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BOSTON RED SOX
...
THE
CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 3
A
SUBWAY SERIES DISAPPEARS ...
The Sox blow a
6-0 lead
May 18, 1948 ... The
Red Sox pitching plummeted close to rock-bottom here in Detroit
today. Dave Ferriss could not hold a six run lead and Denny Galehouse
failed in a relief role as did Mel Parnell. Detroit scored seven runs
in the sixth inning to win by a 10 to 7 score, their second triumph
in nine tries at home. There was nothing wrong with a Red Sox
batting in this game, the first of their Western tour. They showed their
customary scorn for the pitching of Virgil Trucks, one of the American League's
better right-handers, knocking him out of the box. They outhit the Tigers 13 to
10, but Ferriss walked seven batters and got through the first five innings
leading 6 to 0 when the Tigers came to bat in the sixth.
At that point Ferris collapsed and couldn't get anybody out. Pat Mullin
started the assault on the Sox by beating out a drag bunt and he struck the
deathblow in his second time at bat in the inning, knocking in the seventh run.
After Mullin's bunt, Hoot Evers walked and Vic Wertz singled to right to score
Mullin. George Vico next walked on four straight pitches and manager Joe
McCarthy summoned Galehouse from the bullpen.
Bobby Doerr ruined Danny's chance of a good start, by booting Freddie
Hutchinson's double-play ball with the bases loaded. That opened the floodgates
as Connie Berry, usually a weak batter, slapped a single and Eddie Mayo's solid
double drove in the tying run.
Parnell came into pitch to left-handed hitting Mullin and Pat pasted the
first pitch into centerfield to score Mayo, putting the Tigers out in front.
Although the Red Sox scored their final run in the ninth inning against Stubby
Overmire, it went for naught because Detroit continued to lash Parnell in the
seventh. Successive singles by Vico, Eddie Lake and Hal Wagner, along with a bad
Jake Jones throw, accounted for three runs.
Back in the good old days, Ferriss threw about 90 pitches per game. Today he
threw 92 in the first five innings. It was the fourth straight time that Ferriss
had been knocked out of the ballgame.
Birdie Tebbetts declared today that he was going to start hitting up the
middle and he did just that twice, nearly taking Trucks' legs off with his first
blow in the third inning. |
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