MAYS OUTFOXES REDBIRDS AS REDS SWEEP TWIN BILL

ROUSH PLAYS THE TORMENTOR, HAFEY DRIVES HOME LONE TALLY, AND CINCINNATI TAKES NIGHTCAP, 2-1

C— By the time the second game ended Thursday evening, the Cardinals had spent nearly five hours chasing the Cincinnati Reds around Redland Field and had precious little to show for the effort besides sore legs and two fresh defeats.

The second licking came by the narrowest of margins.

One run.

That was all.

Yet it proved enough for veteran Carl Mays, who spent the afternoon feeding the Cardinals a steady diet of headaches while Cincinnati completed a doubleheader sweep with a 2-to-1 victory.

The Reds did not bury St. Louis beneath an avalanche of hits.

They simply played cleaner baseball when the game hung in the balance.

And they had Edd Roush.

The former National League batting champion was the biggest nuisance on the lot all afternoon. Roush collected three safeties in four trips, doubled, drove in a run, and repeatedly found himself standing in the middle of every Cincinnati disturbance.

When the Reds needed a hit, there was Roush.

When they needed a baserunner, there was Roush.

When the Cardinals needed somebody retired, there was Roush again.

The veteran outfielder spent the afternoon behaving like a man determined to remind the league he remains one of the toughest customers in baseball.

The Cardinals actually received sturdy work from Syl Johnson.

The young right-hander battled throughout and kept the Reds from building anything resembling a large inning. Unlike the opener, there was no late collapse. No crooked number. No avalanche.

Just a tight, grinding ball game decided by a handful of opportunities.

Cincinnati struck first in the third inning.

The Reds pieced together enough offense to manufacture a run and put immediate pressure on the Cardinals, who had now spent nearly fifteen innings chasing the scoreboard since the start of the doubleheader.

St. Louis finally answered during the sixth.

Jim Bottomley opened the trouble by hammering a triple, one of the loudest blows produced by either club all afternoon. With Bottomley dancing ninety feet away, Chick Hafey stepped forward and delivered exactly what the Cardinals needed, driving home the tying run and briefly restoring life to the St. Louis bench.

For Hafey, the hit carried extra importance.

The Cardinal outfielder has spent much of May battling injuries and interruptions. Every productive afternoon feels significant while he works his way back toward regular form.

Unfortunately for St. Louis, the tie lasted only briefly.

The Reds answered later in the inning with the run that ultimately decided the game. Cincinnati reclaimed the lead, and from there Mays simply refused to surrender it.

The old submarine artist did not overpower anybody.

That has never been his trade.

Instead he worked quickly, changed pace, forced awkward swings, and turned the Cardinals impatient. The Redbirds managed only scattered threats the rest of the way while Mays calmly marched toward the finish.

The Cardinals did themselves no favors behind the plate.

Bob O'Farrell endured one of his rougher afternoons, finishing with two errors and a passed ball. Those extra opportunities rarely remain harmless against a veteran club, and Cincinnati took advantage often enough to make them hurt.

That remains one of the larger themes developing around this Cardinal club.

When the defense tightens, St. Louis can play with nearly anybody.

When mistakes arrive, victories often disappear with them.

Bottomley becomes the featured figure from the Cardinal side.

His triple supplied the spark behind the only St. Louis run and represented one of the few moments where the Cardinals truly threatened to seize control of the contest. Bottomley continues to sit among the club's most dependable bats and remains one of the central reasons St. Louis stays within sight of the first division despite its uneven spring.

The sweep left a sour taste.

Only a week ago the Cardinals had climbed back to .500 and appeared ready to build momentum after taking three of five from Philadelphia.

Now Cincinnati had taken two games in one day and shoved St. Louis further backward in the standings.

The Reds, meanwhile, looked exactly like a club with pennant ambitions.

Then again, Cincinnati fans are a confident bunch. They have to be. A city that still talks about the 1919 World Series every summer clearly isn't afraid of living in the past.

Today's Reds joke:

A Cincinnati rooter can remember every Reds pennant race since 1919 because he keeps finding new ways to mention it.

Cardinal fans, here's the question:

Should Hornsby stay with the veterans after two straight close losses, or is it time to give some of the younger bats a larger role in the lineup?

— Mike Allen

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