GIANTS' 'W' STREAK REACHES 13; TRAIL DODGERS BY 2 1/2
Irvin Homers Twice; Club Belts 5 HRs in Comeback
NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (AP) - When the Braves scored four times in the top of the
first, it appeared that the Giants' winning streak--and possibly their
season--would come to an end. But the New Yorkers roared back, initially
tying the game in the third and claiming the lead for good in the sixth, en
route to a 10-5 victory over Boston. On a chilly day, when rain was a
constant threat, the Giants announced a walk-up sale of nearly 10,000 for the
home finale at the Polo Grounds. The game was delayed by 15 minutes at the
start in an attempt to accommodate all of the day-of-game ticket buyers.
The afternoon crowd of 13,927 was the second largest Monday gathering of the
season for the Giants and was clearly buoyed by the team's winning streak, which
now stands at 13 games, the longest in the National League this year and tied
for the longest in the major leagues. The win, in the only game on the
day's major league docket, pulled New York to within 2 1/2 games of first place
Brooklyn.
The Braves jumped on Giants starter Sheldon Jones immediately. Sibby Sisti
led off the game with a single and Sam Jethroe's double to right scored him all
the way from first base. Earl Torgeson's ground ball to first advanced
Jethroe to third and, one out later and following an intentional walk to Sid
Gordon, Walker Cooper belted a long home run deep into the left field upper deck
to put Boston on top, 4-0.
The Giants picked up a run of their own in the bottom of the first when Eddie
Stanky's 22nd home run of the year led off the inning, but they waited until the
third to put up a crooked number. With two outs and the bases empty, Alvin
Dark singled and Bobby Thomson's double to left-center brought him home to cut
the Boston lead to 4-2. Monte Irvin followed with his 25th home run of the
year, a two-run shot off Braves starter Chet Nichols, and suddenly the game was
tied.
The Braves squeezed out an unearned run in the fifth, and drove Jones from the
mound in the process. Jethroe reached leading off the inning when first
baseman Lockman's flip to Jones on a potential 3-1 grounder was errant.
Jetrhoe stole second--his league-leading 35th stolen base of the season--and
moved to third on Torgeson's sacrifice. Bob Elliott then singled him home
to give the Braves a 5-4 lead. After Jones walked Gordon, manager Leo
Durocher replaced his starter with George Spencer, who retired Cooper and
Willard Marshall on infield pop flies to end the inning.
The Giants immediately tied the game in the bottom of the fifth. Stanky
led off with a single and advanced to third on Dark's base hit. Thomson's
line drive to left was caught by Gordon, but was deep enough to allow Stanky to
tag and score.
New York finally took the lead in the bottom of the sixth. With reliever
Bob Chipman on the hill, Whitey Lockman led off by driving an 0-2 mistake just
inside the right field foul pole for his eighth home run of the year and a 6-5
Giants advantage. Two outs later, Wes Westrum belted his 19th home
run--the fourth of the game for the Giants--to up the lead to 7-5.
The Giants firmly seized control of the game in the seventh. With one out,
Dark singled through the box for his third hit of the game. Thomson
followed by grounding a single to right, putting runners on first and
second. Chipman was replaced by Phil Paine with Irvin due to hit.
The Giants left fielder greeted the new pitcher by hammering a 1-1 pitch into
the lower stands in left-center field. The three-run homer was Irvin's
second long ball of the game and his 26th of the season and put New York on top
10-5.
The Braves never seriously threatened from that point on. A trio of
Giiants relievers--Spencer, Al Corwin and Monte Kennedy--held Boston to just two
hits in 4 2/3 shutout innings.
The Giants head to Philadelphia for a two-game series on Tuesday and
Thursday. The Dodgers, who were rained out at Boston today, take on the
Braves in a doubleheader tomorrow with single games scheduled for Wednesday and
Thursday.
9/24/1951, BoN51-NYN51, Polo Grounds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1951 Braves 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 8 1 8 2 1951 Giants 1 0 3 0 1 2 3 0 x 10 15 1 4 1 Braves AB R H BI AVG Giants AB R H BI AVG Sisti 2b 5 1 3 0 .272 Stanky 2b 4 2 2 1 .264 Jethroe cf 4 2 1 1 .301 Williams,Da ph 0 0 0 0 .194 Torgeson 1b 3 0 0 0 .285 Dark ss 5 2 3 0 .281 Elliott 3b 4 0 2 1 .303 Thomson 3b 4 2 2 2 .263 Paine p 0 0 0 0 .000 Irvin lf 4 2 2 5 .332 St.Claire ph 1 0 0 0 .259 Lockman 1b 4 1 3 1 .264 Gordon lf 2 1 1 0 .337 Mays cf 4 0 0 0 .279 Cooper c 4 1 1 3 .291 Mueller,D rf 4 0 2 0 .271 Marshall rf 4 0 0 0 .239 Hartung rf 0 0 0 0 .262 Kerr ss 3 0 0 0 .232 Westrum c 4 1 1 1 .199 Nichols p 2 0 0 0 .130 Jones,Sh p 2 0 0 0 .034 Holmes ph 1 0 0 0 .185 Spencer p 0 0 0 0 .091 Chipman p 0 0 0 0 .000 Rigney ph 1 0 0 0 .239 Marquez lf 1 0 0 0 .183 Corwin p 0 0 0 0 .091 34 5 8 5 Thompson,H ph 1 0 0 0 .247 Kennedy,M p 0 0 0 0 .105 37 10 15 10 Braves INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Nichols 5.0 9 5 5 0 2 73 45 4.12 Chipman L 3-5 1.1 4 4 4 0 0 34 20 6.28 Paine 1.2 2 1 1 1 2 25 14 7.36 8.0 15 10 10 1 4 132 79 Giants INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Jones,Sh 4.1 6 5 4 3 1 72 41 3.03 Spencer W 9-6 1.2 1 0 0 1 0 24 13 6.28 Corwin H 1 2.0 1 0 0 0 0 18 11 3.94 Kennedy,M 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 13 8 2.92 9.0 8 5 4 5 1 127 73 BoN: Holmes batted for Nichols in the 6th Gordon moved to 3b in the 7th Marquez inserted at lf in the 7th St.Claire batted for Paine in the 9th NYN: Rigney batted for Spencer in the 6th Thompson,H batted for Corwin in the 8th Williams,Da batted for Stanky in the 8th Williams,Da moved to 2b in the 9th Hartung inserted at rf in the 9th E-Elliott, Lockman. 2B-Jethroe(25), Gordon(39), Thomson(23). HR-Cooper(6), Stanky(22), Irvin 2(26), Lockman(8), Westrum(19). RBI-Jethroe(84), Elliott(81), Cooper 3(49), Stanky(68), Thomson 2(100), Irvin 5(101), Lockman(59), Westrum(69). SB-Jethroe(35). CS-Dark. K-Jethroe, Thomson, Mays, Westrum 2. BB-Jethroe, Torgeson, Gordon 2, Kerr, Williams,Da. SH-Torgeson. GWRBI: Lockman Temperature: 52, Sky: cloudy, Wind: left to right at 5 MPH. Attendance: 13,927 Game Time: 2:14