Page:Baseball Guide and Record Book 1962.djvu/57

Crowd of 30,999 jammed Metropolitan Stadium, home of new Minne- sota Twins, for club's first Sunday twin-bill at home, May 21. Park capac- ity was hiked during season by erection of stands along right field line. behind the steady chucking of Whitey Ford and Bill Stafford. The sweep lifted Houk's charges into first place — and they never again relinquished it. The double victory marked the start of a spurt which found the New Yorkers winning 16 of 20 games, including nine in a row. However, Detroit hung on doggedly. The Bengals never fell more than four lengths behind. In fact, with 11 victories in their last 14 starts, they were just a game and a half back on invading Yankee Stadium, September 1, to open their final eastern swing. The three-game showdown series, which attracted a record 171,503 fans, turned out to be one of the most thrilling in history. Unfortunately, Detroit's flag hopes were dealt a devastating setback when the Yankees swept the set. Relief Ace Luis Arroyo was the biggest of the Bomber heroes. He won two of the games in rescue roles and finished up the third. The year's largest crowd, 65,566, attended the Friday night series opener. Don Mossi started against Ford in a contest that developed into an old-fash- ioned pitching duel. When a muscle strain in the hip forced Whitey out in the fifth inning, Bud Daley relieved and continued the scoreless battle. Arroyo replaced him in the ninth. With two out in the bottom of the ninth, Mossi wilted in the 90-degree heat, yielding singles to Elston Howard, Yogi Berra and Bill Skowron for a 1 to Yankee victory. Scheffing sent Frank Lary, seeking his twentieth victory, to the mound the next day to oppose Terjy. With Maris slamming a double and homers Nos. 52 and 53, the Yankees beat their long-time tormentor, 7 to 2. before 50,261 fans. A four-run uprising in the eighth inning and Arroyo's hitless relief chore locked it up. In the Sunday clash, a crowd of 55,676 saw Yankee power erupt in the ninth inning to pull the game from the fire, 8 to 5. Detroit went into the ninth with a 5 to 4 lead, only to have Mickey Mantle knot the score with homer No. 50 — his second of the day. Later in the frame Howard slammed a three-run homer to break up the game. Arroyo, who had relieved Stafford in the eighth, again was the victor. The series sweep launched the New Yorkers on a 13-game victory skein. The Tigers, meantime, continued on the skids, losing three more at Baltimore