Peanuts
Plus: Day in Review, May 28, 1949
Peanuts
Sometimes the best games are between two bad teams. Neither the Cubs or the Reds are any good so far in this replay. This game, however, was a classic.
We went into the 9th inning tied at 1. It looked like the Cubs would break through when starting pitcher Johnny Schmitz was fortunate enough to reach base:
Schmitz had pitched brilliantly to this point, and I didn’t want to take him out in favor of the Cubs’ awful bullpen. I felt like I made the right move.
However, the Cubs didn’t score. Neither team scored in the 10th, either. And that brought us to the 11th.
Schmitz started to falter a little bit when he faced Johnny Wyrostek in the top of the 11th with a runner on second:
Danny Litwhiler looked like he was going to blow the game wide open after that:
Cincinnati did manage to score another, and went to the bottom of the 11th with a 3-1 lead.
Smokey Burgess pinch hit to lead things off for the Cubs:
After one out, Gene Mauch came up as the third pinch hitter in the inning:
Next came leadoff hitter Hank Edwards, who has been hitting well:
That made it a 3-2 game, and the Cubs weren’t done yet. Herman Reich was next, with runners on at the corners. I thought I’d try something unusual:
Well, Gene wasn’t quite fast enough, sadly. There were now two men out, and it was all up to Peanuts Lowrey:
Lowrey’s big double sent us home, and the Cubs enjoyed an improbable win.
Schmitz wound up with a complete game victory, though he came close to blowing it. The fact that I left him in for 11 innings says all you need to know about my opinion on the Cubs’ bullpen.
Other Action
Red Sox 9, Senators 3: At Boston, the Red Sox crush Washington’s inferior pitching. Watch the game here.
Indians 7, White Sox 6: At Cleveland, the Indians come from behind to win a thriller. Watch the game here. Read the summary here.
Tigers 10, Browns 5: At Detroit, the Tigers make short work of the Browns.
Athletics 6, Yankees 5: At New York, the Athletics came out to a big 4-0 lead in the top of the 2nd and never relinquished it. Watch the game here.
Dodgers 5, Braves 0: At Brooklyn, the Dodgers take all of their frustrations out on Boston, scoring 5 runs on 13 hits. Preacher Roe throws a 5 hit shutout, striking out 6 in the process.
Cubs 4, Reds 3 (11): At Chicago, see above.
Phillies 6, Giants 2: At Philadelphia, the Phillies put a damper in New York’s plans for National League dominance. Watch the game here.
Cardinals 6, Pirates 5: At St. Louis, the Pirates make a desperate attempt to pull this one out of the fire, scoring 3 in the top of the 9th before succumbing to the Cardinals.
Standings
New York is still in control in the National League, despite losing a game. Brooklyn had a big win against the Braves, but I’m not sure it will be enough. Meanwhile, the Red Sox have managed to sneak their way into first place in the American League.