Cards Keep Rolling, Browns Walk Off Senators as St. Louis Clubs Stay Hot
Bill Sherdel carried a near-perfect game into the ninth as the Cardinals blanked Brooklyn, 9–0, for their sixth straight win. Meanwhile, Ken Williams and Bob LaMotte fueled a Browns comeback that handed Walter Johnson his seventh consecutive defeat, 5–4.
Content from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat - Monday June 21, 2916
In The Edition
- Sherdel Allows Only Two Hits and Cardinals Shut Out Dodgers, 9 to 0
- La Motte's Single in Ninth with Three on Defeats Senators, 5 to 4
- Notes of the Game
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Sherdel Allows Only Two Hits and Cardinals Shut Out Dodgers, 9 to 0
Bill Sherdel Allows Only Two Hits and Cardinals Shut Out Dodgers, 9 to 0
6th Straight Victory Boosts Birds to Within Nine Points of Lead
Standaert’s Single in Fourth and His Repeater in Ninth Provide Dodgers with Only Avenue to First Base.
By Leased Wire from the New York Bureau of the Globe-Democrat.
BROOKLYN, N. Y., June 20.—The Cardinals wound up their invasion of the East today with a 9-to-0 shutout victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was the sixth straight triumph of the climbing Cards and they departed tonight with a record of winning eleven out of the twelve games played in this vicinity. They have startled the baseball world by coming from the rear at the speed of an express train "running wild" and rival teams are now waving danger signals ahead for any one who stands in their way.
Sherdel, who is about as big as a deuce spot but pitches like an ace, is only the third best hurler on the St. Louis staff, according to the figures and philosophers, in which case the 25,000 who saw today's performance may find some consolation in the fact that the Robins didn't have to bat against Flint Rhem or Vic Keen, the headline hurlers.
Sherry Two-Hit Pitcher
The two hits that Sherdel allowed were few enough, but bases on balls and such other means of locomotion around the square were not to be observed at all. The Robins came to bat, they hit the ball and they ran to first. Then they turned around and walked back to the dugout again. That's all there was to it. Behind Sherdel's pitching the Cardinal defense was perfect. Except for those two hits by Jerry Standaert, Wee Willie would have joined Cy Young, Addie Joss and Charlie Robertson in the list of those who have reached the heights of perfection.
The St. Louis batters bore no resemblance whatever to the Brooklyn threats. They picked up one run in the first on a pass to Taylor Douthit and a single by Jim Bottomley. They picked up another in the fourth on Billy Southworth's double and Jimmy Bell's single. But these were only whispers to the roar they let out in the sixth.
The bill boards say, "four out of five are hit." The Cards made it "four out of five hit safely" for Southworth, Bob O'Farrell, Tommy Thevenow and Sherdel singled and only Bell was put out. That flurry drove two runs across the plate and Bob McGraw to exile. A triple by Ray Blades greeted Buzz McWeeny and accounted for two more tallies. Douthit forced Blades at the plate, but stole second and scored when Babe Herman threw the ball into center field.
That made five runs for the inning. The last two were accomplished in the ninth by Rogers Hornsby's homer, his fifth of the season and singles by Southworth and Bell.
Twenty-one Scoreless Innings
The coat of kalsomining Sherdel plastered on the Robins today was the second he has administered in succession. He has pitched twenty-one scoreless innings in a row.
It would have been a perfect day for the Cards, and especially for Pitcher Sherdel had it not been for a mild mannered young Dodger who wears a bland smile and is generally credited with bearing ill will towards no one. Until this afternoon, the aforementioned Dodger, none other than Jerry Standaert, had not an enemy in the world. But this afternoon he doubly sought the wrath of the Cards.
All Jerry did was to ruin a perfect game for the St. Louis southpaw and in these day of short fences, rough diamonds and rabbit balls, a perfect game is about as precious to a pitcher as the crown jewels to the king's guard. Sherdel allowed just two Robins to reach first base and Standaert was both of them. In the fourth he trickled a single between third and short and in the ninth, with two out, he dumped a Texas League double into right. The rest of the Robins never knew if the base paths were wet or dry.
Of course, the Cardinals won and Hornsby's home run alone would have been enough to beat the Flatbush flock, but that wasn't all. The wild Westerners hammered Bob McGraw from the box, kept up the bombardment at the expense of Buzz McWeeny and drummed out their 9-0 victory.
And sad to relate that was not all the Card southpaw did to the Brooklynites. Babe Herman had been for weeks past keeping thousands of fans hereabouts interested in his batting spree. He had for fourteen games nursed a splendid hitting percentage, having succeeded in hitting safely at least once in each of them. Sherdel's performance today ended all that.
La Motte’s Single in Ninth with Three on Defeats Senators, 5 to 4
Pinch Home Run by Ken Williams Main Factor in 7th Inning Drive
Clout Comes with Two Bases Occupied and Ties Score—Last-Round Attack Brings Walter Johnson 7th Straight Defeat.
By MARTIN J. HALEY.
After being shut out, 4 to 0, on three hits for six and a half innings yesterday, the Browns closed their successful month’s home stand by defeating Washington, 5 to 4. They accomplished the feat by scoring four runs in the seventh, on the strength of Ken Williams’ home run with two bases occupied, and by knocking Walter Johnson out of the box in the ninth, when Bob LaMotte's single with the bases loaded shattered the deadlock and sent 16,000 palpitating fans home to cheerful chow.
It was the Brown’s third victory in the four game series and their 16th triumph out of the 24 games they played since returning home, May 27, from the cataclysmic road trip, on which they dropped 16 out of 19 contests. For the great Walter Johnson, it was his seventh defeat in succession, and for the Senators, it was their 11th defeat in the 15 games they played in the four Western cities.
Both Heroes Added Starters
Both of yesterday’s climactic heroes, Williams and La Motte, were added starters. Williams, at the time he hit that timely homer far down into the right field pavilion, was batting for Shortstop Wally Gerber. This change necessitated the shortstop switch to La Motte, and Williams’ success against Johnson induced Manager George Sisler to arrange his outfield in such manner that Williams went to left field and Bing Miller from left to Harry Rice's right field.
In re-fortifying his battle front, Sisler manifested intuitive generalship. He had taken out his starting pitcher, Milt Gaston, for a pinch hitter in the seventh and realizing that the lower half of his batting order would be coming to bat in the eighth or ninth, Sisler not only kept Williams in the game, but inserted La Motte in Gaston’s place in the batting order and placed the relieving pitcher, Win Ballou, in Rice’s lead-off position. Ballou, by the way, did not have to bat, for the added strength to the tail end of the order broke up the game before it was Ballou’s turn. Thus, the wisdom of Sisler’s generalship was completely vindicated.
Sisler was back at first base for the first time since last Tuesday, a sore right arm having compelled him to direct his team from the bench for the first three games of the Washington series. His return sent Marty McManus back to third base in place of Gene Robertson, who had guarded the far corner while McManus played first during Sisler’s absence.
Although out of practice for four days, Sisler was one of the three Brownies who managed to nick Walter Johnson for a hit in the first six innings yesterday. Over that period Johnson appeared unbeatable, particularly when Goose Goslin boosted Washington’s lead to four runs by hitting into Grand boulevard for the circuit in the seventh inning. The Nats already had counted two runs on a triple, double and a single in the third, and had added another on a hit, Gaston’s error and an infield out in the fourth.
Thus when Johnson closed the Browns' sixth inning with only three hits tabbed against his record, he seemed slated to hang up his 112th shutout, but the only thing consistent in baseball is its inconsistency, and in the very next inning, the seventh, the great Sir Walter was on the verge of taking the count.
Miller Opens Storm
Bing Miller opened that big inning by hitting the first ball pitched for a line single to left field. That one hit alone appeared to tell Johnson that he wasn't the same pitcher of the first six rounds. At any rate, after that hit, the Fireball King fussed and fidgeted, conferred with his catcher, smoothed the dust on the mound, cleaned his hand on the grass and fondled each ball in a manner indicating that he hated to be forced to deliver it.
There was drama and the fans sensed it, but the fans wanted a home victory, even though they hated to see the great Johnson lose. So the fans set up a loud chant, and this chant didn't help the wavering hero of the 1924 World Series. He became wild and walked Cedric Durst. This moved Miller to second and brought up Pinky Hargrave, who promptly singled to right field, Miller scoring. It was then that Sisler sent in Williams for Gerber and it was then that Williams homered. The score now was tied at 4 to 4.
Knocked out of that hole, Johnson regained his composure. He retired the next three Brownies in order. He also set back in succession the three men to face him in the eighth, after Win Ballou, who had taken the mound at the start of the eighth, tamed the Senators in that round.
Ballou again stopped the Nats in the ninth by fanning Goslin and by forcing Joe Harris to foul to Oscar Melillo, following a pass to Manager Bucky Harris. The latter, after injuring his right ankle by numerous slides back to first base while trying to get a big lead on Ballou, was forced to retire from the game, and his successor, Stewart, ended Washington's ninth inning by dying in an attempted steal.
Browns Got Big Break
At the start of their ninth, the Browns got a big break in their favor. Durst hit a ground ball straight to Joe Judge, but just before reaching the first sacker, the ball took a bad hop and was good for a single. Then Hargrave again came through with a single to right on the hit and run, Durst moving to third. This blow kayoed Johnson and brought in big Fred Marberry, the thrower of lightning fast ball pitches. Marberry’s first act was to purposely pass Williams. This filled the bases and made a forceout possible at any base, but La Motte wrecked the strategy by hitting a long line drive to right center between Center Fielder Sam Rice and Right Fielder Jeanes, who had replaced Joe Harris a moment earlier in an effort to bolster Washington’s outfield defense.
La Motte’s hit was the ninth for the Browns, eight of which were off Johnson. The Nats also totaled nine hits. They all were off Gaston, for Ballou, who was credited with the victory, did not yield the semblance of a safety in the two innings he toiled.
Seven of the nine off Gaston came in the first three innings. Stan Harris and Goslin bunched a single and a hit batsman in the first inning, but died on base. Roger Peckinpaugh and Muddy Ruel “ganged” two singles with only one gone in the second, but Peck ended that chance when he tried to go from second to third on Johnson’s deep fly to Harry Rice and was cut down 10 feet from his objective on Harry’s powerful thrust to McManus, who played the line throw perfectly.
In the third, Sam Rice paced with a triple to left and scored on Bucky Harris’ double to right center. Stan Harris rode home on a single to left by Joe Harris. There was another single later in this round, by Ossie Bluege, but no further scoring.
The fourth inning was a donation. Peck singled. Ruel laid down a bunt and when Gaston threw the ball past Melillo, who was covering first, Peck went to third and Ruel to second. Peck then held third while Johnson bounced out to Gerber, but scored while Rice was being thrown out by Melillo, who fumbled momentarily, thus making a play at the plate on Peck impossible.
Following that round, Gaston was unhittable until the seventh, when Goslin hit the bull’s-eye. A few minutes prior to that homer, Goslin had electrified the fans when he made one of the most spectacular catches ever seen in Sportsmans Park. Harry Rice was the victim at the start of the sixth inning, his high line drive being dragged down by Goslin, who made the catch with an outstretched glove while running full tilt toward the left field concrete.
Today is an open date.
Notes of the Game
There are no major league games in St. Louis today, but both the Browns and Cardinals are scheduled to play out of town. The Browns departed immediately after yesterday's victory for Detroit, where they open a two-game series this afternoon. They have open dates Wednesday and Thursday, then open a four-game series in Chicago Friday. They return here a week from tomorrow for two brief series with Detroit and Chicago before hitting the road for their second extended trip.
Today originally was an open date on the Cardinals' schedule, but the game of September 8 with the Pittsburgh Pirates was advanced and the Cards will play it off in Pittsburgh this afternoon. Thus, the Cards are booked for four games in four different cities in four straight days. They were in Boston Saturday, in Brooklyn yesterday, in Pittsburgh today and will be in St. Louis tomorrow to raise the curtain on a three-game series with the Pirates at Sportsmans Park.
Following the Bucco series at Grand and Dodier, the Cards will take on the Chicago Cubs in a four-game sketch, after which the Cards return to Pittsburgh for four games, starting June 30. The Cards then return to Sportsmans Park, July 4, to open their second long home sojourn.
Both the Cardinals and Browns have been playing at a championship gait the past month. The Cards, to date, have won 14 out of 21 games on the road and now are only nine points out of first place. After losing four straight in Cincinnati, the Knot Holers won three out of five in Chicago, two in Philadelphia, three in New York, two out of three in Brooklyn and four in Boston.
The Browns, at home since May 27, won 16 and lost only eight. They beat Cleveland four straight, Detroit two out of three, Chicago one out of two, Philadelphia one out of three, Boston three out of four, New York two out of four and Washington three out of four.
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