The Stumbling Pirates
Plus: Day In Review, May 16, 1908
The Stumbling Pirates
The Pirates are supposed to be competing for the pennant. Apparently nobody bothered to tell them.
Pittsburgh got off to a quick 3 run lead in the bottom of the first. However, Philadelphia answered with 3 of their own in the top of the 7th. And this game was headed for extra innings.
Extra innings, of course, is where the fun really started.
The first two Pirates reached base on singles in the bottom of the 10th. They advanced to second and third after a ground ball by Tommy Leach. I decided to walk Fred Clarke — and then the next two Pirates made outs, killing off the rally.
The Phillies returned the favor in the top of the 11th, loading the bases with one out. A squeeze bunt attempt by Fred Osborn failed, and John Titus then flied out to left, ending the inning.
Then came the bottom of the 11th. Beals Becker came up with one out for Pittsburgh:
You’d think the Pirates would score easily, right? Well, unfortunately, Harry Swacina bunted foul twice in a row before grounding out. Harley Young then grounded out harmlessly, and this game continued.
In the top of the 12th, Kitty Bransfield came up for Philadelphia with one out:
That set things up for Sherry Magee:
And, as it turned out, that one extra run was all that the Phillies needed. Pittsburgh had two men on with one out in the bottom of the 12th, but couldn’t manage to bring anybody home.
The Pirates are drifting further and further below .500. It’s going to be hard to catch the Giants.
Other Action
Naps 3, Red Sox 0: The Boston faithful came out to see Cy Young pitch, but were disappointed to see him give up 3 runs in a losing effort. Bob Rhoads won his 6th game for Cleveland, throwing an excellent shutout on the road. Watch the game here.
Cubs 4, Superbas 1: At Chicago, Orval Overall didn’t leave much doubt about this one, shutting down the visiting Brooklynites on only 4 hits. Watch the game here.
Giants 6, Reds 4 (12): At Cincinnati, not even the bravest of efforts by Reds starting pitcher Billy Campbell could keep the Giants from winning another one. In addition to pitching 11 strong innings, Billy went 2 for 4 at the plate in the losing effort. Watch the game here. Read the summary here.
Highlanders 7, Tigers 6: The hometown fans at Hilltop Park went home happy. After giving up 5 runs in the top of the 7th, the Highlanders came back, scoring 2 in the bottom of the 7th and then 3 in the bottom of the 9th to end their 11 game losing streak. Read the summary here.
Browns 13, Athletics 2: St. Louis vaulted themselves back into contention for first place with this win, crushing the Philadelphia Athletics on the road. Watch the game here.
Phillies 4, Pirates 3 (12): At Pittsburgh, see above.
Doves 5, Cardinals 1: At St. Louis, Gus Dorner shut down the Cardinals as the Doves won easily.
Senators 3, White Sox 1: The hometown Senators made short work of the White Sox. Chicago loaded the bases in the top of the 9th, but was unable to score.
Standings
The Giants are starting to break away from the pack. The American League, meanwhile, remains very close.