September 2, 1945: 27 up 27 Down as Barrett Nails Down His 20th Win of The Season

On September 2, 1945, after dropping the first game of a doubleheader to the Cubs at Sportsman's Park, Red Barrett pitched an absolute gem in the second game as he faced the minimum 27 batters as the team rolled to a 4-0 victory.  The Cardinals hurler gave up just one hit, it was a leadoff single by Len Merullo who was promptly erased by Del Rice who gunned him down as he tried to steal second. From there Barrett was in control, he struck out just four men as the defense played solid ball behind him while the offense put the necessary runs on the board to make Barrett the first 20 game winner of the '45 campaign. The twin bill against the league leading Cubs brought the biggest crowd to Sportsman's since the Summer of '39, unfortunately the Birds would finish the season just 3 games behind the Cubbies despite posting a dominating 16-6 record against them during the regular season.

Checkout the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN194509022.shtml