Indians take 2 of 3 from Mike in Back and Forth Series
Posted December 15, 2023
KANSAS CITY, MO - The Indians rolled into Kansas City for a 3 game set with Mike's home team BOS. Two lefties matched up in game 1 with the short left field wall, as Antonelli vs Minner squared off. The Indians struck first when the second batter of the game, Hank Bauer, cleared the left field wall for a 1-0 lead. In the 3rd, Mantle led off with a double and then Joe Adock pounded one over the fence for a 3-0 lead. Mike's team answered back in the 3rd when Kuenn led off with a single and Hodges took the Antonelli pitch out to cut it to 3-2. In the bottom of the 4th, Antonelli retired the first 2 batters before walking the 8 hitter Him Hegan, giving up a single to the pitcher Minner, and then walking the next 3 batters to put Mike up 4-3. But Adock led off the top of the 5th with his 2nd homer of the game and it was 4-4. The Indians took the lead back in the 6th when Antonelli led off with a single, a walk to Smith put 2 on, and Hank Bauer beat out a potential double play ball to put runners at the corners with 1 out. Mantle hit a fly ball to score Antonelli and put the Indians up 5-4, but that lead was short lived when Randy Jackson hit a 1 out triple in the bottom of the inning, with Harvey Kuenn then knocking him in with a single. The Indians put the first 2 men on in the 7th when Rosen reached on an error and went to 3rd on a pinch hit single by Eddie Waitkus. In a decisive play, pinch hitter Hal Smith lofted a fly to medium left and the third base coach held Rosen rather than challenging Groth's (-1) arm. A walk to Danny O'Connel brought up yet another pinch hitter in Jim Greengrass who bounced a 1 hopper right at the shortstop who started a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the inning with no damage. Mike's team went ahead in the bottom of the 8th when Kuenn led off with a single off Indians reliever Harry Dorish. A Hodges single put runners on the corners, but Ted Lepcio was set down on strikes. However, Rip Repulski lined a double, scoring Kuenn and putting Mike up 6-5. In the 9th, singles by the Indians put runners on the corners with 1 out, but Johnny Podres induced yet another double play ball, this time off the bat of Hal Smith, ending the game and sealing the victory for reliever Art Schallok. Harvey Kuenn and Gil Hodges led the way at the top of the order, with each going 3-4 with a walk, scoring a combined 3 runs and driving in 4. Adcock led the way for the Indians going 2 for 2 with a walk and 2 homers before coming out of the game as season long fatigue limits his at bats.
Game 2 saw Bob Buhl and Don Newcombe squaring off. The Indians jumped out in the 1st again with a 1 out walk to Jim Greengrass, and then singles by Hank Bauer and Al Rosen scoring 1 run, and a Solly Hemus sac fly making it 2-0. Bob Buhl was tossing a gem, and getting additional runs on an RBI double by Miranda in the 4th as well as a Greengrass homer in the 7th. Buhl ended up going 6 1/3 before being yanked to try to save a few precious innings. Bill Henry and Don Liddle threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings on the way to a 4-0 win. Greengrass led the way as he got a rare start in Mickey Mantle's spot, going 2 for 3 with a double, a homer and a walk. Willie Miranda hit 2 doubles. Mike's team was largely held down, with the lone bright spot being 1-2, 1 BB performances by lead off hitter Wally Moon and Gil Hodges.
Game 3 saw the Indians once again get out to a 1st inning lead. Smith and Fain hit singles to put runners on the corners with nobody out, and another Solly Hemus sac fly made it 1-0. Mike's team countered in the 2nd when Rip Repulski went deep to tie it at 1. Countering again, Fain singled with 1 out in the 3rd and back to back walks to Mantle and Hemus loaded the bases. Dave Pope hit a grounder at the shortstop Kuenn who fired home for the force out, but with 2 outs, Al Rosen smacked a double up the gap to score 2. Mike battled back for another run in the 4th when Bobby Adams doubled, Repulski walked and one out later, Bell singled to load the bases. A wild pitch by Nuxhall scored a run to make it 3-2. The Indians quickly responded again. A 2 out single by Hemus was followed by a Dave Pope triple to score the run and make it 4-2. Again, Mike's team came back quickly when Kuenn hit a 1 out triple, but after Hodges struck out, it looked like the Indians might get out of the inning. However, the next pitch slipped past catcher Bill Sarni for a passed ball, scoring a run and putting the score at 4-3.
The Indians blew it open in the 6th. Singles by Miranda and Sarni were followed by a triple by the pitcher Nuxhall. Al Smith was then promptly hit by the next pitch, nearly triggering a brawl, except we didnt know if hitting a batter after a pitcher triple was part of Isaac's brawl rules. Fain knocked in Nuxhall and 1 out later, a Solly Hemus fielder's choice scored another run, making it 8-3. It stayed that way until the 9th despite both teams putting men on. In the 9th, little-used Bill Taylor slammed a 2 out, pinch hit home run to make it an 8-4 final. Nuxhall took the win with Porterfield taking the loss. Ferris Fain pounded out 3 singles in addition to drawing his normal walk, and Willie Miranda had 3 singles of his own. Harvey Kuenn continued his solid series going 2-4 with a triple, making him 5-12 overall in the series.
Both teams move on to their final 15 intraleague games, with Chris traveling to take on the AL leading Great Lakes Loons and Mike continuing his homestand with 3 games against David.
