DODGERS RALLY LATE FOR 5TH STRAIGHT WIN
Jackie's HR in 9th Is Game-Winner
BROOKLYN, N.Y., May 5 (AP) - The Brooklyn Dodgers staged a furious comeback,
rallying from a 9-3 deficit to defeat the Cincinnati Reds 12-9 before 26,501
happy partisans at Ebbets Field. It was the fifth consecutive victory for
Brooklyn; Cincinnati dropped its eighth straight.
The Dodgers broke out on top with three runs in the bottom of the first inning
off Ken Raffensberger. With Cal Abrams on first base following a leadoff
single, Pee Wee Reese lined a single of his own to right field. Abrams
moved to third and Johnny Wyrostek's throw eluded third baseman Grady Hatton for
an error and the Dodgers led 1-0. Duke Snider followed with a blast on to
Bedford Avenue and the lead was 3-0.
But Brooklyn starter Chris Van Cuyk, as has been his custom, couldn't hold the
lead as the Reds exploded for six runs in the third inning. Walks to
Hatton and Wyrostek were sandwiched around singles by Joe Adcock, Ted Kluszewski
and Bob Scheffing, which cut the Dodgers lead to 3-2. A walk to Bob Usher
filled the bases and Roy McMillan followed by depositing a hanging Van Cuyk
breaking ball into the lower left field seats for a grand slam and a 6-3
Cincinnati lead. Raffensberger reached on a Billy Cox error and Dodgers
manager Chuck Dressen pulled Van Cuyk in favor of Don Bankhead who finally ended
the inning by fanning Connie Ryan.
The Reds added a solo run in the fourth on Hatton's solo home run and pushed
across a pair of additional tallies in the fifth on run-scoring singles off the
bats of McMillan and Raffensberger, giving Cincinnati a 9-3 lead.
The Reds starter, meanwhile, had settled down after his rough first inning and
shut the Dodgers out until the sixth when Cox ripped a two-run home run to make
it 9-5. Brooklyn pulled a run closer in the seventh on Hodges'
RBI-grounder.
The Dodgers cut the lead to one in the eighth. Roy Campanella led off the
inning with a double into the right field corner and Raffensberger was finally
lifted in favor of Frank Smith. He retired Cox on a pop foul to the
catcher but Rocky Bridges came through with a single to center field, scoring
Campanella to make it 9-7. Jackie Robinson, who had been given the day
off, was called upon to pinch hit for the pitcher and promptly looped a single
to right-center, putting runners on first and second. Smith then walked
Abrams to fill the bases and Reese's fly to center scored Bridges to make it
9-8. Duke Snider flied to right to end the inning.
Ralph Branca came on to pitch the ninth and was inserted in Reese's spot in the
order. Bridges moved from second to short and Robinson remained in the
game to play second. This would be critical in the bottom of the ninth.
In the top half of the inning, Branca set the Reds down with ease. Smith
immediately ran into trouble in the bottom half by walking Gil Hodges to start
the frame. Carl Furillo flied to center but Campanella walked to put
runners at first and second. Hank Edwards came on to run for Campanella,
representing the potential winning tally. Cox rolled to short, which
resulted in a 6-4 fielder's choice leaving men at first and third with two
outs. But Bridges dropped a single over the head of second baseman Ryan on
a 3-2 pitch, scoring Hodges to tie the game and leaving runners on the
corners. Smith fell behind Robinson 3-1 and grooved a fastball that the
Brooklyn second baseman hammered into the left field seats sending the Ebbets
Field faithful into a frenzy.
The Reds' series with the Dodgers is over, but the task for the slumping
Cincinnatians gets no easier as they cross the East River to take on the red hot
Giants for a Sunday twinbill.
5/5/1951, Cin51-Brk51, Ebbets Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1951 Reds 0 0 6 1 2 0 0 0 0 9 13 1 10 0 1951 Dodgers 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 4 12 15 2 7 3 Reds AB R H BI AVG Dodgers AB R H BI AVG Ryan 2b 5 0 0 0 .222 Abrams lf 3 2 1 0 .214 Hatton 3b 3 2 2 1 .313 Reese ss 5 1 2 1 .190 Adcock lf 4 1 1 0 .323 Branca p 0 0 0 0 .000 Kluszewski 1b 5 1 1 1 .203 Snider cf 5 1 3 2 .319 Scheffing c 5 1 2 1 .148 Hodges 1b 4 1 0 1 .215 Wyrostek rf 4 1 2 0 .258 Furillo rf 5 0 1 0 .347 Smith,F p 0 0 0 0 .000 Campanella c 4 2 2 0 .333 Usher cf 4 2 2 0 .233 Thompson,D pr 0 0 0 0 .000 McMillan ss 4 1 2 5 .306 Cox 3b 5 2 1 2 .342 Raffensberger p 4 0 1 1 .364 Bridges 2b 5 2 3 2 .219 McCosky rf 1 0 0 0 .300 VanCuyk p 1 0 0 0 .143 39 9 13 9 Bankhead p 0 0 0 0 .000 Brown,T ph 1 0 0 0 .313 Palica p 0 0 0 0 .000 Miksis ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Haugstad p 0 0 0 0 .000 Robinson,J ph 2 1 2 3 .368 41 12 15 11 Reds INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Raffensberger 7.0 11 7 7 1 3 92 62 4.21 Smith,F BS 2, L 0-3 1.2 4 5 5 3 0 46 21 13.50 8.2 15 12 12 4 3 138 83 Dodgers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA VanCuyk 2.2 5 6 6 3 2 70 36 9.55 Bankhead 1.1 1 1 1 1 1 20 11 6.75 Palica 2.0 6 2 2 1 0 48 31 3.38 Haugstad 2.0 1 0 0 1 2 43 25 0.00 Branca W 1-0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 6 4 6.00 9.0 13 9 9 6 5 187 107 Cin: McCosky inserted at rf in the 8th Brk: Brown,T batted for Bankhead in the 4th Miksis batted for Palica in the 6th Robinson,J batted for Haugstad in the 8th Bridges moved to ss in the 9th Robinson,J moved to 2b in the 9th Thompson,D ran for Campanella in the 9th E-Wyrostek, Cox, Bridges. 2B-Bridges(1). 3B-Campanella(1). HR-Hatton(2), McMillan(1), Snider(4), Cox(3), Robinson,J(1). RBI-Hatton(5), Kluszewski(9), Scheffing(2), McMillan 5(12), Raffensberger(2), Reese(1), Snider 2(12), Hodges(12), Cox 2(6), Bridges 2(5), Robinson,J 3(8). K-Ryan 2, Adcock, Wyrostek 2, Abrams, Snider, Brown,T. BB-Ryan, Hatton 2, Adcock, Wyrostek, Usher, Abrams 2, Hodges, Campanella. HBP-McMillan. HB-VanCuyk. GWRBI: Robinson,J Temperature: 55, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: left to right at 12 MPH. Attendance: 26,501 Game Time: 2:41