Evening star., 1954-08-09
i've Games At Boston Boost siexe Chances in Homer Derby
Braves HaIye Deficit
In IS Days, Aim for
.RepIay Of '48 Series
y the A.seeio,sd Press

" the Asseeioisd Press
Cleveland's steady stream of |
victories and Milwaukee's spec |
tacular late-seaSon drive have |
brought up the possibility of q
renewal of the l948 World Series
rivalry between the Indians and !
Braves.
The betting gentry probably
will give long odds it won't hap
pen, but baseball has had
miracles before. Remember the
Giants incredible 1851 finish?
just Is days ago, on July %,
the Braves were mired in fourth
place, 15l2 games behind the
seemingly runaway Giants. The
Indians were leading the Ameri-
can League, but their marsin was
q half-game over the Yankees.
What a change those two and
a half weeks have brought. The
Braves climbed one notch and
today they trail the pace-setting
Giants by only T1a games.
Fourteen Milwaukee victories in
16 games have slashed eight
lengths from New York's lead.
Cleveland won Is Of 10 during
the same period and widened its
margin over the Yankees to four
games. That is the Indians big
gest lead since July 4.
Mathews Hits No. 30.
Milwaukee whipped the Giants
again yesterday, So, to sweep the
three-game series at the Polo
Grounds. A fine six-hit per-
formance by Warren SPAIN and
perfect day at bat by slugging
Eddie Mathews were the features.
Mathews smashed his 30th
homer off Sal Maglie, singled in
another run and scored twice.
Effective pitching by Bob
Lemon and Art Houtteman and
home runs by Lemon and Larry
Dolby highlighted the Indians
To and So sweep over the inept
Athletics. Lemons homer, with
one on, overcame an early 81
Philadelphia lead in the first
game. Doby'S three-run homer
OF Alex Kellner in the first in
ming, his 26th of the season, got
the Indians off to a flying start
in the nightcap.
Pinch-hitter Jim Delsing's
two-run homer in the 10th in
ming broke up a free hitting af-
fair as Detroit made it two in
a row over the Yankees with a
lO-8 triumph. The Yankees had
rallied to overcome 40 and as
Tiger leads to force the game
into overtime. Delsing's dra-
matte homer inflicted the fourth
defeat on Johnny Sain, ace re-
lever, and gave Steve Gromek
his 18th victory.
Dodgers Get Is in Eighth.
The runnerup Dodgers closed
to within three games of the
Giants with q 20-7 romp over
the Redlegs. Aided by Third
BaSeman Chuck Harmon's two
out error, the Dodgers raped
across l3 runs in the eighth
IL OF them were unearned-to
set a scoring record for that
inning. Gil Hodges helped Carl
Erskine achieve his 14th victory.
banging out four hits, including
a double and triple in the big
eighth.
The third-place White sox
cropped seven games behind
Cleveland, dividing a double
header with Washington. Jack
Harshman shut out the Senators
80, after Washington had won
the opener, 7-6, on Roy Sievers'
10th and .21st home runs.
Jackie Jensen divided four
hits. two runs and two runs
batted in equally in each game
as the Red Sox took both ends
OF a double-header from Balti-
more, Az, and Al. The opener
was won in the 11th on singles
by Jensen and Billy Console and
an error by Billy Hunter. The
second-game defeat was the 18th
for Baltimore's Don Larsen.
making him the losingest pitcher
in the majors.
Roberts Wins 18th.
Robin Roberts became the first
pitcher to win II games and out
fielder Del Ennis drove in six
runs as the Phillies took two
games from the Cubs, 8-4 and
8-3.
Roberts was clipped for four
runs in the first two innings of
the opener, but stopped the Cubs
cold the rest of the way despite
yielding IL hits. Ennis hit his
18th home run in the first game.
Granny Hammer, Danny Schell
and Pitcher Herm Wehmeier all
trlpled in four-run outburst by
(See BASEBALL, A-I5)