A big rivalry series was dominated by the pitchers. The 1937 New York Yankees won the first three contests behind shutouts by Red Ruffing and Lefty Gomez. The 1946 Boston Red Sox avoided the sweep thanks to a shutout from Dave Ferriss.
The Yankees (8-4) outscored the Red Sox (5-7) by a total of 12-9 in the low-scoring series. New York’s top hitters were Lou Gehrig and Red Rolfe, who both batted .333. Ted Williams hit .400 (6-for-15).
Game #1: New York 6, Boston 0
The Yankees’ Red Ruffing improved to 3-0 and tossed his second straight shutout. He gave up just four hits and stranded two runners on third base. Red Rolfe had a two-run double in the third inning, Frank Crosetti had a two-run single in the fourth and Tony Lazzeri tacked on a two-run single in the eighth.
1946 BOSTON RED SOX AB R H BI 1937 NEW YORK YANKEE AB R H BI
George Metkovich 4 0 0 0 Frank Crosetti 3 1 1 2
Johnny Pesky 4 0 1 0 Red Rolfe 4 0 2 2
Ted Williams 3 0 1 0 Joe DiMaggio 4 1 2 0
Bobby Doerr 4 0 0 0 Lou Gehrig 4 0 0 0
Rudy York 3 0 0 0 Bill Dickey 2 2 1 0
Dom DiMaggio 3 0 0 0 Jake Powell 4 1 1 0
Rip Russell 3 0 1 0 Tony Lazzeri 4 0 1 2
Hal Wagner 3 0 0 0 Myril Hoag 4 0 0 0
Mickey Harris CX 2 0 1 0 Red Ruffing BXZ 2 1 1 0
Wally Moses 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 30 0 4 0 TOTALS 31 6 9 6
1946 BOSTON RED SOX 000 000 000 -- 0
1937 NEW YORK YANKEES 002 200 02x -- 6
LOB--1946 BOSTON RED SOX 4, 1937 NEW YORK YANKEES 5.
ERR--Bobby Doerr. 2B--Red Ruffing BXZ, Red Rolfe (2).
3B--Joe DiMaggio.
1946 BOSTON RED SOX IP H R ER BB SO HR
Mickey Harris CX [L] 7.00 7 4 4 3 2 0
Earl Johnson CY 1.00 2 2 0 1 1 0
1937 NEW YORK YANKEES
Red Ruffing BXZ [W] 9.00 4 0 0 1 9 0
Game #2: New York 4, Boston 3
The only non-shutout was decided late. The Yankees built a 3-0 lead on an RBI single by Bill Dickey, a solo home run from Lou Gehrig (his league-high sixth) and an RBI triple from Jake Powell. After 16 scoreless innings, the Red Sox finally got on the board in the top of the eighth. Johnny Pesky drove in a run with a double and Ted Williams hit a two-run homer. But, the Yankees retook the lead quickly in the bottom of the eighth when Gehrig led off with a walk and scored two batters later on a single by Powell. Boston put two runners on with one out in the ninth but couldn’t score again.
1946 BOSTON RED SOX AB R H BI 1937 NEW YORK YANKEE AB R H BI
George Metkovich 4 0 1 0 Frank Crosetti 3 0 0 0
Johnny Pesky 4 1 2 1 Red Rolfe 4 0 0 0
Ted Williams 4 1 1 2 Joe DiMaggio 4 1 1 0
Bobby Doerr 2 0 0 0 Lou Gehrig 2 2 1 1
Pinky Higgins 1 0 1 0 Bill Dickey 3 1 2 1
Rudy York 4 0 0 0 Jake Powell 4 0 2 2
Dom DiMaggio 4 0 1 0 Tony Lazzeri 4 0 0 0
Rip Russell 4 0 1 0 Myril Hoag 4 0 1 0
Hal Wagner 4 1 2 0 Monte Pearson BX 3 0 1 0
Joe Dobson CY 2 0 1 0 Tommy Henrich 1 0 0 0
Leon Culberson 1 0 0 0
Tom McBride 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 35 3 10 3 TOTALS 32 4 8 4
1946 BOSTON RED SOX 000 000 030 -- 3
1937 NEW YORK YANKEES 000 102 01x -- 4
LOB--1946 BOSTON RED SOX 7, 1937 NEW YORK YANKEES 8.
ERR--Ted Williams. 2B--Johnny Pesky. 3B--Jake Powell.
HR--Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig. SACB--George Metkovich.
1946 BOSTON RED SOX IP H R ER BB SO HR
Joe Dobson CY 7.00 6 3 3 3 7 1
Jim Bagby CR [L] 1.00 2 1 1 1 1 0
1937 NEW YORK YANKEES
Monte Pearson BX [W] 8.00 8 3 3 1 10 1
Johnny Murphy C [S] 1.00 2 0 0 0 0 0
Game #3: New York 2, Boston 0
The Yankees’ Lefty Gomez threw his second shutout in three starts, limiting the Red Sox to three hits and not allowing a runner past second base. Joe DiMaggio gave the Yanks an early lead with a solo homer in the top of the first. In the fifth, Myril Hoag tripled and scored on Gomez’ sacrifice fly. Gomez retired 17 of the final 18 Red Sox batters, including the last eight.
1937 NEW YORK YANKEE AB R H BI 1946 BOSTON RED SOX AB R H BI
Frank Crosetti 3 0 0 0 George Metkovich 4 0 0 0
Red Rolfe 4 0 2 0 Johnny Pesky 4 0 0 0
Joe DiMaggio 4 1 1 1 Ted Williams 4 0 1 0
Lou Gehrig 3 0 0 0 Rudy York 4 0 1 0
Bill Dickey 4 0 1 0 Dom DiMaggio 3 0 1 0
Jake Powell 4 0 0 0 Rip Russell 3 0 0 0
Tony Lazzeri 3 0 0 0 Hal Wagner 3 0 0 0
Myril Hoag 4 1 1 0 Pinky Higgins 3 0 0 0
Lefty Gomez AKZ 2 0 0 1 Tex Hughson BXZ 2 0 0 0
Wally Moses 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 31 2 5 2 TOTALS 31 0 3 0
1937 NEW YORK YANKEES 100 010 000 -- 2
1946 BOSTON RED SOX 000 000 000 -- 0
LOB--1937 NEW YORK YANKEES 6, 1946 BOSTON RED SOX 4.
ERR--Tony Lazzeri. 2B--Dom DiMaggio. 3B--Myril Hoag. HR--Joe
DiMaggio. SACF--Lefty Gomez AKZ.
1937 NEW YORK YANKEES IP H R ER BB SO HR
Lefty Gomez AKZ [W] 9.00 3 0 0 0 10 0
1946 BOSTON RED SOX
Tex Hughson BXZ [L] 8.00 5 2 2 2 3 1
Bob Klinger BR 1.00 0 0 0 1 1 0
Game #4: Boston 6, New York 0
Boston’s Dave Ferriss improved to 3-0 with his shutout, which came despite seven hits and five walks with zero strikeouts. The Red Sox bats finally woke up as well, highlighted by a two-run triple from Ted Williams in the third and a two-run homer from Rudy York in the eighth.
1937 NEW YORK YANKEE AB R H BI 1946 BOSTON RED SOX AB R H BI
Frank Crosetti 3 0 0 0 George Metkovich 4 1 2 1
Red Rolfe 3 0 1 0 Johnny Pesky 4 2 2 0
Joe DiMaggio 4 0 1 0 Ted Williams 4 1 3 2
Lou Gehrig 3 0 3 0 Rudy York 4 1 1 2
Bill Dickey 4 0 0 0 Dom DiMaggio 2 0 1 1
Jake Powell 4 0 0 0 Rip Russell 3 0 0 0
Tony Lazzeri 4 0 0 0 Hal Wagner 3 1 0 0
Myril Hoag 3 0 2 0 Pinky Higgins 2 0 0 0
Bump Hadley CY 2 0 0 0 Dave Ferriss BZ 3 0 1 0
George Selkirk 0 0 0 0
Tommy Henrich 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 31 0 7 0 TOTALS 29 6 10 6
1937 NEW YORK YANKEES 000 000 000 -- 0
1946 BOSTON RED SOX 003 001 02x -- 6
LOB--1937 NEW YORK YANKEES 9, 1946 BOSTON RED SOX 4. 2B--Lou
Gehrig. 3B--Ted Williams. HR--Rudy York. SACB--Rip Russell.
1937 NEW YORK YANKEES IP H R ER BB SO HR
Bump Hadley CY [L] 6.00 6 4 4 3 4 0
Ivy Andrews CZ 2.00 4 2 2 1 1 1
1946 BOSTON RED SOX
Dave Ferriss BZ [W] 9.00 7 0 0 5 0 0
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 