page_title: 1954 World Series
section_title: Game 2
hierarchical_section_title: 1954 World Series / Matchups / Game 2
caption_attribution_description: English: Dusty Rhodes of the New York Giants rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the seventh inning of the second game of the 1954 World Series.
context_page_description: The 1954 World Series matched the National League champion New York Giants against the American League champion Cleveland Indians. The Giants swept the Series in four games to win their first championship since 1933, defeating the heavily favored Indians, who had won an AL-record 111 games in the 154-game regular season.
  "The Catch" occurred during Game 1 of this series, when Giants center fielder Willie Mays snared a long drive by Vic Wertz near the outfield wall with his back to the infield. Utility player Dusty Rhodes' had clutch hits in three of the four games, including a pinch-hit walk-off that won Game 1, barely clearing the 258-foot right-field fence at the Polo Grounds. Giants manager Leo Durocher, who had managed teams to three National League championships, won his only World Series title as a manager. The Giants, who moved west to San Francisco in 1958, did not win another World Series until 2010.
  This was the first time that the Indians had been swept in a World Series and the first time that the Giants had swept an opponent in four games.
context_section_description: Once again, the visitors started quickly but could not hold their lead. Al Smith's leadoff home run off Johnny Antonelli put Cleveland up 1–0. Early Wynn preserved that lead, pitching four perfect innings, but in the fifth inning, Willie Mays walked and Hank Thompson singled, and Dusty Rhodes, again pinch-hitting for Monte Irvin, delivered an RBI single. Antonelli gave himself the go-ahead run by scoring Thompson on a groundout. New York had just four hits, but Rhodes padded the Giants' lead with a home run leading off the seventh. Their other hit came in the sixth on an Alvin Dark leadoff single. Antonelli walked six but struck out nine, pitching a complete game to give the Giants a 2–0 series lead. This would be the last postseason game at the Polo Grounds.
caption: Dusty Rhodes of the New York Giants rounds first base after hitting a home run during the seventh inning of the second game of the 1954 World Series.
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