Evening star., 1948-09-06
Sfandof Could Permit
Third-P|ace Indians
To Slip Into Title
By Joe ReichIer
Associoied Press Sports Writer

IL becomes more apparent every
DAY that the eight home stretch
games between the Boston Red Sox
and New York Yankees will decide
the American League pennant..
Either team has it in its own
power to strike a decisive blow in
its own behalf. Should either the
front-running Red Sox or the run
nerup Yankees capture six or seven
games, they would come close to
clinching the flag. On the other
hand, a split in the eight games
could conceivably enable the third
place Cleveland Indians to take the
bunting.
OF the three contenders, the
Indians are favored most by the
schedule since they play only six Of
their Is games on the road. The
Indians are booked for only one
more game each with the Red Sox
and Yankees, both at home.
Schedule Tough for Yanks.
The schedule gives the Yankees
the worst of it, in addition to. three
games with Boston, the Yankees
play only two of their remaining
25 games at home. Both are against
the fourth-place Philadelphia Ath-
letics today. The Red Sox play II
of their remaining rs games at
home
Both the Red Sox and Yankees
have been hotter than firecrackers
of late. Joe McCarthy's Bosox went
10 innings yesterday to defeat the
Athletics, 4-3. 1t was their goth
victory in their last "a games and
enabled them to retain their half
game edge over the Yankees.
The Yanks kept pace with the
Sox, whipping the Washington
Senators, 5-3, for their eighth
straight triumph and the 18th in
their last % games.
Rain caused postponement Of the
Indians-Browns game at st. Louis
The Indians trail the Red Sox by
three and half games. In the re-
manning American League game, the
Chicago White Sox nipped the De-
troit Tigers, 4-3, on Luke Appling's
nlntn inning single.
The Boston Braves maintained
their tWo-game advantage over the
second-place Brooklyn Dodgers in
the equally tight National League
race, defeating the Philadelphia
Phils, 81, while the Dodgers nipped
the New York Giants, 4-3, in a 12-
inning thriller.
| Cardinals Stay in Race.
| The third-place st. Louis Card
inals continued to breathe on the
necks of the leaders, trouncing the
Reos in Cincinnati, 81. The fourth
place Pittsburgh Pirates divided a
double-header with Chicago, win
ming the opener, 7-3. but losing the
nightcap lis. The Bucs lost ground
to trail by four and a half games.
Ted Williams fourth hit, double,
and single by Wally Moses in the
10th, won for the Red Sox. Dave
Ferriss, in relief, was credited with
the victory. Dick Fowler was the
loser.
Veteran Red Barrett gained his
! third straight triumph and his
seventh of the season, hurting the
Braves to victory over the Phils.
He permitted only five hits, includ-
ing a fourth-inning home run to
Johnny Blatnik. Tommy Holmes,
with three singles of Ken Heintzel-
man, and Frank Mccormick, with
three-run double, paced the
Braves eight-hit attack.
George Shuba's pinch hit double
with two out and the bases loaded
in the 18th climaxed three-run
winning Dodger rally. The Giants
had taken 81 advantage in the
top of the 18th on Johnny Mize's
second home run of the game with
one on. The Brooks loaded the
bases with one out in their half
against Monte Kennedy and loser
Dave Koslo A walk to Peewee
Reese forced in. one run. Ray
Poat came in to get the second out,
but was clipped by Shuba's long
double which drove in the tying
and winning runs. Preacher Roe
famed II and went the route for
MS nlntn victory.
Giant, Dodger Streaks Ended.
The victory ended a four-game
losing streak for the Dodgers, three
at the hands of the Giants. 1t also
snapped a five-game winning skein
for the fifth-place Giants, who
dropped six and a half games off
the pace.
HOWE Pollet bagged his 10th vic
torly for the Cardinals, limiting
the Reds to eight hits. The Red
birds snapped a scoreless deadlock
in the fifth, tallying four times
against Kent Peterson. The young
lefthander walked in the first two
runs. and Stan Musial's single ac-
counted for the other two |
Rip Sewell continued to cast his
magic spell over the Chicago Cubs,
whipping them for the sixth time
this season. and the 32d time in his
career, when he pitched Pittsburgh
to victory in the opener of the
twin bill. Ralph Kiner got the Bucs
off to good start, socking his 37th
homer with one on in the first
inning. The Cubs bounced back in
the second game. pummeling five
hurlers for II hits including home
runs by Ed Watkins, Rube Walker
and Andy Pafko. Doyle Lade
Scattered 10 hits for his fourth
triumph.
Two More Bouts Added |