St. Lawrence 3-0, Huron 0-3
Game One: St. Lawrence 5, Huron 4 (13 innings)
WP: Grimes (1-0)
LP: Pennock (0-1)
HR: Kiner 2 (2)
Game Two: St. Lawrence 10, Huron 2
WP: Hunter (1-0)
LP: Feller (0-1)
HR: Mize (1), Kiner (3), Mathews 2 (2), R Jackson (1)
Game Three: St. Lawrence 3, Huron 2
WP: Plank (1-0)
LP: Marichal (0-1)
Save: Fingers (1)
HR: Mathews (3), Medwick (1)
The sluggers liked cozy Parc Jarry, but the starting pitchers thrived as well.
Sloppy fielding marked the season opener. Nellie Fox booted the first batted ball of the season, and that helped set the stage for a three-run homer by Ralph Kiner off Tom Seaver. An error by Earl Averill in the bottom of the inning helped Huron narrow the gap to 3-2 without an RBI, and two more errors (by Jim Palmer) in the second resulted in 3-3 deadlock. That score persisted until the 10th, when Kiner homered in the top of the inning and Enos Slaughter tied it with a triple. Fox finally punched an RBI single in the 13th.
St. Lawrence blew the second game open in the middle innings, with two runs in the fourth, two in the fifth and four in the sixth. Eddie Mathews drove in four runs and scored three times, John Mize drove in three and Reggie Jackson went 3-for3 with two walks and three runs. Catfish Hunter allowed two runs on eight hits in eight innings.
Joe Medwick and Mathews each homered in the the sixth to give Eddie Plank just enough support. The lefty held Huron scoreless through seven but surrendered a pair of runs in the eighth. Rollie Fingers gave up a leadoff double in the ninth but then retired the next three for the save.
Pitching availability notes: Limit Grimes and Pennock to one inning at most in the next games. Next starters should be Perry for Huron, Vance for St. Lawrence.
