Evening star., 1948-08-26
IabConleback
Of fSpahn Aids
Braves Spurt
Lemons Hurting Puts
lndiuns Back on Top
Ahead of Red Sox
By Joe ReichIer
Associated Press Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports Writer
The comeback of Warren SPAIN
and the ability to win on the road
have been primarily responsible for
keeping the Boston Braves on top
in the five-team National League
pennant race.
No more striking example of this
was given than last night when
SPAIN hurled the Braves to a 20
shutout triumph over the Cardinals
in a night game in st. Louis. The
victory put the Braves 4 games
ahead of the second-place Dodgers
and Al in front of the Redbirds.
Although it was only Spahn's 18th
success of the season. it marked the
fourth straight time the clever
southpaw has turned in a gilt -edged
pitching job. Counted upon as a
sure-fire 20-game winner early this
spring, SPAIN got off to poor start,
but has been pitching brilliantly
during the past two weeks. He has
won three of his last four starts.
SPAIN Strong in Pinches.
His only losing effort was against
the Dodgers in Boston when he left
for pinch-hitter while trailing 81.
SPAIN was touched for seven hits,
famed three and gave up two
walks. He was superb in the
pinches. He got out of a jam in
the fourth when Nippy Jones
banged him for triple with only
one out. In the third the Cards
had loaded the bases with two out,
but SPAIN forced Terry Moore to
fly out to Mike Mccormick.
The victory was Boston's 36th on
the road compared to only 81 losses.
That's a .632 percentage. At home
the Braves barely top 500 with 80
victories and % defeats.
HoWie Pollet, the Cardinals tricky
southpaw, matched Spahns score
less pitching in every inning but
the fifth. In that frame the Braves
pushed over both their runs. Clint
Conatser opened with a double and
scored when Phil Masi's grounder
took bad hop over Marty Marion's
head for hit. Singles by Tommy
Holmes and AL Dark accounted for
the other run.
Indians Came Back.
Cleveland's rebounding Indians
regained first place in the torrid
American League race, pushing the
Boston Red Sox down into second
place with thorough 80 lacing.
The defeat dropped the Red Sox
half a game behind the Tribe.
Bob Lemon, converted outfelder.
pitched the Indians back into the
lead. He permitted only four hits
in registering his 17th triumph and
his 9th shutout of the season.
The Tribe pushed across four runs
in the second inning against veteran
Denny Galehouse and breezed the
rest of the way. Nine men went to
bat in that big inning, with Lemons
double a key blow in the scoring.
Cleveland collected 10 hits against
Galehouse and Dave Ferriss. Man
ager Lou Boudreau, Larry Dolby,
Joe Gordon and Jim Hogan got
three hits apiece. Boudreau ham
mered his 18th home run and Dolby
his 10th.
Yankees Near Top.
The third-place NeWYork Yankees
moved within a game and half of
first place, knocking off the Chicago
White Sox, 30. Bob Porterfield, "a
year-old rookie Highlander, brought
up from Newark August 4, pitched
seven scoreiess innings before being
forced out by the excessive heat.
Tommy Byrne finished and was
clipped for both runs. Tommy Hen
rich raped his 10th home run for
the Yankees and Yogi Berra socked
his 18th.
Freddy Hutchinson gained his
fourth triumph over the Philadel-
phia Athletics, pitching the Detroit
Tigers to 1914 victory. The de-
feat was Philadelphia fifth straight
and sent the fourth-place Mackmen
four games off the pace. Pat Null
lin and Hoot Evers each drove in
three runs for the victors. Phil
Marchildon was the loser.
The Dodgers moved into second
place, half a game in front of the
Cardinals, as they outslugged the
Pirates, 11-9. in Pittsburgh. The vic
tory snapped a four-game losing
streak for the Brooks.
Pirates Protest Game.
Bill Meyer, Pittsburgh manager,
protested the Dodger triumph, how
ever. He lodged the objection with
Chief Umpire Jocko Conlan in the
umpire's dressing room after the
contest, on the ground that a
Brooklyn relief pitcher in the ninth
inning did not complete pitching to
one batter.
The Pirates had rallied In the
ninth to score three runs off relief
pitcher Hugh Casey. They had run
ners on first and third. with two
out. Carl Erskine relieved Casey.
Erskine reached a count of three
and one on Ed Bockman, a pinch
hitter. Then Manager Burt Shotton
yanked Erskine from the mound
and replaced him with Hank Behr-
lSee BRAVES, Page C-3J