June 29, 1963 - Ralph Terry pitched a six-hit shutout and Elston Howard (pictured) and Tommy Tresh hit home runs today as the New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox, 2-0, before 21,962 at Yankee Stadium to open up a full game lead over the second-place Chicago White Sox. Chicago was beaten by Cleveland today, 5-2. Howard hit his 15th homer of the season in the second inning, and Tresh banged his 13th in the fourth. Both came off Red Sox starter Chet Nichols, who absorbed his first defeat of the season. He has yet to win. This is the same Chet Nichols who, back in 1951, as a 20-year-old southpaw for the departed Boston Braves, won the National League ERA title with a 2.88 figure. Nichols, employed mainly as a relief pitcher this season, was forced to retire at the end of the fourth because of a blister on the thumb of his pitching hand. He was replaced by Jack Lamabe, who limited the Bombers to three singles the rest of the way. Terry required 120 pitches to sew up his eighth triumph and second shutout. “His fastball was good, and after the first inning they weren’t able to do much with his change-up,” said Howard in the Yankee dressing room. As for his homer, Elston caught a curve. “I hit it pretty good too,” he smiled. “Only thing I’m worrying about now,” he continued, “is when am I going to get my average up? The home runs are coming too fast now. I just wish my average would start climbing.” Tresh’s homer came off a Nichols slider. “It was the same kind of pitch I’ve been fouling on my ankle all season,” the shortstop said. No record is kept of how many balls Tresh bangs against his ankle, but his homers now number 13.
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