Evening star., 1948-05-07
Fowler Humb|es
indians 10 Join
Mack kWinners
FeIIer Hit From Hill
Again; Pirates Are
Halted by Giants
D.. IL
By Jock Hand
Assoeiotsd Press Stoff Writer


Give a cheer for 85-year-old Con
ME Mack and his surprising Phila-
delphia Athletics. Five straight
wins, climaxed by a kayo decision
over Bobby Feller, have boosted the
AS into the American League lead
Picked to scramble in the second
division with the White Sox, Browns
and Mats, the Athletics begin te
resemble serious contenders for q
spot among the top four.
It's difficult to put q finger or
the reason for the AS success. They
are hitting only .246 as a club and
the top batter, Pete Suder at .346
is spotted eighth in the order. Only
five of the first IA pitchers went
the route. Still they win. Short
stop Eddie Joost, with four homers
and a 1888 average, rates some
credit.
Pitching, Of course, is bound to
be the Athletics strong point, but
sore arms and the poor spring form
Of Bill McCahan and Joe Coleman
held them back. Lou Brissie, the
brilliant rookie with the injured
leg, helped out with two wins ano
now Dick Fowler seems ready to
carry his share of the load.
FelIer Chased in Fourth.
Fowler worked only two thirds OF
an inning on relief before yester-
days 8-5 victory over Cleveland
Arm trouble handicapped him in
spring training. Now with that first
full-length job under his belt, Mack
can expect more from his 12-game
winner of last year.
Feller was belted out in the fourth
inning, never recovering from a
four-run first inning during which
Manager Lou Boudreau made two
costly errors. 1t was his second
straight kayo and his second loss
to two wins. Even a grand slam
homer by Ken Keltner, his sixth A.
Dagger of the year. and homer by
Joe Gordon couldn't pull this one
out of the fire.
George Vico., Detroit's rookie first
baseman. and Birdie Tebbets, the
Boston Red Sox catcher who once
played for the Tigers, staged an
fight to enliven the pro-
ceedings at Fenway Park.
NewhOuser Blasted Again.
Although the Red Sox knocked
out Hal Newhouser In the first
inning, they lost the game to De-
troit, 80. Hal White walked six,
but allowed only four hits in 81
innings while the Tigers flattened
Jack Kramer with his first loss.
There was an argument in New
York, too, where the st. Louis
Browns claimed Bobby Browns
game winning homer was a foul
ball. The homer, perilously close
to the right field foul pole, came
with a man on in the eighth for
a 65 victory.
The Browns threw towels and
bats from their dugout in protest
at Umpire Jim Boyers ruling.
Many fans in the right field reats
motioned they thought it was a
foul ball.
Allie, Reynolds, who worked eight
innings before giving way to a
pinch hitter, was credited with his
fourth straight win, tops in the
majors. Cliff Fannin was the
loser.
Bucs' Win Streak Snapped.
PittSburgh's SiX-game streak was
broken in the National League when
the New York Giants thumped the
Pirates. 90. The result left the Bucs
in first place only Is percentage
points ahead of the Giants.
Ray Poat held Pittsburgh to four
hits, shutting them out until Ed
Stevens hit two-run homer in the
ninth. Johnny Mize. returning to
the lineup after two days absence
because Of a leg injury, hit his
fourth homer, driving in three runs
with three hits.
Ernie Bonham, the loser, was fol-
lowed by Bob Chesnes, the prize
rookie from San Francisco. Chesnes,
his big league debut on his
9th birthday, showed to good ad-
vantage.
All other National League games
were washed ont.