IN THE NEWS: In St. Louis, Giants manager Mel Ott informs C Clyde Kluttz at breakfast that he has been traded from New York to the Phillies. But Cards manager Eddie Dyer calls Kluttz at lunch to tell him not to pack; St. Louis has just made a trade for him. Kluttz is part of the trades that sends Vince DiMaggio from the Phils to the Giants and 2B Emil Verban from St. Louis to Philadelphia. The Giants then beat the Cards, 5–1, scoring four in the 9th. Dave Koslo tosses a 4-hitter for New York, beating Harry Brecheen. Brecheen fans three in the 3rd -- Buddy Kerr, Koslo, and Bill Rigney -- all on called strikes.
At Yankee Stadium, the Yanks do all their scoring in the 4th to beat Cleveland, 8–2. Nick Etten cracks a grand slam and then ends the inning by lining into a DP with the bases loaded. Spud Chandler wins his 4th straight.
Ailing Ted Williams hits his 2nd homer of the year, a 10th inning blow that gives the Sox a 5–4 win over the Tigers. It is the Red Sox' 7th straight win and keeps them two games ahead of the Yankees.
IN THE NEWS: Jim Bagby beats the Indians' Bob Feller, 6–2, as the Red Sox have now won nine straight. Ted Williams drives in three runs on a double and home run.
IN THE NEWS: P Hank Borowy hits two doubles and drives in four runs during the Cubs 11-run 7th inning for a 13–1 victory over the Phillies in the opener. Chicago drops the nitecap, 7–1.
The Giants and Reds split a pair with New York taking the opener, 3–2. In the 7–4 Reds win, Cincinnati fans boo the substitution of Ray Mueller for C Ray Lamanno, who had three hits in four trips to the plate. Sent in for the final inning to preserve a National League record consecutive-game catching streak of 233 contests, Mueller sits out the next day. Mueller missed only 81 innings during the streak, which began July 31, 1943, and included Army service through 1945.
In a Bucs' doubleheader sweep at Pittsburgh, the Dodgers attract an overflow crowd that spills onto the field and is held back by ropes. There are nine "crowd doubles" as the Pirates win, 5–4 in 11 innings and 4–3. The double loss drops the Bums out of a first place tie with the Cards. In game 2, Preacher Roe relieves Nick Strincevich with two outs in the top of sixth with the score tied 3–3. With a six p.m. curfew looming, pinch runner Bob Ramazzotti tries to steal home on Roe's 1st pitch and is tagged out by C Bill Salkeld. In the bottom of the 6th, Frankie Gustine drives in the winning run with a crowd double, and the game is called, giving Roe a one-pitch win.
The Red Sox sweep two games from the Browns in a postponed twinbill, with Boo Ferriss winning the opener 7–5 behind Ted Williams three RBIs. In the 8th inning of the opener, with George Metkovich on first, Johnny Pesky grounds out on a hit-and-run. He had hit safely 11 times up, one shy of Pinky Higgins major-league record hitting streak. Manager Joe Cronin said Pesky had called the play on his own, and he would have had him hitting away. In the nitecap, Williams scores the winning run in the 9th on Dom DiMaggio's RBI single, and the Sox Joe Dobson comes away with a 5–4 win. Dom will drive in a record-tying 84 runs hitting in the leadoff spot (87 altogether). The Sox have now won 11 in a row and are three games in front of the Yankees.
In Washington's 7–4 win, Cecil Travis gets his 6th straight hit over two games before being stopped by Cleveland's Steve Gromek. A prewar hitting star, Travis has few other starring moments as a player after suffering frozen feet in combat in Europe.
IN THE NEWS: The Red Sox stretch their win streak to 12 games by topping the Browns, 10–6. The Sox score four runs in the 7th to tie the game, and then win it in the bottom of the 14th on Leon Culberson's grand slam. Clem Dreiseward steams to his 2nd win during Boston's streak.
Cleveland loses 2–1 in 10 innings to the Senators Mickey Haefner.
IN THE NEWS: Hot-hitting Boston 2B Johnny Pesky becomes the first player in American League history to score six runs in one game, as the Red Sox beats the White Sox 14–10. Mickey Harris is the winner, despite giving up 17 hits in eight 2/3 innings. Boo Ferriss retires Taffy Wright for the last out and the Sox have now won 13 straight.
The Reds blow a 5–2 in the 9th when 1B Bert Haas trips over the bullpen mound and misses an easy pop fly by Eddie Stanky that would’ve ended the
game. Stanky then walks to load the bases and Billy Herman follows with a 3-run double to tie the game. The Dodgers win it, 8-5, in the 10th on
a 3-run pinch homer by Don Padgett. 2B Lonny Frey of the Reds throws out 6 straight runners as part of an 11-assist game and adds a triple and 2 singles.
At Griffith Stadium, Detroit 2B Eddie Mayo snags a 3rd inning liner off the bat of Gil Torres to start a triple play. The ball was deflected by P Hal Newhouser, but Mayo grabbed it before it hit the ground. It is the 2nd time in a year that Mayo has started a triple play off Torres: in the 2nd inning of a nitecap on July 20, 1945, Mayo grabbed a Torres line drive to start the TP.
IN THE NEWS: At Fenway, Boston (20-3) runs its win streak to 14 by edging Chicago, 7–5. Bobby Doerr's 2-run homer in the 4th inning is the big blow. Mickey Harris, in relief, wins his 2nd game in two days.
At Chicago, Braves first sacker Johnny Hopp swipes home in the 12th to break a 2–2 tie with the Cubs. Boston scores twice more to win, 5–2, with Lefty Wallace taking the decision over Ray Prim.
IN THE NEWS: Before a Friday Ladies' Day crowd at Yankee Stadium of 64,183, the first-place Red Sox take their 15th straight game, a 5–4 win over the Yankees. Earl Johnson gets the win with four innings of scoreless relief. A Joe DiMaggio grand slam accounts for all the Bombers' scoring.
IN THE NEWS: The New York Giants top the Boston Braves 5–1 in the first night game at Braves Field. The game draws 35,945 for the Braves, who will draw 468,083 fans for 24 night games this season. All told, the 4th place Braves will pull in 969,673, nearly double the previous high of 517,803 set in 1933.
The Red Sox lose their first game after 15 straight wins, as Tiny Bonham beats Tex Hughson and Boo Ferriss 2–0 before 52,011 at Yankee Stadium. Tommy Henrich hits a homer and accounts for both runs. The Red Sox are 21-4, four 1/2 games ahead of the Yanks. The 15-game streak is still a Red Sox record.
IN THE NEWS: A crowd of 69,401, the largest in Stadium history, watch the Yankees give the Red Sox two unearned runs and manage just three hits off Mickey Harris, and lose to Boston, 3–1. The Sox gets just three hits off loser Spud Chandler.
IN THE NEWS: The Yankees become the first ML team to fly on a regular basis, as the fly United to St. Louis aboard the Yankee Mainliner. Red Ruffing and four others choose to take the train.
IN THE NEWS: The Dodgers give away free nylons as a promotion and 31,000 show up for the match against the Cardinals. Marty Marion breaks a 5–5 tie by driving in two runs in the 11th and Max Lanier goes all the way to beat the Dodgers. The win leaves St. Louis a game back of Brooklyn.
Red Sox hurler Dave Ferriss uses just 78 pitches in pitching a 2-hit shutout over the White Sox, winning 3–0.
IN THE NEWS: Fireworks occur as Brooklyn starter Les Webber brushes back Enos Slaughter in the first inning, but the Cardinal outfielder retaliates by bunting up the 1B line and flattening Webber as he tries to field the bunt. Slaughter then silences the fans with two catches in the first inning and a throw to double off Furillo. The Cards move into first place by edging the Dodgers, 1–0, behind Howie Pollet.
Mel Harder and Steve Gromek fire back to back shutouts over the A's as Cleveland wins two, 3–0 and 5–0.
IN THE NEWS: Pinch runner Jeff Cross steals home in the 10th inning to give St. Louis a 9–8 win over Boston. A week ago the Braves won on an extra-inning steal of home. The Cards win their 9th of 10 road games but will lose tomorrow.
IN THE NEWS: In the first of two at Cleveland, Bob Feller fans 14 in shutting out the Senators, 4–0. Feller allows five hits while the Tribe manages just six off Mickey Haefner. The nitecap is stopped after eight innings because of darkness with Walt Masterson the winner for Washington, 6–4.
IN THE NEWS: In a great trade for Detroit, the Tigers acquire 3B George Kell from the A's for popular hometown outfielder Barney McCosky. McCosky, back from the war, is hitting just .198. The Tigers then sell veteran 3B Pinky Higgins to the Red Sox.
The Red Sox coast to an 18–8 win over the Browns as Mickey Harris wins his 7th straight. Ted Williams has a grand slam for Boston.
After rainouts the past two days, the Giants and Cubs play the first of two games, with the Cubs rolling to a 19–3 win. Game two is washed out.
IN THE NEWS: The oldest star to go into the military was the White Sox P Ted Lyons, who finished each of the 20 games he started in 1942. Lyons continues to pitch on the first five Sundays of the 1946 season. Although the 46-year-old former Marine has an ERA of 2.32, he loses three of his four starts including today's opener to Washington, 4–3. The Nats Johnny Niggeling beats Ed Lopat in the nitecap, 7–1, as Mickey Vernon cycles for the Nationals.
IN THE NEWS: Claude Passeau of the Chicago Cubs makes his first error since September 21, 1941, ending his streak with an all-time pitcher's fielding record of 273 consecutive errorless chances. Passeau set the mark using the small glove in the National League. He received permission from the commissioner to use a modified glove because the fingers on his left hand were affected by a gunshot wound incurred as a youngster. He wins the game, however, beating Boston's Mort Cooper, 6–4.
A state Supreme Court justice has armed the Yankees with an injunction against the raiding Mexican Leaguers, and the Dodgers and the Cardinals have also turned to the courts for protection and damages. Before any of the relief becomes permanent, however, Max Lanier, Fred Martin, and Lou Klein jump back to the Redbirds.
IN THE NEWS: With the score tied 1–1 in the 10th inning at Ebbets Field, Cubs SS Len Merullo and Dodger 2B Eddie Stanky start punching each other, precipitating a brawl between the two teams. Claude Passeau rips off Leo Durocher's jersey before calm is restored. The Dodgers win 2–1 in 13 innings, collecting 11 hits off Johnny Schmidt, who goes the distance. Joe Hatten gives up four hits in 12 innings, with Kirby Higbe pitching the last round.
IN THE NEWS: Police sit along the dugouts of both clubs at Ebbets Field after yesterday's brawl but that doesn't stop a pregame fight between the Dodgers Dixie Walker and the Cubs Lenny Merullo. The first place Dodgers again win, 2–1, in 11 innings. The pregame fight will cost five players $650, plus suspensions for Walker, Merullo and Cubs coach Red Smith. Augie Galan gets tossed in the 4th and Leo Durocher in the 9th.
The Cardinals, the pre-season favorites to win the National League pennant, suffer a blow when pitchers Max Lanier and Fred Martin, and infielder Lou Klein jump to the Mexican League. Lanier was 6–0 in six starts this season. The 2nd-place Cards win today at the Polo Grounds behind Johnny Beazley's 4-hitter, but will lose three of their next four starts and drop into 2nd place.
The Yankees deflate Virgil Trucks with home runs in the 5th inning by DiMaggio and Nick Etten. Joe Gordon then greets reliever Hal White with the Yankees 3rd consecutive home run, and the Bombers drive over Detroit 12–6.
IN THE NEWS: Ted Lyons, 45 years old, gives up the mound to replace Jimmie Dykes as Chicago White Sox skipper. He is 1-4 but has an ERA of 2.32. The last 28 games he pitched, dating back to 1941, were complete.
Co-owner and GM Larry MacPhail fires Joe McCarthy as Yankee manager, and Bill Dickey replaces him. As prove that McCarthy had lost control of his players, MacPhail cites a confrontation between the manager and Joe Page during a May 21st flight from Cleveland to Detroit. McCarthy, whose health is ailing, leaves the team with a 22–13 record.
IN THE NEWS: The first place Dodgers whip the Phillies, 7–1, for their 14th straight win at Shibe Park. Augie Galan has single, double, and triple and is involved in an unusual "catcher's balk" play. Augie is at bat when Pete Reiser, on 3B, breaks for home on an attempted steal. Phils C Andy Seminick tips Galan's bat on the play and umpire Al Barlick calls the balk. Reiser is awarded a steal of home and Galan gets 1B. The Dodgers will sweep a pair tomorrow at Shibe.
IN THE NEWS: Two-for-42 and hitting .048 for the season, Mel Ott stops playing and will only manage the Giants.
The Red Sox turn stingy as Boo Ferriss holds the White Sox to one hit in the opener of two. In the nitecap, Emmett O'Neill allows just two Chicago hits. The three hits allowed in a doubleheader equals the 1934 record set by the Dean brothers, when Paul Dean tossed a no-hitter in game 2.
IN THE NEWS: The outlaw Mexican League scuttles its competition, Mexico's only league entry in organized baseball. There are now 43 minor leagues for 1946.
IN THE NEWS: In a play that anticipates a scene in The Natural by Brooklyn-native Bernard Malamud, the Braves' Bama Rowell smashes a double in the 7-run 2nd inning of the second game of a doubleheader at Ebbets Field. The ball shatters the Bulova clock high atop the right-field scoreboard at 4:25 P.M., showering glass down on the Dodgers' RF Dixie Walker. An hour later the clock stops. The Braves win 10–8 after being shut out 5–0 by Kirby Higbe in the opener.
The Red Sox sweep two from the Senators, winning 6–5 and 7–2. Joe Dobson and Mickey Harris are the winning pitchers.
At Wrigley, the Reds overcome a 6–1 deficit to down the Cubs, 7–6. Cincy scores six runs in the 9th, climaxed by a 2-run homer by Ray Mueller.