The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1954-05-18
Brooklyn Moves Into Tie For
First Place; In Hit Slump
Career Walks
Williams, Je1,ser,
H0n,ers To
Break Strategy
BY BEN PHLEcAR
AP Sports Writer

Az sports Writer
The lesson for today is how to
move from third to first place
while averaging less than three
runs q game over the last 10
games.
The instructor is Walter Aston,
who used to teach school in the
Midwest and who now is learning
the facts Of major league life as
manager Of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Aston this season inherited the
National League champions, who
had inspired fear in the hearts of
their opponents with their mighty
smuggling. The punch was so potent
the league batting champ, Carl
Furillo, hit seventh in the order.
BY now Aston must be about
convinced the Dodgers did it with
mirrors.
He has his team in an exact
first-place tie with Philadelphia
but over the last 10 games the
Dodgers have scored a total of ~
runs, with 10 Of them coming in a
single game. The opposition has
scored 81 runs. The team batting
average has skidded from .2S0 to
.259. The home run production has
totaled q mere three.
OF the 10 games, the Dodgers
have won six and lost four. The
victories have come almost en-
tirely from excellent pitching, top
ped by Carl Erskine's two-hitter
against st. Louis Saturday.
But the big factor which has
allowed Brooklyn to improve its
position has been the inability Of
the other clubs to take advantage
Of the Dodger slump.
Only the New York Giants, now
half a game out Of first, have
made real progress. They've won
seven and lost two. But the rest
Of the league has been beating
each other often enough to allow
Brooklyn to coast uphill.
Aston realizes this happy state
can't last indefinitely and for this
reason he's happy about the i'm
mediate schedule. The seventh
place Chicago Cubs come to Brook
lyn tonight for a two-game series
to be followed by the lass-place
Pittsburgh Pirates, who will be
around for five games.
Even in a slump the Dodgers
should win at least five of these
seven.
Meanwhile, the D dgers ben
Gifted from last nights intra-
league warfare when the Pills and
Cardinals split pair Of decisions.
Philadelphia whipped st. Louis
"a in a game completing the Sec
ond half Of Sundays double-header
which was suspended by Pennsyl-
vania curfew. In the regularly
scheduled game st. Louis won 80.
Boston edged Detroit IS and
Chicago defeated Pittsburgh 1916.
The other clubs weren't scheduled.
The Pills owned a SO lead when
the Sunday game was suspended
after six innings and the Cardinals
couldn't catch up against hurry
Dickson.
st. Louis unleashed its home run
power in the full-length contest.
Wally Moon, Rip Repulsh and
Ray Jablonski hit for the circuit
against Robin Roberts, who had
pitched a one-hitter the last time
out, and Stan Musial added one
against Karl Drews in relief.
Little Joe Presko scattered seven
hits in registering the first shutout
by a Cardinal pitcher this season.
At Detroit, Manager Freddie
Hutchinson of the Tigers went
against baseball custom and or.
dered pitcher Ned Carver to walk
the potential tying run. The STRAIT
egg backfired when Jackie Jensen
lined into the left field seats for
a three-run homer that won the
game for Boston.
Hutchinson's reasoning seems
more justified when you realize
the man he ordered walked was
Ted williams, who got eight for
nine in the Detroit doYble-header
Sunday. Williams went hitless in
two official trips yesterday.
Hank Sauer broke a '2-2 tie in
the fifth inning with a grand-slam
home run that set the Cubs on the
winning trail at Pittsburgh.