning games The Browns took the
| first. -, in IL innings. and the Red
Sox retaliated in the nightcap. 3D.
in 10 innings with Yank Terry
pitching four-hit ball
/ In the National League. Cincin-
! natl and Pittsburgh continued in a
tie for third place. The Reds wal
loped the New York Giants. 1876
with an l3-hit assault on five
pitchers after the Giants themselves
had batted Bucky Walters off the
mound with five runs in the first
two innings
The Pltrates came from behind in
a night game to beat the Bostor
Braves. 30, with three runs in the
ninth inning. Two of them came
on homer by Elbie Fletcher.
The Phillies nosed out the Chi
cago Cubs. 6-5, for Schoolboy Rowe
and now have beaten the Bruins
seven times in eight games.