[kenyan_cheena]

THE OHIO EXPRESS

Thursday, 29 July, 1959

WARD RECORDS THREE RBI AS
BLUES COMPLETE BRONX SWEEP

Story by Grady McCallum

The Cleveland Blues secured a comprehensive three-game sweep of the New York Yankees in the Bronx yesterday, winning 10-4 on the back of a 3-for-5 3-RBI outing from 1st baseman Preston Ward and eight solid innings from starting pitcher Tom Acker. The victory followed up a 10-6 win on Monday and a 9-4 triumph on Tuesday, the Blues batting a fantastic .372 in the series (45-for-121) including a 14-for-36 effort yesterday. In an alarming sign for the Yankees it was the second time in July they had been swept at home as the Tigers achieved the feat on the 5th, 6th and 7th of the month. That both sweeps have come against the two teams they're duelling with for the pennant must be of huge concern to the ballclub's management.

The Blues blew this one out early, scoring four in the 2nd and five in the 3rd to race to a 9-1 lead. Acker gave himself some help while batting when he hit a two-out two-run homer in the 2nd, the first of his career. 3rd baseman Billy Harrell hammered a two-out solo shot in the 3rd. Ward's two-RBI single had given the Blues the lead in the 2nd before Acker's unexpected smash and Minnie Minoso's two-RBI double preceeded Harrell's home run in the 3rd. In what has been a fantastic season for him Ward's 60 RBI rank him 2nd on the Blues behind Rocky Colavito (77).

As mentioned earlier Acker produced a solid effort on the mound, giving up eight hits and four earned runs in 7.2 innings of work. He walked four, struck out four and improved to 5-2 in just his second start of the season. Acker was brought into the rotation following the injury to Herb Score and had recorded seventeen saves for the Blues to that point. Acker's is an unusual story. After starting his career with the Reds in '56 he was traded to the White Sox on the 13th of July 1958. On the following day the White Sox traded him back to Cincinnati and he was then traded to the Blues only two weeks later. Cleveland gave him a one-year contract back in January and based on his efforts this season it's quite possible he could remain with the Ohio ballclub into the future. In 177 career appearances he has a 29-18 record with 29 saves and an ERA of 4.02. He was named to this year's All-Star game on the back of his excellent relief work and it's a real bonus for the Blues that he looks just as capable as a starter.

With yesterday's win the Blues improved to 58-43 and maintained a share of 1st place with the Tigers, the Bronx Bombers now two games behind them at 55-44. It's been a tough month for New York as their losing home sweep to Detroit was followed by a fourteen-game road trip on which they went a respectable 8-6. But after yesterday's defeat they're 11-12 in July, a mark that's simply not good enough if they want to make a fifth consecutive trip to the World Series...