Evening star., 1945-09-21
|Griffs Play List|ess|y
In Blowing Seventh
Chance 10 Gain
BY JOHN B. KELLER.
Star Staff Correspondent.

BY JOHN b. KELLER.
I Star Staff Correspondent.
NEW YORK, Sept. 2l.-When it
comes to missing the boat, the Mats
are world beaters.
Seven times now they have dashed
to the dock, only to find flae gang
plank pulled in and the vessel
steaming away. With only four
more games to play. the Mats
simply cannot afford to miss again.
Victory yesterday when the lead
ing Detroit Tigers were taking an
other beating in Cleveland would
have moved the Mats virtually to
even terms with the American
Leagues pace setting club. Instead,
they performed in a lifeless manner
in Yankee Stadium and dropped a
81 game.
| Only by sweeping the remainder
of their schedule can the Mats hope
to bag the pennant. Should the
Mats win four more, the Tigers
would have to win five of the six
games they have left to finish ahead.
Why the Yankees have given the
Mats so much trouble is one of the
great mysteries of this eerie base
ball season The Yankees are a poor
ball club and have been picked on
by almost all other rivals. Yet the
Mats, whenever they encounter the
YankS, never look their best. They
start with two strikes against them
selves, it seems.
Make Griffith Suffer.
The way the Mats did not play
yesterday panied the 8,495 in the
vast stands generally and their
greatest fan suffered acute anguish.
Clark Griffith, the Mats president,
Unexpectedly came up from WASH
lngton fondly hoping his ball club
would thrust itself into the thick
of the flag fight once more What he
saw did not impel him to wire his
Washington office to get busy with
World Series arrangements.
The Mats were sluggish afield and
on the bases, although they did not
have many opportunities to give a
brisk display on the paths. They
were all but helpless at the plate
with the Lefthanded Joe Page limit
ing them to seven hits and six
passes. 1t was only Pages fifth win
of the year. WildnesS had been his
downfall and the way he hurled
yesterday, it appeared he might be
taken out almost any moment. But
whenever he got in tough spot the
Mats got him out of it by obligingly
popping up, grounding into retire.
ment or striking out. He pitched six
strikeouts, three of those when Mats
were on the runway.
Haefner Losing Hurler.
Mickey Haefner took the beating,
his 14th Of the year. The Yanks
reached him for 10 hits and three
walks, one intentional, in the six
innings he toiled. Four of the New
York runs were made off him. Pete
Appleton pitched one inning and a
third before giving way to Al Car
raSquel in the eighth. He walked
three and gave two hits and the last
two tallies were charged against
him, although the lone hit off Car
rasquel sent in one.
But the way the Mats were going.
their pitching did not matter. Only
shutout hurting would have done
them any good.
George StirnWeiss was the spear
head of the Yankee attack. He got
three hits, scored twice and knocked
across two runs. One of his hits
was his ninth home run, an honest
drive into the left-feld stand with
nobody on, and another was two
bagger.
Buddy Lewis, who got the Mats in
a jam right off the reel, largely was
responsible for Stirnweiss double.
Snuffy led off the Yankee first in
ming with liner to right. 1t looked
as though it could be caught easily
but Lewis was slow in breaking for
the catch. The ball landed in front
OF him and bounced over his head
into the Washington bullpen for a
ground-rule two-base blow. Frank
Crosetti sacrificed, then Herschel
Martin walked.
Lewis Has Bad Time.
Charley Keller's best was q hoist
that Lewis got in short right and
Stirnweiss' dash for the plate after
the catch looked suicidal. But Lewis
made a poor throw, short and off
line, so Stirnweiss scored and Mar
tin took second to count when Nick
Etten got handle hit for a base.
The Mats wasted three hits and
a walk in the first two rounds, but
got one run back in the third when
George Case walked and Lewis and
Mike Kreevich singled. But Lewis,
with no chance to make it, was
thrown out at third as he tried for
two bases on Kreevichs hit. Joe
Kuhel walked, but Harlond Cliff
popped out and Fred Vaughn let a
third strike 60 by.
The Mats never were in the ball
game thereafter, but the Yanks
turned a Haefner pass into a run
in the sixth and converted two
walks off Appleton in the eighth
into scores.
UTrL ~