Yanks Sweep Angels

June 27, 1965 - Whitey Ford won his sixth straight start, Hector Lopez pushed his batting average over .200 with three singles, and the Yankees swept a series for the first time this season by beating the Angels, 7-2, today at Yankee Stadium. Those who like to grab at hopeful straws now must be wondering, “Can this be the start of a pennant push?”Of course, if you’re one who doesn’t get carried away so easily, you’ll point out that this was the sixth straight win that Whitey didn’t finish, and this series sweep came against a club that has lost five in a row and nine of its last 10 games.

Ford did pitch a strong game for the first seven innings as he preserved his spotless (8-0) record at the Stadium this year. He’s 9-6 overall. Whitey gave up only four hits and a run while Elston Howard, Lopez, and Clete Boyer made things easier for him by driving in two runs each for a 7-1 lead.

Then, after Whitey had yielded his fifth hit to Tom Egan and retired pinch hitter Albie Pearson in the eighth, manager Johnny Keane decided that he’d had enough. Ford had made 102 pitches, normally enough to complete a nine-inning game, and the right-handed-swinging top of the Angel’s order was coming up.

“Johnny thought I was struggling,” Ford said. “I guess I was. My breaking stuff wasn’t working so good. I asked Ellie what he thought, and he was only 50-50 about it. I’d have liked to finish, but it wasn’t that important. I guess it was for the best.”

“He was tired, so I took him out,” Keane said. “We weren’t trying to get him a shutout or a no-hitter.”

Pete Ramos got the relief call. He gave up singles to Willie Smith and José Cardenal for the Angels’ final run, then nailed down the last four outs and sent the crowd of 19.148 heading for home at the early hour of 3:42.

Lopez was hitting .188 yesterday before his 3-for-3 brought him up to .211. 

“If you don’t have too many at-bats, your average goes up fast,” said Lopez. 

Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s