BOSTON RED SOX ...
THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 3
A SUBWAY SERIES DISAPPEARS ...
The Sox bang out 19 hits and clobber the Nats

May 16, 1948 ... The Red Sox ended their home stand by clubbing 19 hits and overwhelming the Washington Senators by a 14 to 5, score before a rain soaked crowd at Fenway Park. The second of the scheduled two games was washed out. And so the Red Sox hoisted their record to the .500 mark for the second time this year, with Earl Johnson and his fine relief pitching and Johnny Pesky through his timely hitting. Pesky's two run triple knotted the score at 5 to 5 in the fourth inning.

Pesky however was forced to leave the game when he pulled a muscle behind his right thigh, scoring from third on Ted Williams' infield out. He may be sidelined for a few days. Billy Hitchcock replaced him, taking advantage of the situation and getting two hits.

Starter Jack Kramer, granting nine hits in 3 1/3 innings, was evicted and in came Johnson, who made his first appearance in 18 days and held complete command to the end. Johnson gave Washington only two blows over the final 5 2/3 innings, walking two and striking out a pair.

Meanwhile, Early Wynn, who was staked to a 4 to 0 lead and later a 5 to 1 lead, buckled under the Red Sox bats and his own wildness, to head for the showers after allowing 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings. Big Milo Cardini came in to relieve the Washington ace and he was a bad choice for the Nats, and a perfect one for the Sox, who knocked him around for seven hits in 1 1/3 innings.

Washington sent eight men to the plate in the second inning and scored four runs. Mickey Vernon, Bud Stewart and Carden Gillenwater all singled while a walk to Wynn, a fielder's choice and a base clearing triple by Eddie Yost gave the Senators the quick lead.. The Red Sox got back one run in the third inning on singles by Dom DiMaggio, Pesky and Williams, while Washington matched this in the fourth on hits by John Sullivan, Wynn, Yost and Al Kozar. That's when manager McCarthy replaced Kramer with three men on and one down in favor of Johnson, who retired the side.

Now down 5 to 1, the Red Sox exploded in their half of the fourth inning. Bobby Doerr and Jake Jones walked on eight pitched balls to open the inning. Birdie Tebbetts, exhibiting his hot bat, slammed the first of three hits over second to score Doerr. Jones held at second and was forced to third, but DiMaggio singled to score Tebbetts. Pesky slapped Wynn's 3-2 pitch on a line between right and center for a clean triple to tie the score. He then scored as Vernon threw out Ted at first. It was on this play that Pesky pulled up lame after he scored, as the Sox jumped out to a 6 to 5 lead.

The Sox batted around in the sixth inning with DiMaggio making a pair of outs to start in and end the fireworks. With two outs Williams walked and Stephens singled to end Wynn's afternoon. Walks to Wally Moses and Doerr were followed in succession by three singles off the bats of Jones, Tebbetts and Johnson. Dominic popped out to end the inning, but the Red Sox now led 10 to 5.

With the rain now coming down, Cardini remained in the game and three more runs came over the plate in the seventh. A single by Billy Hitchcock, a walk to Williams and base hits by Stephens, Moses and Doerr counted for another three runs. One more run was scored in the eighth on Hitchcock's second hit and Stephens' third. That made the final score 14 to 5.

When Birdie Tebbetts broke up an attempt for a double steal in the second inning with a throw down to Bobby Doerr, and took the return throw to nail Eddie Yost at the plate, it marked the 9th man cut down in 11 steal attempts by the hustling Red Sox catcher.

Before the game the Red Sox announced that Cot Deal had been sent down to Louisville, cutting the squad down to the required 25 men.