1919 NL - Games of Saturday, 19 April

Robins 5, Braves 1: In the first game of the season-opening Patriot's Day doubleheader, Leon Cadore sent ten Boston batters back to the bench having failed to connect with his varied offerings, and Ernie Krueger's two-run single was the key blow in a four-run 2nd inning that represented almost the entirety of the afternoon's plate-crossing while powering the visiting Brooklyns to victory. Dick Rudolph ran into difficulty as soon as he toed the slab in the top of the 2nd, as Zack Wheat walked and stole second, and then scored on a base hit by Hi Myers. But the Beantown hurler wasn't off the hook yet - Ivy Olson singled, and then Myers beat the throw to third when Ollie O'Mara bunted to first and Walter Holke threw across the diamond looking for the force. That loaded the sacks for Krueger, who grounded one sharply off the glove of Rudolph and into center field to score two runs; the frame's fourth tally later hit the books on Jimmy Johnston's groundout. This would be more support than Caddy would need on a 50-degree afternoon in the Hub, as he allowed but one Brave safety in the first six innings and coasted home looking as if his year away from the game on the front lines in France had done nothing to diminish the promise he had shown in his first big-league season in 1917. Ivy Olson had three hits to pace the Robins.  [box]

Leon Cadore, Brooklyn

Braves 2, Robins 1: Boston avoided the embarrassment of starting the season on the wrong end of a doubleheader sweep at home, as the well-seasoned right-hander Pat Ragan spun a six-hitter at the Robins while taking a whitewash into the final inning. The home club took the lead in the 5th when Art Wilson singled with one out, Ragan followed with a knock of his own, Rabbit Maranville walked to load the bases and Ray Powell took Jeff Pfeffer's slant in the thigh to force across the game's first run. Powell was in the middle of things again in the 8th when Buck Herzog led off with a single and Powell bunted him to second, from whence Joe Riggert could deliver him home with a solid single past third base. While Ragan was in control almost the entire afternoon (retiring twenty of of twenty-two at one stretch, with one of the two being an infield error), the end did not come without some nerves for the crowd at Braves Field. The first two Robins in the 9th reached on singles, and Myers scratched out a hit with one away to load the bases. Olson hit one pretty well to center field, but Riggert tracked the ball down ad traded the penultimate out for Brooklyn's first run as the tying run moved up the third. But Krueger could not recreate his first-game timeliness, and hit a bouncer right at Red Smith at third base which was tossed across the square to end the afternoon on a happier note for the Boston fans. [box]