Pirates 2, Cardinals 1: On a day when the two teams could combine for only a total of four hits, and starters Bill Doak and Erksine Mayer both flirted with immortality, it was untimely defensive lapses that relegated St. Louis to a painful defeat at home. Mayer set down twenty of the first twenty-one, an error producing the only baserunner, while Doak had allowed just a walk through the first seven frames. Thus the game headed to the 8th with neither side having recorded a safe hit, and the Forbes Field crowd was buzzing with expectation that one (or both!) of the pitching men might record an historic feat. But Rogers Hornsby led off the STL 8th with a double and, two outs later, scored the game's first run on Frank Snyder's single. Perhaps the visitors relaxed after finally getting on the scoresheet, and with Doak (5-8) looking dominant, but Billy Southworth singled as the first man up for the Pirates and shortstop Doc Lavan then threw the ball into the stands behind first base on a grounder off the bat of Hooks Warner. There were now two men in scoring position with none out, and the crowd's thoughts of tomorrow's legacy were now quickly turning to panic over today's outcome. Vic Saier kept the suspense to a minimum by immediately following Warner with a single to center that scored both runners after Cliff Heathcote fumbled the pickup and denied himself any chance to cut down the go-ahead run at the plate. Mayer (6-4) said "thank you very much" to his teammates and retired the top three in the Cardinal batting order in the 9th to secure the win for Pittsburgh. [box]
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| Erskine Mayer (right), Pittsburgh |
Reds 4, Cubs 3: The two clubs combined for three 11th-inning runs at the end of a long afternoon at Weeghman Park, but Cincinnati got two of them to send the Chicago fans home unhappy. The Reds jumped on top in the 3rd inning when Charlie Pick didn't, on Morrie Rath's leadoff ground ball, and Henie Groh followed two batters later with a drive to the deepest reaches of the Park for four bases and two runs. But the Cubs whittled that back down to nothing on three singles and a Bill Killefer sacrifice fly in the 4th, and Les Mann's solo homer in the 5th. But the starting pitchers buttoned things up after that, and there was nary a threat through the remainder of regulation play and into extra frames, save Lee Magee being thrown out at home by Greasy Neale attempting to come home on Paul Carter's 6th-inning single. In the 11th, though, Groh started the Cincinnati inning off against Carter (1-3) with a two-bagger and scored one out later when Neale singled past the ear of Charlie Deal at third. With two outs, Rube Bressler spanked one over the head of Max Flack in right field for a triple and a 4-2 Reds lead. Hod Eller (9-4) came out for the 11th and quickly put away the first two Cubs, but Killefer kept the game alive with a single and pinch0hitter Turner Barber then tripled to put the tying run 90 feet from home plate. Eller then faced down the Chicago leadoff man Flack, and his fly ball to medium-deep right field was caught easily by Neale to disappoint the hopes of the gathered assemblage. [box]
Phillies 3, Braves 0: Eppa Rixey mesmerized the Braves, allowing only three singles while Leo Callahan had three hits and two stolen bases to spark all three Philadelphia scores. Callahan started the game with a base hit, stole second base and, after two straight Phillies had whiffed against Al Demaree (5-4), scored the lid-lifter on a Fred Luderus single. Boston got the leadoff man aboard in the 2nd, 3rd and 5th innings, but Rixey retired the next three on each occasion, and the visitors doubled their lead in the 7th. Hick Cady singled with one out and, after a sacrifice, Callahan drove him in with a base hit. In the 9th another Cady single and an error on right fielder Ray Powell set the table for Callahan again, and his knock into shallow right scored the third Philadelphia run. Rixey (2-1) didn't allow a hit over the final four innings and, although he wobbled a bit at the last with two 9th-inning walks, he finished off the Braves to earn the complete-game shutout. [box]
Robins 3, Giants 1: A catcher's interference call against Lew McCarty was the key moment of a two-run 3rd inning which proved to be the difference between Brooklyn and New York at Brush Stadium. Jimmy Johnston homered for the Robins in the 1st, and Benny Kauff turned a hit-by-pitch into a run in the 2bd when he stole second, took third on Otto Miller's wild throw and scored on Heinie Zimmerman's ground out. In the next half-inning, Miller was first to bat and was awarded first base when McCarty's glove nicked his bat on a swing-and-miss. After a sacrifice hit from Fred Toney, Ivy Olson singled him home, and then he ran to third on a steal and error before Johnston's slow bounder to short enabled him to score. After all of this early action, the afternoon got very quiet - Toney (3-5) and Jeff Pfeffer (9-5) were in control the rest of the way. The Giants' hurler retired eleven of the final twelve Brooklyns, but NY could not find a way through Pfeffer who allowed a single runner to reach second base over the final five innings. [box]
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