July 4, 1959
The first game of today's 4th of July doubleheader between the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers proved to be an explosive affair. The 2 teams were tied for 1st place in the AL heading into today's games.
Cleveland jumped out to a quick lead in the 1st inning scoring 3 runs on 1 hit. A walk, an error, a sacrifice fly and a double led to the runs off Tiger starter Frank Lary. Detroit came back with a run of their own in the bottom of the 1st before exploding for 7 runs in the bottom of the 2nd. The Tigers sent 13 men to the plate in the 2nd, chasing Indian starter Cal McLish.
With an 8-3 lead, the fans and Tiger manager Jimmy Dykes hoped Lary would settle in for the rest of the way. But this game was far from over. Cleveland put 3 runs on the board in the 3rd, 1 in the 4th, and 3 more to start the 5th, chasing Lary from the mound. Cleveland now held a 10-8 lead. Detroit battled back to take an 11-10 lead heading into the 9th. With 2 outs, nobody on base and Woodie Held coming to the plate, the Tigers had a meeting on the mound and decided to pitch to him. That was a mistake, as Held launched his 21st homerun of the season tying the game up at 11 all.
In the bottom of the 9th the home team came back, again. Rocky Bridges led off with a single. Harvey Kuenn came up next and doubled to centerfield, his 3rd double in the game. The Tiger 3rd base coach Billy Hitchcock gambled, sending Bridges home and Rockey slid under the catcher's tag for the game winning run. The crowd went wild and the Tiger bench emptied in celebration. Detroit takes game 1 12-11 and a 1 game lead over Cleveland in the standings. We'll soon see what's in store for game 2, but it'll be tough to match the excitement we just had.
BOXSCORE: 1959 Cleveland Indians At 1959 Detroit Tigers 7/4/1959
Indians AB R H RBI AVG Tigers AB R H RBI AVG
G.Strickland 3B 3 1 1 1 .276 E.Yost 3B 3 3 1 0 .285
V.Power 1B 3 2 1 0 .282 R.Bridges 2B 4 3 2 2 .310
M.Minoso LF 4 2 1 2 .279 H.Kuenn CF 6 1 4 4 .350
T.Francona CF 4 2 2 3 .330 C.Maxwell LF 5 1 2 3 .290
R.Colavito RF 3 1 2 1 .264 G.Zernial 1B 5 1 1 0 .229
J.Baxes 2B 4 1 1 3 .297 R.Wilson C 0 2 0 0 .297
D.Brodowski P 0 0 0 0 .500 N.Chrisley RF 4 0 1 0 .190
C-E.Valo PH 0 0 0 01.000 C.Veal SS 4 0 1 1 .182
J.Perry P 0 0 0 0 .450 F.Lary P 1 1 0 0 .156
D.Brown C 5 0 0 0 .207 B.Schultz P 1 0 1 01.000
W.Held SS 5 2 2 1 .269 B-L.Berberet PH 1 0 0 0 .210
C.McLish P 1 0 0 0 .286 D.Sisler P 1 0 0 0 .400
A.Cicotte P 1 0 1 0 .667
A-R.Webster 2B 2 0 0 0 .240
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 35 11 11 11 Totals 35 12 13 10
A-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Cicotte In 6th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For Schultz In 6th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Brodowski In 9th Inning
Indians......... 3 0 3 1 3 0 0 0 1 - 11 11 2
Tigers.......... 1 7 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 - 12 13 3
Indians (44-30) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
C.McLish 1 2/3 5 7 7 3 0 1 4.38
A.Cicotte 4 5 2 1 4 3 0 6.84
D.Brodowski BS(1st) 2 1/3 1 2 1 2 0 0 1.65
J.Perry LOSS(5-3) 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 2.06
Totals 8 13 12 10 9 3 1
Tigers (47-31) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
F.Lary 4 9 10 7 2 3 2 3.45
B.Schultz 2 1 0 0 1 4 0 3.00
D.Sisler WIN(3-1) 3 1 1 1 3 1 1 1.98
Totals 9 11 11 8 6 8 3
ATTENDANCE- 41,686 DATE- Saturday, July 4th 1959 TIME- Day WEATHER- Good
UMPIRES- Red Flaherty, Frank Umont, Charlie Berry, Jim Honochick
T- 2:47
LEFT ON BASE- Indians: 7 Tigers:11
DOUBLE PLAYS- Indians: 0 Tigers: 2
ERRORS- T.Francona, D.Brodowski, C.Veal, F.Lary, B.Schultz
DOUBLES- M.Minoso(9th), R.Colavito(14th), H.Kuenn-3(28th)
HOME RUNS- T.Francona(6th), J.Baxes(6th), W.Held(21st), C.Maxwell(26th)
RBIs- G.Strickland(21st), M.Minoso-2(39th), T.Francona-3(19th),
R.Colavito(56th), J.Baxes-3(17th), W.Held(47th), R.Bridges-2(33rd),
H.Kuenn-4(50th), C.Maxwell-3(80th), C.Veal(2nd)
SACRIFICE HITS- V.Power-2, A.Cicotte, R.Bridges-2, C.Veal
SACRIFICE FLIES- R.Colavito
WALKS- G.Strickland-2, M.Minoso, T.Francona, R.Colavito, E.Valo, E.Yost-3,
R.Wilson-4, N.Chrisley, F.Lary
HIT BY PITCH- R.Wilson
STRIKE OUTS- G.Strickland, M.Minoso, T.Francona, J.Baxes, D.Brown-3, C.McLish,
E.Yost, R.Bridges, C.Maxwell
GIDP- V.Power, D.Brown
WILD PITCHES- D.Brodowski
2-out RBI- R.Bridges-2, H.Kuenn-2, C.Maxwell-2, C.Veal, W.Held
RLISP 2-out- G.Zernial, D.Brown, M.Minoso, N.Chrisley-2, G.Strickland, H.Kuenn,
J.Baxes, L.Berberet-2, R.Colavito
TEAM RISP- Indians: 4 for 14 Tigers: 6 for 15
Center fielder Harvey Kuenn had 4 hits and 4 RBI at Briggs Stadium as the
Detroit Tigers won in their last at-bat beating the Cleveland Indians by the
count of 12 to 11.
Detroit won the game with a run in the bottom of the 9th inning. Rocky
Bridges laced a base-knock. Kuenn was next and he doubled giving Detroit the
win and sending the home town fans into a frenzy. A wild affair, this game
saw the lead change 5 times.
Dave Sisler(3-1) got credit for the victory, pitching 3 innings and allowing 1
run. Jim Perry(5-3) was the loser in relief. *** TOP OF INNING 1 ***
0 G.Stricklan 2- 8 0 Walk b-1
0 1 V.Power 0 2 Base Error - P 1-3 b-2
0 23 M.Minoso 6- 4 18 0 Double 3-H 2-H b-2
0 2 T.Francona 2- 4 0 Ground Out 2-3 b-0
1 3 R.Colavito 1- 6 0 Sac Fly 3-H b-0
2 J.Baxes 5- 9 0 Ground Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 1 ***
0 E.Yost 5- 6 17 0 Single b-1
0 1 R.Bridges 0 Sac Bunt 1-2 b-0
1 2 H.Kuenn 5- 6 2 0 Double 2-H b-2
1 2 C.Maxwell 6- 8 0 Line Out b-0
2 2 G.Zernial 6- 6 12 0 Line Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 2 ***
0 D.Brown 2- 2 0 Line Out b-0
1 W.Held 1- 3 12 0 Line Out b-0
2 C.McLish 2- 8 0 Strike Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 2 ***
0 R.Wilson 4- 6 0 Walk b-1
0 1 N.Chrisley 6- 9 0 Fly Out b-0
1 1 C.Veal 0 Sac Bunt 1-2 b-0
2 2 F.Lary 4- 6 0 Walk b-1
2 12 E.Yost 1- 7 0 Walk 2-3 1-2 b-1
2 123 R.Bridges 5- 5 12 0 Single 3-H 2-H 1-3 b-1
2 1 3 H.Kuenn 1- 5 15 0 Double 3-H 1-H b-3
2 3 C.Maxwell 2- 9 0 Home Run 3-H b-H
SUBSTITUTE P - Al Cicotte
2 G.Zernial 5- 8 0 Single b-1
2 1 R.Wilson 3-11 0 HBP 1-2 b-1
2 12 N.Chrisley 3- 8 0 Walk 2-3 1-2 b-1
2 123 C.Veal 5- 7 8 0 Single 3-H 2-o 1-3 b-2
*** TOP OF INNING 3 ***
0 G.Stricklan 5- 4 0 Pop Out b-0
1 V.Power 6- 9 0 1 Base Error - SS b-1
1 1 M.Minoso 6- 2 0 Walk 1-2 b-1
1 12 T.Francona 1-11 0 Home Run 2-H 1-H b-H
1 R.Colavito 6- 5 9 0 Double b-2
1 2 J.Baxes 2- 8 0 Ground Out b-0
2 2 D.Brown 1- 5 0 Strike Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 3 ***
0 F.Lary 3-10 0 Ground Out b-0
1 E.Yost 6- 7 0 Strike Out b-0
2 R.Bridges 5- 3 11 0 Line Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 4 ***
0 W.Held 5- 7 0 Single b-1
0 1 A.Cicotte 3- 6 0 Single 1-3 b-1
0 1 3 G.Stricklan 6- 6 6 0 Single 3-H 1-2 b-1
0 12 V.Power 1- 7 0 Ground Out Double Play 2-3 1-o b-0
2 3 M.Minoso 6- 8 0 Strike Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 4 ***
0 H.Kuenn 3-10 0 Single b-1
0 1 C.Maxwell 4-10 0 Foul Out b-0
1 1 G.Zernial 4- 7 0 Ground Out 1-2 b-0
2 2 R.Wilson 0 Int Walk b-1
2 12 N.Chrisley 2-12 0 Ground Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 5 ***
0 T.Francona 3- 8 10 0 Single b-1
0 1 R.Colavito 5- 7 0 Single 1-2 b-1
0 12 J.Baxes 1- 9 0 Home Run 2-H 1-H b-H
SUBSTITUTE P - Barney Schultz
0 D.Brown 1- 9 0 Strike Out b-0
1 W.Held 5- 3 0 1 Base Error - P b-1
1 1 A.Cicotte 0 Sac Bunt 1-2 b-0
2 2 G.Stricklan 5-10 0 Strike Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 5 ***
0 C.Veal 6-12 0 Ground Out b-0
1 B.Schultz 3-10 12 0 Single b-1
1 1 E.Yost 1- 7 0 Walk 1-2 b-1
1 12 R.Bridges 4- 6 0 Strike Out b-0
2 12 H.Kuenn 3- 7 13 0 Line Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 6 ***
0 V.Power 3- 7 0 Single b-1
0 1 M.Minoso 6- 9 0 Ground Out 1-2 b-0
1 2 T.Francona 2- 5 0 Strike Out b-0
2 2 R.Colavito 0 Int Walk b-1
2 12 J.Baxes 3- 8 0 Strike Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 6 ***
0 C.Maxwell 1- 9 0 Strike Out b-0
1 G.Zernial 6- 8 0 Fly Out b-0
2 R.Wilson 4- 9 0 Walk b-1
2 1 N.Chrisley 5- 7 4 0 Single 1-2 b-1
SUBSTITUTE P - Dick Brodowski
SUBSTITUTE 2B- Ray Webster
2 12 C.Veal 6- 4 0 2 Base Error - CF 2-H 1-3 b-2
SUBSTITUTE PH- Lou Berberet
2 23 L.Berberet 4- 7 0 Pop Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 7 ***
SUBSTITUTE P - Dave Sisler
0 D.Brown 3- 6 0 Strike Out b-0
1 W.Held 6- 7 0 Ground Out b-0
2 R.Webster 5- 4 0 Ground Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 7 ***
0 E.Yost 5- 9 0 Walk b-1
0 1 R.Bridges 0 2 Base Error - P 1-3 b-2
0 23 H.Kuenn 0 Wild Pitch 3-H 2-3
0 3 H.Kuenn 2- 9 0 Fly Out b-0
1 3 C.Maxwell 2- 7 20 0 Single 3-H b-1
1 1 G.Zernial 6- 9 0 Force Play 1-o b-1
2 1 R.Wilson 5- 9 0 Walk 1-2 b-1
2 12 N.Chrisley 4- 9 0 Fly Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 8 ***
0 G.Stricklan 2- 7 0 Walk b-1
0 1 V.Power 0 Sac Bunt 1-2 b-0
1 2 M.Minoso 3- 6 0 Ground Out b-0
2 2 T.Francona 0 Int Walk b-1
2 12 R.Colavito 3- 8 19 0 Line Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 8 ***
0 C.Veal 5-11 0 Pop Out b-0
1 D.Sisler 4-11 15 0 Fly Out b-0
2 E.Yost 3-11 0 Ground Out b-0
*** TOP OF INNING 9 ***
SUBSTITUTE PH- Elmer Valo
0 E.Valo 6- 8 0 Walk b-1
0 1 D.Brown 1-10 0 Ground Out Double Play 1-o b-0
2 W.Held 6-11 11 0 Home Run b-H
2 R.Webster 4- 5 0 Pop Out b-0
*** BOTTOM OF INNING 9 ***
SUBSTITUTE P - Jim Perry
0 R.Bridges 2- 9 19 0 Single b-1
0 1 H.Kuenn 1- 4 19 0 Double 1-H b-3