SPAHN 1-HITS MLB’S TOP HITTING CLUB

Braves Win 3^rd Straight Behind 15-Hit Attack

BOSTON, Aug. 3 (AP) – Warren Spahn fired a one-hit shutout, allowing only two baserunners in the entire game, leading the Boston Braves to a 12-0 rout of the Chicago Cubs at Braves Field.  It was the third straight victory for the Braves, following a crushing 11-game losing streak.  It was Boston’s largest run output in a month and the club’s first shutout since June 21.

Spahn’s effort was impressive in its own right, but the fact that it came over the top hitting team in the big leagues made it shine all the more.  It was the first time all year that the Cubs had been held to fewer than two hits and the first time since May 12 that they’d been held below three safeties.

Spahn’s teammates made sure he had a sizeable cushion early, erupting for four runs in the bottom of the fourth off Chicago starter Hank Borowy.  RBI singles from Bama Rowell, Nanny Fernandez, Dick Culler and Billy Herman accounted for the runs.

The Braves all but put the game away in the third, and knocked Borowy out of the game in the process.  Rowell drove in another run with a base hit and Spahn’s two-run single aided his own cause.

Tommy Holmes added a run-scoring base hit, and Rowell put the final touches on his four-RBI day with a two-run single off Johnny Schmitz in the fourth, giving Boston a 10-0 lead.  Johnny Hopp and Holmes capped the scoring with RBI singles in the bottom of the eighth.

Despite all the offense, the real story was Spahn’s mastery.  He retired the first eight batters he faced, then yielded a two-out double to Borowy, of all people, in the bottom of the third.  Spahn then retired Johnny Ostrowski on a grounder to first.  That was the first of 15 consecutive batters set down by Spahn, snapped when he walked Mickey Livingston with two outs in the bottom of the eighth.  He then disposed of Bobby Sturgeon on a tapper back to the mound.  He closed the game by retiring the Cubs in order in the top of the ninth.

After scoring only 15 runs in Spahn’s first six starts, the Braves came through for him in a big way against the Cubs.  The 12-run outburst was the second largest of the season for Boston, and it was only the sixth time in 95 contests this year that the Braves have reached double digits in scoring.

8/3/1946, ChN46-BoN46, Braves Field

                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP

1946 Cubs              0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0     0  1  1     2  3

1946 Braves            0  4  3  3  0  0  0  2  x    12 15  0     5  0

Cubs                 AB  R  H BI   AVG    Braves               AB  R  H BI   AVG

Ostrowski         3b  4  0  0  0  .222    Culler            ss  5  1  2  1  .212

Johnson,D         2b  3  0  0  0  .245     Wietelmann       ss  0  0  0  0  .213

 Rickert          ph  1  0  0  0  .251    Herman,B          2b  5  0  2  1  .305

Lowrey            lf  3  0  0  0  .294     White,E          pr  0  1  0  0  .500

Cavarretta        1b  3  0  0  0  .324     Ryan             2b  0  0  0  0  .230

Pafko             cf  3  0  0  0  .246    Hopp              1b  4  1  1  1  .362

Nicholson         rf  3  0  0  0  .245    Holmes            rf  4  3  2  2  .298

Livingston        c   2  0  0  0  .338     McCormick,M      rf  0  0  0  0  .249

 Stringer         pr  0  0  0  0  .260    Masi              c   3  2  2  0  .260

 McCullough       c   0  0  0  0  .296     O'Dea,K          c   1  0  0  0  .143

Sturgeon          ss  3  0  0  0  .303    Rowell            lf  3  2  3  4  .279

Borowy            p   1  0  1  0  .265    Gillenwater       cf  3  1  1  0  .302

 Schmitz          p   0  0  0  0  .131    Fernandez         3b  4  1  1  1  .218

 Bithorn          p   1  0  0  0  .125    Spahn             p   3  0  1  2  .143

 Dallessandro     ph  1  0  0  0  .229                         35 12 15 12

                     28  0  1  0

Cubs                             INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA

Borowy           L 8-7           2.0  6  6  6  2  1  46  30  4.05

Schmitz                          1.1  6  4  4  1  1  33  20  3.54

Bithorn                          4.2  3  2  2  1  3  74  47  3.53

                                 8.0 15 12 12  4  5 153  97

Braves                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA

Spahn            W 3-5           9.0  1  0  0  1  4 107  73  2.09

                                 9.0  1  0  0  1  4 107  73

ChN: Stringer ran for Livingston in the 8th

     McCullough inserted at c in the 8th

     Dallessandro batted for Bithorn in the 9th

     Rickert batted for Johnson,D in the 9th

BoN: O'Dea,K inserted at c in the 8th

     White,E ran for Herman,B in the 8th

     Wietelmann inserted at ss in the 9th

     Ryan inserted at 2b in the 9th

     McCormick,M inserted at rf in the 9th

E-Sturgeon. 2B-Borowy(3), Holmes(26), Masi(14). RBI-Culler(16), Herman,B(31),

Hopp(34), Holmes 2(59), Rowell 4(19), Fernandez(15), Spahn 2(2). K-Lowrey,

Nicholson, Bithorn, Rickert, Culler, Herman,B, Gillenwater, Fernandez, Spahn.

BB-Livingston, Hopp, Holmes, Rowell, Gillenwater. SH-Masi, Spahn.

PB-Livingston.

GWRBI: Rowell

Temperature: 82, Field: wet, Sky: clear, Wind: out to left at 18 MPH.

Attendance: 13,159

Game Time: 2:18