NATS OVERCOME 9-2 DEFICIT, WIN WILD AFFAIR IN MOTOR CITY
Bengals Strand 18 In 7th Straight Loss
DETROIT, July 12 (AP) - In one of the craziest contests of the major league
baseball season to date the Washington Senators scored 11 runs in the eighth
inning en route to overcoming a 9-2 seventh inning deficit, then barely hung on
to defeat the Detroit Tigers, 14-13, at Briggs Stadium. 11 straight
Washington hitters reached base with one out in the top of eighth off Detroit
relievers Hal White and Dizzy Trout.
The loss was a devastating blow for the Tigers, who stranded 18 runners in the
game--13 of them in the first five innings--and had 35 batters reach base safely
over the course of the game. The Senators left only four runners on base.
Detroit built a 4-2 lead over the first two innings of the game, and drove
Washington starter Fred Sanford from the mound in the third inning, but left a
maddening number of runners on base in the process. Still, the Tigers
appeared to bust the game open by scoring five runs in the bottom of the sixth
off Senators reliever Joe Haynes to take a 9-2 lead.
Washington scored what appeared to be a meaningless run in the top of the
seventh off Detroit starter Bob Cain on a Clyde Kluttz RBI single. But
Cain appeared to be tiring and the Tigers hit for Cain in the bottom of the
seventh. White took over for Cain, sporting a six-run cushion, in the top
of the eighth, walked Eddie Yost to open the frame, retired Gil Coan on a
fielder's choice and then saw the roof cave in.
White walked Irv Noren and Mickey Vernon to fill the bases. Sam Mele
singled to right to score Coan, with the bases remaining loaded. White
then issued his fourth walk of the inning, to Cass Michaels, forcing home
another run. Mike McCormick pinch hit for reliever Sandy Consuegura and
lined a single to left-center, driving two more runs home and leaving runners on
first and third. The score was now 9-7 and White's day was over. He
was replaced by Trout, but the hit parade marched merrily along. Kluttz
blooped a single to right, scoring Michaels and advancing McCormick to
third. With the slow-footed Kluttz representing the go-ahead run on first
base, he was replaced by pinch runner Sherry Robertson. Pete Runnels then
belted a double into the gap in left-center, scoring both runners and putting
the Senators on top, 10-9. Yost followed by rolling a grounder to Don
Kryhoski at first, but he kicked the ball for an error, leaving runners at first
and third. Coan then doubled off the left field wall, scoring Runnels with
the eleventh Washington run and moving Yost to third. Noren then crushed a
Trout fastball halfway up the right field upper deck, just missing the roof, for
a three-run home run. The Senators now led 14-9. Vernon doubled to
right before Trout finally arrested the uprising by retiring Mele and
Michaels. The 11-run inning had turned a six-run Washington deficit into a
five-run advantage heading to the bottom of the eighth. The game appeared
to be all but settled, again. Once more that was to prove wishful
thinking.
The Tigers fought back in the bottom of the eighth on Vic Wertz's two-out,
two-run homer into the upper deck in right off Julio Moreno, trimming the
Washington lead to 14-11. Moreno walked Hoot Evers and Joe Ginsberg,
bringing the tying run to the plate, before retiring Johnny Groth on a fly ball
to center to end the inning.
Trout retired the Senators in order in the top of the ninth and the Tigers
immediately rallied against Moreno in the bottom half of the frame. Johnny
Lipon lined a double past third base to start the inning--his fifth hit of the
game. Steve Souchock pinch hit for Trout and replicated Lipon's plate
appearance, scoring the Detroit shortstop to make it 14-12 and bring the tying
run to the plate with nobody out. Jerry Priddy grounded to second for the
first out, moving Souchock to third. Kryhoski then singled to right,
scoring Souchock and putting the tying run on first base and bringing the
winning run to the plate. When George Kell dropped a single down the right
field line, advancing Kryhoski to third, the complete appeared poised to be
complete. The tying run was 90 feet from home plate; the winning run was
on first. And All-Star Vic Wertz, who already had a home run and three
driven in, was striding to the plate. The crowd was on its feet,
roaring. Tom Ferrick replaced Moreno on the hill in a desperate attempt by
the Senators to make their incredible comeback stand up.
And then, it happened. Ferrick fired a strike on the outside corner and,
on a pre-arranged play that the Senators had signaled to one another, catcher
Mike Guerra fired a pickoff throw to Yost at third pace and caught Kryhoski
flat-footed. Suddenly there were two outs, the tying run was now first
base and the winning run was wiped off the bases entirely. The crowd stood
in stunned silence. Ferrick worked ahead of Wertz 0-2 and then induced him
to hit a routine fly to right to end the game.
It was the seventh straight defeat for slumping Detroit, and surely the most
difficult to accept. The win pushed Washington two games clear of .500,
tying the club's high water mark of the season since posting a 15-12 record
after a May 20 win.
7/12/1951, Was51-Det51, Briggs Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1951 Senators 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 11 0 14 12 0 4 2 1951 Tigers 1 3 0 0 0 5 0 2 2 13 20 1 18 1 Senators AB R H BI AVG Tigers AB R H BI AVG Yost 3b 4 1 0 0 .248 Priddy 2b 6 1 1 1 .268 Coan lf 5 2 1 1 .291 Kryhoski 1b 5 4 3 2 .318 Noren cf 4 2 2 3 .294 Kell 3b 5 0 4 4 .320 Vernon 1b 4 1 1 0 .320 Wertz rf 4 1 1 3 .308 Mele rf 5 2 2 1 .348 Evers lf 4 0 1 0 .251 Moreno p 0 0 0 0 .161 Ginsberg c 5 0 2 0 .274 Ferrick p 0 0 0 0 1.000 Groth cf 4 1 1 0 .311 Michaels 2b 2 3 0 1 .236 Lipon ss 6 3 5 0 .299 Dente ss 3 0 1 1 .268 Cain p 1 2 1 1 .200 Consuegra p 0 0 0 0 .385 Mullin ph 1 0 0 0 .262 McCormick ph 2 1 1 2 .340 White,H p 0 0 0 0 .333 Kluttz c 4 0 3 3 .338 Trout p 0 0 0 0 .387 Robertson pr 0 1 0 0 .212 Souchock ph 1 1 1 1 .316 Guerra c 1 0 0 0 .203 42 13 20 12 Sanford p 1 0 0 0 .053 Harris,M p 1 0 0 0 .000 Haynes p 0 0 0 0 .222 Runnels ph 3 1 1 2 .185 39 14 12 14 Senators INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Sanford 2.1 9 4 4 2 1 63 40 4.14 Harris,M 2.1 2 0 0 6 0 56 24 5.52 Haynes 1.1 3 5 5 3 0 32 16 5.73 Consuegra W 9-2 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 11 6 4.12 Moreno 1.1 5 4 4 3 0 49 25 3.76 Ferrick S 3 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 7.83 9.0 20 13 13 15 1 214 114 Tigers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Cain 7.0 5 3 3 2 4 115 65 3.38 White,H 0.1 2 6 6 4 0 29 8 7.89 Trout BS 1, L 6-8 1.2 5 5 4 0 1 42 27 4.29 9.0 12 14 13 6 5 186 100 Was: Runnels batted for Haynes in the 7th Runnels moved to ss in the 7th McCormick batted for Consuegra in the 8th Robertson ran for Kluttz in the 8th McCormick moved to rf in the 8th Guerra inserted at c in the 8th Det: Mullin batted for Cain in the 7th Souchock batted for Trout in the 9th E-Kryhoski. 2B-Coan(13), Vernon(17), Mele(23), Runnels(2), Kryhoski 2(11), Lipon 3(15), Cain(1), Souchock(9). HR-Noren(3), Wertz(15). RBI-Coan(31), Noren 3(49), Mele(49), Michaels(34), Dente(20), Kluttz 3(17), Runnels 2(3), McCormick 2(17), Priddy(27), Kryhoski 2(35), Kell 4(36), Wertz 3(63), Cain(2), Souchock(22). SB-Kell(3), Lipon(1). K-Coan, Mele, Michaels, Sanford, Harris,M, Groth. BB-Yost, Noren, Vernon, Michaels 3, Kryhoski 2, Kell 2, Wertz 3, Evers 2, Ginsberg, Groth 2, Cain 3. SH-Priddy. PB-Kluttz. GWRBI: Runnels Temperature: 83, Sky: clear, Wind: out to left at 2 MPH. Attendance: 12,563 Game Time: 3:30