Sept. 8, 1961 - One of Gary Bell's pitches hovered a split second too long in Mickey Mantle's strike zone today at the Stadium. Before the Cleveland righty had time to say, "Shucks, there goes No. 52," it was gone. By the time Bill Stafford collected the final putout of his 13th victory, the scoreboard read 9-1. At the plate, Stafford had a triple and a two-run single. Stafford's route-going performance was the fifth in a row by a New York hurler. It helped the A.L. leaders extend their winning streak to 9 - matching their longest of the 1961 season. With 52 homers after 141 games, Mantle now is one game behind the pace set by Babe Ruth in 1927. Roger Maris, who still leads this season's home run derby with 55, is seven games ahead of Ruth. Maris went hitless in four trips to the plate today.
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