GAME 1 -
Sportsman Park - STL 6, PIT 1
Lee Meadows vs Al Brazle
Al Braze was nursing a 2-1 lead, courtesy of a 2 run blast by
Walker Cooper in the 2nd, until
the troops rallied for 3 runs in the home half of the 7th to chase Meadows
from the hill. With two out, that man...Stan Musial, knocked in 2 with a
triple then scored on Kurowski's clean single to right. Marty Marion would
shoot an RBI single to right in the 8th to make it 6-1. Brazle went the
distance by scattering 7 hits and fanning 3 without walking a batter.
Cardinals lead series 1-0
GAME 2 - Sportsman Park - STL 4, PIT
3
Carmen Hill vs Max Lanier
The Redbirds struck for 2 runs in both the first and the third to
give Max Lanier a 4-1 lead. Once again it was
Stan Musial doing the damage.
This time "the man" hit a 2 run shot in the 1st and an RBI single in the 3rd.
Clyde Barnhardt's solo shot with one out in the 6th made it 4-2 and Glenn
Wright's RBI single in the 9th cut it to a 1 run Cardinal lead. Lanier was
facing a man on 1st with 1 out was able to get the next two batters to ground
out weakly to second to close out the complete game performance.
Cardinals lead series 2-0
GAME 3 - Forbes Field - PIT 9, STL 2
Mort Cooper vs Ray Kremer
Cooper who for years was one of the stalwarts of the Cardinal staff had
nothing as evidenced by the 6 run outburst by the Bucs in the bottom of the
2nd. Pittsburgh needed this game to stay alive in the series and won this one
in convincing style. Ray Kremer would go the distance and give up just 2
runs He threw just 97 pitches in a very tidy outing. Buc second sacker
George Grantham hit two
homers and knocked in 3 to pace the Steeltown offense. Glenn Wright was also
big going 3 for 3 with 2 RBI's.
Cardinals lead series 2-1
GAME 4 - Forbes Field - PIT 4, STL 3
(13 inn)
Howie Pollet vs Vic Aldridge
Vic Aldridge had little margin for error as he gamely
protected a 3-2 lead until the Cards tied it up in the 8th on a double by
guess who...Yes, Stan Musial. Once again, "the Man" put a crip in
Pittsburgh's plans to extend the series. Thankfully
Johnny Miljus was able to come
on board and get the final 2 outs of the inning and at least preserve the
tie. Miljus would weave his magic for 5 1/3 scoreless innings of relief until
his mates could finally push across the game winning run in the bottom of the
13th. With one out Lloyd "little poison" Waner singled to right. Barnhart
followed with a knock of his own. That set the stage for "Big Poison" Paul
Waner to win it with a clean single to center to score his brother and tie the
series.
Series tied 2-2
GAME 5 - Sportsman Park - STL 7, PIT
0
Lee Meadows vs Al Brazle
So far the home team had won all 4 games played. Would this pattern repeat ?
It sure would and in a very big way. St. Louis did not disappoint the
hometown fans who must have thought that a game 5 would never have been played
being the Redbirds left St. Louis up 2-0. The Cards would score their first
run in the bottom of the first on a ground out by
Whitey Kurowski. Starting in
the 3rd inning the Cards would score 2 runs in each of the next 3 innings to
go up 7-0. If they had TV broadcasts back then the few fans that owned a
Dumont console would have been shutting them off in Pittsburgh knowing their
boys were going down for the count. Kurowksi would knock in 3 runs on the
day including a 2 run blast in the 3rd. Tablesetters Marty Marion
and Harry "the Hat" Walker each had 2 hits and scored runs. Musial took the
collar for the first time in the series, but his team didn't need his output
at all as Al Brazle
kept the Bucs off stride all day and cruised to a 5 hit shutout even though he
walked 4 and did not fan even a single batter.
Cardinals win
series 3-2