W L PCT GB
Tacoma ..... 84 49 .632 —
Yakima ..... 84 52 .618 1½
Tri-City ... 73 61 .545 11½
Wenatchee .. 71 64 .526 14
Victoria ... 59 68 .431 27
Vancouver .. 56 76 .424 27½
Spokane .... 55 78 .414 29
Salem ...... 55 79 .410 29½
YAKIMA, Aug. 29—The Tacoma Tigers have a healthier hold on the Western International baseball league lead—thanks to belting Dick Greco and his home run bat. The big outfielder dropped one over the left center field fence at Yakima Tuesday night to break up a tight pitching duel and win the game for the Tigers, 3-2. It increased the Tiger margin over Yakima's Bears to one and one half games—and each team has 14 games left on its schedule before the season winds up next week.The game was characterized by tight pitching by Tacoma's Boh Kerrigan and Dick Larner of the Bears. They had battled on virtually even terms until Greco lofted the ball over the fence in the eighth inning to break up a 2-all tie. It was Greco's 32nd homer of the season.
Kerrigan had shut out the Bears in all but the fourth inning when he weakened long enough to allow two runs off a triple, a single and a double Tacoma scored single runs in the first and fourth frames.
Tacoma .......... 300 100 010—3-8-1
Yakima .......... 000 200 000—2-6-0
Kerrigan and Sheets; Larner and Tiesiera.
SALEM, Aug. 29—Wenatchee's Davey Dahle tossed a two-hit shut-out while his mates pounded two Salem twirlers for 16 safeties in a 7-0 Western International League game here tonight.
Dahle's two hits were allowed in the first and second innings, after which he handcuffed the Senators.
Wenatchee ..... 100 103 101—7-16-0
Salem ............. 000 000 000—0- 2-4
Dahle and Neal; McNulty, Woodson (7) and Beard.
VANCOUVER [Erwin Swangard, Province, Aug. 30]—Vancouver Capilanos are hopelessly mired in the lower parts of the Western International Baseball League second division but they certainly haven’t lost the zest to win games.
Tuesday night they won one for ace pitcher Sandy Robertson even though veteran Bob Snyder finally received credit for the victory for a superb bit of relief pitching.
But it was Robertson who profited the most by the ninth-inning triumph. Sandy started on his third attempt for victory No. 13 and before he left with but one out in the first inning he had given up five hits, a couple of walks and a sacrifice for a neat 6-0 Victoria lead.
EVEN HEATS
For once luck was with Sandy because lefthander Jim Propst of the Athletics also had a dismal start which permitted the Caps to get three of these runs right back in their half of the first and then went on to load the defeat on an old nemesis, John Marshall.
Kevin King relieved Sandy in the first and forced Bob McGuire to ground into a double play. King left the scene of activity with two away and the bases loaded in the fifth inning and Snyder came in.
Caps had taken a short-live lead in the fourth with a four-run rally as Marshall lost control for three walks and four hits. Athletics got on even terms, however, in the fifth before Snyder erased the threat by making Gene Thompson pop up to Ray Tran at short with the bases loaded.
A’s THREATEN
For a moment it looked as if Athletics would come through in the ninth but Marty Krug popped to Len Tran for an unassisted double play on an attempted squeeze play. Len caught his low pop fly to the right of the mound and raced to third from his second base position for the double killing.
Len carried right on by singling in Reg Clarkson with the winner in the bottom half of the ninth.
The comeback protected Robertson’s position as the WIL’s leading pitcher with a 12-2 record. Tacoma’s Bob Kerrigan is second with a 24-6 and Cy Greenlaw of Tri-City third with 8-2. Dewey Soriano, pitching president of Yakima Bears has won six games without defeat but must with two more before qualifying as a regular.
John Hack of the A’s was thumbed out of the game in the fourth inning for throwing the ball into left field during an argument over a close play.
Caps finish off their latest home stand with a game against Athletics tonight and then move over the Island for the rest of the week. They return to Cap Stadium for their last week opening with a twin bill against Yakima on Labor Day. Jim Robinson leaves the club at the end of this week. Sandy will make his first trip of the season by going to Victoria this week.
Victoria ......... 600 010 000—7-11-0
Vancouver .... 300 400 001—8-11-0
Propst, Marshall (1) and Danielson; Robertson, King (1), Snyder (5) and Brenner.
KENNEWICK, Aug 30 (Herald)—All the 'ohs' and 'ahs' at Sanders Field last night didn't go to the Tri-City Braves in their 7-3 victory over Spokane. There were nearly 1200 of the fair sex glued to the stands for the half-hour fashion show which preceded the three-game series opener.
And the Ladies Night jam of 3,219 also got a demonstration of the latest fashion in hitting when the Braves belted two Indian pitchers for six runs on four hits. This eighth inning revolulion drove starter Dick Aubertin from the hill and gave reliever John Conant a one-two punch.
Jim McKeegan filling in for hospitalized Nick Pesut behind the plate, had the best transformation of the evening. McKeegan got the 'collar' from Aubertin three times running, once, without the red-head moving the bat from his shoulder. But apparently enough was too much of a good thing decided McKeegan. When Conant came on the scene with tha bases loaded the young backstop promptly unload a double down the left field line to score two runs.
STONE WINS 10TH
Dick Stone, who had come to the relief of starter Gene Roenspie on the Brave mound in the eighth, then rifled a single through the box that drove in the winning run. The plate clearer also gave Stone his 10th victory of the season against six losses.
Al Spaeter, Brave second baseman who had set the hitting mode most of the evening, followed Stone with a single. It was Spaeter's third blow of the night. Jim Warner added the coup de grace grace with a scorching double that drove in Stone and Spaeter for the final runs of the game.
The Indians had a 2-1 edge until the bottom fell out in the last of the eighth. They scored their first run in the fifth on a single and three walks, the last of which permitted Leon Mohr to amble in from third.
Jim Wert's double in the eighth scored Joe Rossi who had singled. And in the ninth, hitless Glen Stetter broke the spell by pounding a double off Stone and off the scoreboard to chase Edo Vanni home.
Stone took over from Roenspie with two on in the eighth and walked the first man to face him to load the bases. But Stone then forced Aubsrtin to fly out to Warner to end the inning. The big right-handed slider ace ended the game in true style by striking out Frank Matoh.
Roenspie had a good game going most of the way. But he lost his touch in the fifth to walk three and weakened again in the eighth when Spokane found him for two singles and doubles.
Young McKeegan aced his rival catcher, Spokane's Joe Rossi, with a neat bit of strategy in the second stanza. Rossi's ground ball to Neil Bryant, Brave third baseman, went into the dirt on the throw to first and back to the fence. Rossi pounded his way to second while McKeegan chased down the ball. Then Rossi gambled on making third and the Brave catcher rifled the ball to Bryant to nail him.
Spokane ....... 000 010 011—3-10-2
Tri-City ........ 001 000 06x—7- 8-1
Aubertin, Conant (8) and Rossi; Roenspie, Stone (8) and McKeegan.
Paces League Caps' Hurler
TACOMA, August 30—Without lifting a hand, Vancouver's Sandy Robertson retained his Western International league pitching lead last week—by reason of the fact he doesn't accompany the Capilanos on road trips, his season's record, remained stationary at 12-2.
Meanwhile, however, Tacoma's Bob Kerrigan achieved his 22nd and 23rd victories during the week, to pull within shouting distance of a couple of W-I records—total triumphs (25) set in 1948 by Joe Blankenship, then with Victoria, and consecutive wins (12), established in 1948 by Frank Nelson of Spokane and tied this year by Robertson.
Ten in Row
When Kerrigan notched No. 22 by holding Victoria to five hits for a 2-1 decision and got credit for No. 23 as he appeared in relief and threw just one pitcn Sunday against Vancouver, he had won 10 in a row for the second time during the current campaign.
Kerrigan's 23-6 record for the season put him in second place percentage-wise behind Robertson. Dewey Soriano, Yakima's pitching prexy, has won six without a defeat but needs a couple of additional victories to qualify as a regular.
Lloyd Dickey, Yakima's southpaw strikeout artist, kept his league lead in the whiff department by fooling seven additional batsmen to bring his total to 197.
High, Wide, Wobbly
Don Ferrarese, Wenatchee fork-hander, issued five more bases on balls for a season's aggregate of 193, which happens to be a new league record Wiping out the old mark of 186 set in 1941 by Claude Williams of Wenatchee. Actually Ferrarese had gained possession of his doubtful distinction a week ago when his total reached 188, but his all-time high for tossing 'em high, low and wide previously escaped detection.
W L SO Pct
Robertson, Van. ..... 12 2 48 .857
Kerrigan, Tac. ...... 23 6 105 .793
Greenlaw, T-C ........ 8 2 38 .727
Powell, Yak. ........ 13 7 77 .650
Larner, Yak. ........ 16 9 99 .640
McCollum, T-C ....... 19 11 94 .633
Ragni, Wen. ......... 17 10 141 .630
Domenichelli, Yak. .. 10 6 50 .625
Bradford, Yak. ...... 13 8 133 .619
Knezovich, Tac. ..... 14 9 82 .609
Marshall, Vic. ...... 15 10 159 .600
Dickey, Yak. ........ 15 10 197 .600
Stone, T-C ........... 9 6 39 .600
ON THE INSIDE
By DON BECKER, Herald Sports Editor [from column of Aug. 30/50]
The loss of catcher Nick Pesut to the Tri-City Braves climaxes a season of off and on injuries that has plagued the club since opening day. Pesut will be out for the balance of the season, which means Jim McKeegan will be pulling a full time stint behind the plate. Pesut was out once before during the season when he split a finger.
The absence of the big first string catcher is certain to hurt the Braves, It isn't that McKeegan isn't a good catcher. He is. But he lacks the experience and know-how that Pesut has gained. Pesut's big value isn't just in his knowledge of the other team's hitters. It's also in his ability to handle his own pitchers. Rated on this one point alone, Nick is considered to be the finest backstop in the entire league by many players, and many of the umpires.
Also, taking Nick out of the lineup at this point of the season is going to mean the loss of a left-handed hitter when the Braves will be going against right-handed hurlers most of the rest of way in. Currently, Pesut has been hitting right at the .390 mark and has always been near that point or above.
ONLY TWO UNINJURED
Should the Braves fall from third to fourth when the season's games are finished, much of the loss can he charged to losing Pesut. And as far as that goes if the Braves hadn't been hit by such a continual rash of injuries during the season they might well be in first place. Of today's present starting lineup only two, Jim Warner and Buddy Peterson, have not been out of the lineup because of illness, or illness in the family. That in itself ought to set some kind of a record for a W.I.L. club.
The absence of the big first string catcher is certain to hurt the Braves, It isn't that McKeegan isn't a good catcher. He is. But he lacks the experience and know-how that Pesut has gained. Pesut's big value isn't just in his knowledge of the other team's hitters. It's also in his ability to handle his own pitchers. Rated on this one point alone, Nick is considered to be the finest backstop in the entire league by many players, and many of the umpires.
Also, taking Nick out of the lineup at this point of the season is going to mean the loss of a left-handed hitter when the Braves will be going against right-handed hurlers most of the rest of way in. Currently, Pesut has been hitting right at the .390 mark and has always been near that point or above.
ONLY TWO UNINJURED
Should the Braves fall from third to fourth when the season's games are finished, much of the loss can he charged to losing Pesut. And as far as that goes if the Braves hadn't been hit by such a continual rash of injuries during the season they might well be in first place. Of today's present starting lineup only two, Jim Warner and Buddy Peterson, have not been out of the lineup because of illness, or illness in the family. That in itself ought to set some kind of a record for a W.I.L. club.
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