August 1, 1948
Indians right fielder Hank Edwards was taken to Lakeside Hospital to treat an injured shoulder during the third inning of Sunday’s first game, too early to see his ball club steamroll the once-red hot Red Sox by a score of 12-2.
Edwards made an outstanding, acrobatic catch to rob Boston’s Stan Spence of a three-run home run and saved the Tribe’s momentum as well. Edwards crashed into the outfield wall just in front of the Cleveland bullpen, but held on for the third out of the inning. Early signs on the injury do not look good.
The amazing haul by Edwards benefited All-Star starting pitcher Bob Lemon (14-9, 2.78), who won his first ballgame since July 11. Lemon went the distance for the Indians, surrendering six hits and two earned runs – plenty good enough compared to his counterpart.
Facing Lemon at the start of the ballgame was Ellis Kinder (5-6, 4.69), who fate was not as kind to. Kinder was beat up by the Cleveland hitters during his one and two-thirds innings and allowed eight runs on as many hits. The Tribe struck early and often against Kinder until he was replaced by Dave Ferriss in the second inning.
The offense hammered Kinder from the get-go, as Dale Mitchell led off the game with a single. Two batters later, outfielder Larry Doby hammered his eighth home run for an early 2-0 Cleveland lead. A walk by Ken Keltner and a single by Joe Gordon followed, setting the stage for Lou Boudreau to bring home Keltner with a single of his own. After an intentional walk to Eddie Robinson and a strikeout of Jim Hegan, Lemon helped his own cause by singling home Boudreau and Gordon for a 5-0 Cleveland first inning. Cleveland picked up right where they left off in the second inning as well.
Doby started the parade again with a one-out double and Keltner followed with a walk. A strikeout by Gordon was the second out of the inning, but back-to-back doubles by Boudreau and Robinson plated three more runs for a nearly insurmountable 8-0 advantage. Any hopes that the Red Sox had of coming back were dashed in the third inning, when Edwards made his painful but outstanding catch against the fence.
The Indians added a ninth run in the fourth inning, this time on a Doby sacrifice fly. Doby finished the contest with three hits, including a double and a home run, along with four RBI, two runs scored and a walk.
The scoring ended for the Indians in the bottom of the seventh when they plated three more, highlighted by a Lemon home run. Mitchell and Doby also added singles in the inning and Bob Kennedy ripped an RBI triple as well.
The Red Sox got their only tallies via the solo home run, of which they had two. Spence got some redemption from Edwards’ robbery by blasting a homer in the sixth and then All-Star shortstop Vern Stephens also went yard off of Lemon in the eighth.
The Indians and Red Sox will play another ballgame this evening, with the Tribe having clinched at least a split in the four-game series. The Indians will send June trade deadline acquisition Sam Zoldak (5-7, 4.07) to the mound to oppose Mickey Harris (3-7, 6.59) in the nightcap. Harris has won two straight decisions after dropping his previous seven this season.
Photo: Cleveland Memory Project
