Browns Put Up Another Weak Exhibition and Detroit Wins, 11-2

Sisler Brigade Fails to Shine on Mound, at Plate or in Field

Contest Is Well Battled for Five Innings, but Then Gaston Goes to Bad and Defense Wobbles to Pile Up Tiger Lead.
May 2, 1926 - St. Louis Globe-Democrat

By JOHN J. SHERIDAN.

The Browns fell back into their old ways again yesterday at Sportsman’s Park. There was that unhappy combination of anemic pitching, fielding and hitting and the net result was an 11-to-2 flattening at the hands of the Detroit Tigers. It was a genuine ball game for five innings, during which Milton Gaston and Ken Holloway engaged in a merry pitching battle, but in the sixth the Bengals stepped out, pinched off three runs in that round for a 4-to-1 lead, scored two more in the seventh, another in the eighth and climaxed their orgy with four in the ninth, when the Brownies committed two of their five errors.

Gaston was no longer the St. Louis pitcher after those three alien runs in the sixth for which he was not entirely culpable. He did start the men off by permitting Charlie Gehringer to single, but he had retired Heinie Manush on a fly to Bennett and was working nicely on Ty Cobb when Wally Schang threw to center field trying to catch Gehringer stealing and the Detroit middle man went to third.

Stage Set for Trouble.

Although this error did not seem to have any ill effect on Gaston, facing Heilmann, whose best was a high, long foul to George Sisler, which went as a sacrifice when Cobb negotiated second after the catch, it may have had some effect on Milton the next batter, Warner, whom he walked to jam the aisles and on the next, Tavener, who waited his string to 3 and 2 and then plunked the cripple against the right-field concrete for two bases and three runs. Milt still wobbled on Bassler, who walked, but the weak-hitting Holloway brought the hectic round to a close with a grounder to McManus.

When the Browns came to bat in their sixth it so happened that Gaston’s turn to hit had come. He was not allowed to do so, however, Sisler sending in Harry Rice to swing with one run already in, men on second and first and two out. Rice’s choicest at this opportune moment was a puerile tap to the box and he died an easy death on Holloway’s toss to Neun.

Thus the Tigers were introduced to Claude “Bubber” Jonnard in the seventh. He was wild, and when he was not he seemed to be easy to hit. He passed Neun, Gehringer sacrificed, McManus to Mellilo, who covered first, and Manush singled, scoring Neun for the first Detroit run off him in this chapter. There was another one yet to come. Cobb drew Jonnard’s second pass and Heilmann pumped a single over second, Manush spiking the dish. Cobb also tried to score when McManus intercepted Durst’s throw to third and shot to Mellilo in an effort to flag Heilmann, who was steaming into the midway. Ty thought that this was a break for him, but Mellilo rifled the agate to Schang who got the Detroit Tiger manager a foot at the plate.

Jonnard was nicked for another run in the eighth on Tavener’s single, which Bennett permitted to roll through his legs for a triple, and Bassler’s long foul to Williams. Tavener crossing the rubber after the catch. This boot by Bennett was his first of two almost in succession and of the same nature. He did the same thing with Warner’s perfectly good single in the ninth, the ball rolling through his legs and to the concrete barrier.

Jonnard Taken Out.

There was no more scoring off Jonnard, there could not be, for Harrgrave was inserted to bat for him in the Browns’ eighth. “Red” made a fine effort to help the Browns cause along as much as possible, but his screeching liner went straight to Neun. There were two out at the time. Schang and Gerber were on second and first, respectively.

Stewart Bolen, the young left hander whom the Browns brought up this spring from the Tulsa club where he had a great season last year, was the victim of the Tigers’ ninth inning assault. Manush pried loose the attack by beating out a swinging bunt to Bolen’s left and a trifle out of his reach. Fothergill, who replaced Cobb in center field for the Tigers in the seventh, lined a single to left and when Williams fumbled Manush trotted to third and Fothergill went right on to second.

Bolen did not fear one iota the heavy-hitting Harry Heilmann, who went down swinging, but Warner, a supposedly weak sticker, clubbed him for a single which scored both Manush and Fothergill, and when Bennett let the ball roll through his legs, Warner beat it to third. Tavener was Bolen’s second strikeout victim in the inning, but Bassler’s ace to left scored Warner. Holloway, who had hit the ball out of the infield only once, singled to right, Bassler taking third, whence he scored on wild pitch, on which Holloway hiked to second. He hiked to third on another wild pitch and Neun walked and further scoring appeared imminent, but McManus leaped high into the air to pull down Gehringer’s vicious liner for the final out.

Holloway Effective.

Thus were the Brownie pitchers maltreated. So different was it from the Tiger standpoint. The Bengals only needed one hurler and he, Holloway, was a sweet right-hander throughout. After Neun’s double, Gehringer’s sacrifice on which he reached first when McManus’ throw pulled Sisler off first, and Cobb’s single to left gave him a one-run advantage over Gaston, he began at once to display his appreciation. He got out of two holes in the second and third in each of which the Browns combed him for two hits but in the fourth after two were out, a pass to Durst and Schang’s first of three successive hits which Cobb fumbled gave the locals their first tally.

They scored their second in the sixth when they also were helped along by an error, this by Tavener, who had one other. Singles by McManus and Durst preceded the blunder and “Mac” scored the Browns’ second and final. From then on Holloway was complete master, particularly in the pinches.

Final game of the series today, after which the Browns depart for Cleveland to open a long road stand.

Cubs Score Five Runs in Eighth to Beat Cards Third Straight, 11-8

Munson’s Homer, His Second of Day, Drives In Winning Markers

Bruins Rout Rhem in Eventful Stanza, Keen Yielding Deciding Tallies—Bottomley, O’Farrell and Bell Hit Circuit Smashes.

Special Dispatch to the Globe-Democrat.

CHICAGO, Ill., May 1.—With a grand and glorious flourish of base hits at a time when 20,000 customers were about ready to start for home mumbling to themselves, the up-and-at-’em Cubs put it over again today. The score was 11 to 8.

Going into the eighth frame trailing by two runs they showered the landscape with safe blows, chief among them a homer by Joe Munson, and sent five men hiking over the plate to nose out the Cardinals for the third straight time.

Prior to that the Cards had mastered the situation since the second inning when they started an attack that eventually forced Wilbur Cooper to the dugout under a load of smashes that included three home runs. Evidently the homers put an idea in Munson’s head, because he not only tore off his winning circuit smash in the eighth, but kept his mates in the running with another in the fifth. Five Cubs scored on these two homers alone.

The Cubs knocked Flint Rhem off the rubber in the eighth and the shift in scenery brought Vic Keen into action for the first time against his former mates. It was one of Keen’s foolers that Munson propelled into the right field seats for the three tallies that presented the North Siders with their winning margin.

O’Farrell Poles Homer.

The Cards started to make gay with Cooper in the second inning. Jim Bottomley was the first contributor to the veteran left hander’s downfall. He lined to left and Munson, who had been shifted from right field, attempted a shoestring catch but the ball shot past him and Bottomley kept on going until he had crossed the plate. Then after a couple of singles Bob O’Farrell elevated the pill into the right field seats for a homer and three runs.

Additional damage befell Cooper in the fourth. Bell clouted a homer into the right-field bleachers to open the inning. Then a pass to Blades, a double by Hornsby and a single by Bottomley in the fifth notched two more runs. Cooper left at this stage in favor of Piercy and all the Cards gathered after this was a run given to them on a wild pitch in the eighth. Piercy didn’t finish because of the employment of a pinch hitter, but Joe Bush proved an able assistant by setting ’em down three in a row in the ninth.