11 Straight?

Plus full review of 4/30/1949 action.

11 Straight?

Can the Pirates do it? Can they win 11 in a row?

I stuck Rip Sewell out there for the Pirates to give it a try. Meanwhile, I decided to counter with Johnny Vander Meer of the Reds. Vander Meer isn’t the pitcher he once was, but I thought he might have it in him.

And this one turned out to be a great game.

2nd Inning Rally

Cincinnati’s offense has been poor throughout April. However, they turned it on early in this one.

Grady Hatton and Virgil Stallcup led off the bottom of the 2nd with two quick singles against Sewell. That brought up Johnny Wyrostek:

Next up was Ray Mueller:

And, just like that, it was 2-0 Reds.

The Pirates Strike Back

Pittsburgh came back in a hurry.

In the top of the 4th, Clyde McCullough came up with one out and Ralph Kiner on 2nd:

Vander Meer seemed to falter that inning, eventually walking the bases loaded before finally retiring the side. Cincinnati still led 2-1, but looked weaker and weaker.

All’s Quiet

Then a funny thing happened.

Pittsburgh didn’t come close to scoring.

I’m serious. The Pirates didn’t have a single runner reach 2nd base for the rest of the game.

It ended up with Dixie Walker trying to get something going in the 9th:

And, well, that was it for the streak.

Vander Meer pitched well in the end, never faltering after that little blip in the 4th. The computer manager, meanwhile, made a bizarre move by taking Sewell out after 6 innings for a pinch hitter. Rip had thrown only 66 pitches up to that point and was well rested. I mean, this was a bizarre decision for the ages.

Other Action

Yankees 12, Red Sox 11 (10): At New York, the Yankees outlasted the Red Sox in a legendary game. Watch the game here. Read the summary here.

White Sox 6, Browns 5 (10): At St. Louis, a 10th inning wild pitch decides a thriller. Read the summary here.

Tigers 6, Indians 2: At Detroit, the Tigers dominate the World Champions, scoring 6 runs on 13 hits. Watch the game here.

Athletics 12, Senators 5: At Philadelphia, the Athletics go nuts when Senators starter Dick Weik is inexplicably taken out after less than 4 innings. Read an article about this game here.

Dodgers 5, Phillies 4: At Brooklyn, Preacher Roe delivered a sermon for the ages. Read the summary here.

Braves 3, Giants 0: At Boston, Spahn threw a 6 hit shutout, striking out 5 in the process. Watch the game here.

Cardinals 7, Cubs 5: At Chicago, a slim Cubs lead is destroyed by good Cardinal hitting in the late innings. First came Musial:

And then came Marion:

Reds 2, Pirates 1: See above.

Standings

Since this marks the end of April, I’ll have a special post tomorrow devoted to stats. It’s early, but I’ve still got a lot to say.