UNLUCKY 13TH; PHILS COLLAPSE CONTINUES
Friend Fires 4-Hit Shutout in Bucs 'W'

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 3 (AP) - Philadelphia's death spiral marches on.  Bob Friend took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and ultimately settled for a four-hit complete game shutout as the Pittsburgh Pirates sent the Phillies to their 13th consecutive loss, 4-0, at Forbes Field.  During the losing streak, the Phillies have been outscored, 86-36.

As has been the case throughout the past two weeks, Philadelphia fell behind early.  After going down in order in the top of the first, the Phillies surrendered a pair of runs in the bottom half of the frame .  Pete Castiglione and Rocky Nelson opened the inning with consecutive doubles off Phillies starter Robin Roberts, putting Pittsburgh on  top 1-0.  Catfish Metkovich sacrificed Nelson to third and Ralph Kiner's fly to right brought home the second run.

The Pirates padded their lead with a run in the third when, with two outs, Kiner doubled into the right field corner, and Gus Bell tripled over the first base bag.

Friend, meanwhile, was mowing the Phillies down.  Finally, with one out in the sixth, Richie Ashburn broke up the no-hitter with a single through the box.  He never advanced past first base.

In the bottom of the sixth, George Strickland capped the scoring for Pittsburgh with his seventh home run of the year, a solo shot over the wall in left.

The Phillies didn't have two runners on base at the same time until the top of the ninth.  With one out, Dick Sisler singled.  Granny Hamner flied to left, but Putsy Caballero followed with his second hit of the game.  But Del Wilber fouled to Nelson at first for the final out of the game.

If the thirteen consecutive losses wasn't disconcerting enough, the Phillies have to grapple with the knowledge that every defeat in the string has come at the hands of a team with a losing record.

8/3/1951, PhN51-Pit51, Forbes Field
 
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
1951 Phillies          0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0     0  4  1     8  1
1951 Pirates           2  0  1  0  0  1  0  0  x     4 10  1     6  1
 
Phillies             AB  R  H BI   AVG    Pirates              AB  R  H BI   AVG
Waitkus           1b  3  0  0  0  .270    Castiglione       3b  4  1  1  0  .311
Ashburn           cf  4  0  1  0  .339    Nelson            1b  4  1  1  1  .281
Jones,W           3b  4  0  0  0  .301    Metkovich         cf  3  0  1  0  .299
Ennis             rf  3  0  0  0  .325     Saffell          cf  0  0  0  0  .250
Sisler            lf  3  0  1  0  .265    Kiner             lf  3  1  1  1  .296
Hamner            ss  3  0  0  0  .226    Bell              rf  4  0  3  1  .303
Caballero         2b  4  0  2  0  .167    Garagiola         c   4  0  0  0  .250
Seminick          c   2  0  0  0  .268    Strickland        ss  4  1  2  1  .227
 Nicholson        ph  1  0  0  0  .256    Basgall           2b  3  0  1  0  .172
 Wilber           c   1  0  0  0  .265    Law               p   3  0  0  0  .370
Roberts           p   2  0  0  0  .214                         32  4 10  4
 Bloodworth       ph  1  0  0  0  .091
 Hansen,A         p   0  0  0  0  .000
                     31  0  4  0
 
Phillies                         INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Roberts          L 16-7          7.0  9  4  4  1  5 117  77  2.68
Hansen,A                         1.0  1  0  0  0  0  11   8  2.89
                                 8.0 10  4  4  1  5 128  85
 
Pirates                          INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Law              W 5-3           9.0  4  0  0  4  3 121  71  3.90
                                 9.0  4  0  0  4  3 121  71
 
PhN: Nicholson batted for Seminick in the 7th
     Wilber inserted at c in the 7th
     Bloodworth batted for Roberts in the 8th
Pit: Saffell inserted at cf in the 9th
 
E-Sisler, Law. 2B-Castiglione(16), Nelson(9), Kiner(11). 3B-Bell(4).
HR-Strickland(7). RBI-Nelson(23), Kiner(76), Bell(65), Strickland(38).
K-Ennis, Caballero, Bloodworth, Castiglione, Kiner, Strickland, Basgall, Law.
BB-Waitkus, Ennis, Sisler, Hamner, Kiner. SH-Metkovich.
GWRBI: Nelson
Temperature: 84, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 14 MPH.
Attendance: 12,418
Game Time: 1:56