Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-07-15
Surging Yanks
Worried About
Reynolds Injury
Lopez Not Excited
After Skid; Dodgers
Cut Deficit to Five
BY The Assoeiossd Pross

+ 4. Z ~ + ia fl Is Il
The hapless Orioles invade
Yankee Stadium tonight and
the Athletics. equally futile.
entertain the Indians in what
you might call the openers Of the
new" American League pennant.
race.
Casey Stengel's Yankees. who
spent the early part of the sea-
son Hopping and fioundering.
have a nine-game winning streak
going and are just q half game
behind the Indians. whose latest
work included dropping four
games to the White Sox.
The concepsus around the
league is that the Yanks have
the upper hand nowwith one
big "if." He is Allie Reynolds,
the big chief Of the pitching
staff, who missed the All-Star
Game because Of a pulled muscle
In his left hip.
A healthy Reynolds Is essen
tial II the Yankees are going to
march to their sixth straight
pennant. The .ailment is a
chronic one, but If it bothers
him too much he may be forced
back to the bullpen. That could
spell the difference between first
and second place for the Yanks.
Trainer Urges Rest.
MY back. left leg and left hip
pain me when try to pitch, !"
Allie said. i've had it since
June 20, when I felt it in Chi
cago. It's bothered me ever
since. That's the reason I've had
trouble holding those big leads.
I try to throw a fast ball.. but
the pain goes through the leg
and the ball doesn't go very fast.
Lately, it's been coming back
much faster"
Trainer Gus Mauch Of the
Bombers thinks Allie needs a
rest.
Il don't think there's any cure
but rest" he said. That's
natures way. If he doesn't try
to pitch or run for a week, it
may get better"
Despite the Tribes miserable
showing against the White Sox,
the Yanks aren't figuring on
their going into a dive. They
think the. Indians are too solid
and that they'll have to beat
them the hard way.
Lopez Not Fretting.
Al Lopez, the leader Of the
Tribe. may be whistling going by
the graveyard. but he says he is
not particularly worried over the
events Of the past week.
al RoSen and Bob Avila have
been in batting slumps since
their injuries" he said. They're
just in slumps that every player
has to fight his way out OF
sometimes. They'll snap out OF
it and wen be more dangerous
than ever. Look what they did
in the All-Star game.
1--WE said all along that the
Yanks are the team to- beat, and
I see no reason to change my
mind at this time, even though
! know the White Sox will be
troublesome. ] think we are In
a good spot and that we can
win the pennant."
The White Sox, for their part
are three games off the pace
and the way their pitching has
come around. could make things
uncomfortable for all concerned
They face the Senators tonight
In the National League, the
Giants start q Western trip with
q five-game bulge over the
Dodgers, who whipped the
Braves, I'll, in IL innings last
night in the only major league
game played.
The Giants thus have a cush-
ion should they go into q slump
The burden of proof is on the
Dodgers If they are to win then
third straight pennant.
Snider Delivers Twice.
The Brooklyn victory over the
Braves last night came the hard
way before q crowd of IS, 470
which boosted the Milwaukee
attendance over the million
mark. Duke Snider batted irl
the runs in the first and flnal
innings with sacrifice flies. jim
Hughes, who took over for Russ
Meyer in the ninth. was the
winner.
The Dodger runs came In vir-
tually identical situations. BotI
Junior Gillian and PeeWee
tSee BASEBALL. Page C-2.)