Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 187

the eighth inning, but Reynolds finished off the 3–2 victory. In Game 7, he entered in the seventh inning with the Yankees clinging to a 4–2 lead, but still tired, he retired only one hitter while allowing the Dodgers to load the bases. Bob Kuzava bailed him out, however, and the Yankees won their fourth straight World Series.

With a 3–3 record in his first 10 games of 1953, Raschi posted a 5.05 ERA. Some of his early starts were not too impressive. In front of 74,708 fans in Cleveland on June 14 in the second game of a doubleheader, he allowed just three hits in a shutout of

the Indians. Raschi allowed three runs while pitching all 10 innings of a 5–3 victory over the Red Sox, a win that snapped a nine game losing streak for the Yankees. He pitched a two hit shutout in Chicago against the White Sox on July 19, in the second game of a doubleheader that broke the Comiskey Park

attendance record, as 54,215 fans bought tickets. On August 4, Raschi recorded seven RBI against the Tigers with a two RBI single in the second inning, a three RBI double in the third, and a two RBI single in the fourth in a 15–0 victory. The seven RBI set what remains an AL record for a pitcher in a game. After the game, the Yankees stuffed Raschi's locker with bats as a tribute. He threw back to back shutouts on August 16 and 23, both against the Athletics. From June 14 through the rest of the