Evening star., 1953-06-15
Rivals Ready 10 Look
To 81 as Yanks Aim
For Record Streak
BY shs A.soeiesed Press

opt1m1St who wears colored
glasses even in the dark. he
could do worse than give his
Cleveland Indians a little talk
today-something like this:
We've tried everything to
beat those Yanks, but whatever
we do. they manage to go us one
better. When we streak. they
put together q better streak.
When we have the pitching,
they manage to get the big
blow to beat us. When we have
the hitting, they outslug us.
Let's concentrate on mailing
down second place this year and
give it another whirl in 1854"
Until week ago, Lopez was
still talking pennant. At least
the Indians were within hailing
distance Of the Yankees at that
time. But the clean sweep of
the four game series that ended
with a double victory. 6-2 and
80. for the Yanks yesterday.
Just about knocked the breath
and hope out Of the Tribe.
Interest Turns to Records.
Casey Stengel and his swash-
buckling crew now are 10h
games ahead Of the Indians with
the season one-third over. That's
like spotting Native Dancer a
couple of furlongs in a mile race.
The time has come. in fact,
to talk about records, rather
than who is going to win the
pennant. The Yanks have won
18 games in a row. which is the
third longest winning streak in
American League history. They'll
try to extend it tomorrow when
Jim Mcdonald faces the Browns
in the opener of three-game
series at New York.
Back in 1906, the White Sox
put together skein of 10 games.
and the Yanks of 1947 dupli-
Gated the feat. Both won pen
uants.
The Giants Of 1916 set the
major league record of Is
straight victories, a mark within
the reach Of the Yanks at the
rate they are going. The 1916
Giants. by the way, finished
fourth.
Fifteen of the Yanks' triumphs
have been on the road. This is
one short Of the league record
set by the Mats. and two under
the major league mark by the
same 1916 Giants.
Berra Is Difference.
The crowd of 74,708 on hand
at Cleveland to watch yester-
days games. must have been dis
appointed. Catcher Yogi Berra
actually knocked in enough runs
to win each game. In the
opener, Yogi hit a home run of
Bob Lemon with two on in the
eighth with his team behind, 81.
Then in the second game. he
clouted a triple in the fourth
with two more mates aboard.
Lemon was the loser Of the
first. and Mike Garcia. who per-
mitted only seven hits. was the
victim in the nightcap. Johnny
Sain, Bob Kuzava and Allie
all saw service for the
Yanks in the first game. Kuzava
was the winner. Vic Raschi
tossed the shutout in the second
contest, yielding just three hits.
The Cleveland turnout was
baseballs largest in two years
About 10000 spectators came
from outside Cleveland on 19
special trains (six of them from
Buffalo), 40 chartered buses and
AZ private planes.
Browns Drop 14th in Row.
On the subject of streaks, the
Browns lost their 14th straight
when they took a twin shellack-
ing from Philadelphia. Al and
81. This equaled the Browns
longest losing streak by the 1910
club, and is only six short of the
league record Of 20 set by the
Red Sox of 1906 and the Ath-
letics Of 1915 and 1943.
The White Sox moved into
third place with a pair of tri-
umphs over the Red Sox, 60
and 10 Billy Pierce tossed the
first shutout giving up only two
hits, while Sandy Consuegra
threw the second. Mel Parnell
lost a four-hitter in the night
cap.
The see-saw battle for first
place in the National League
continued between Milwaukee
and Brooklyn. The amazing
Braves moved a half game ahead
by winning a double header
from the Pirates, 7-3 and 80.
Don Liddle pitched a five-hitter
in the first game and Bob Buhl
came right back with a two-hit
job.
The Dodgers topped the Cubs,
6-3, in the opener, with Billy
Loes getting his eighth win.
The Dodgers were ahead, 60, in
the ninth Of the nightcap when
Ralph Kiner smashed a home
run with the bases loaded and
two out to tie the count. The
game was called because of dark
ness.
The grand slam was the 18th
Of Kiner's career and put him
in a tie with Rogers Hornsby for
the league record in that depart
FVNn-