Giants vs Reds
September 10
Giants 8, Reds 2
The Reds looked at the standings this morning and found themselves just a game and a half out of first. They knew that if they could sweep this series, they'd be in the driver's seat for the remainder of the season, as neither team had a particularly tough schedule from then on out. It wouldn't be easy. John Burns (20-13, 3.08) wasn't near-perfect in the way he was in 1932, when he went 29-8 for the Gothamites, but he was still considered the staff ace. The Reds' own man Ted O'Toole (18-16, 3.50) was more of a solid innings-eater, the kind of man every team wants to have in their rotation but not necessarily someone you want to count on when the season is on the line.
And as it turned out, the Giants' great lineup cut through O'Toole like he was butter. The Reds were actually down just 3-2 going into the 7th but he gave up a walk and a double to the #7 and #8 men in the order and then threw wildly to first after picking up a one-hop comebacker by pitcher Burns, scoring backup OFer Ken Seibel (.320, 0, 16) and bringing Britt Grim (.314, 1, 53) in position to be delivered home by CF Benton Wheeler's subsequent sacrifice fly. This put the game away.
John Burns struck out 4 and walked one in going the distance for the Giants. The issues he was having last month, when he went 1-5 between July 29 and August 26, appear to be behind him. In his last 4 starts he has thrown 36 innings and given up just 5 earned runs.
Other Key Games
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Tigers 2, Yankees 0
WP: Stephen Mudge (12-4)
LP: Jeff Olson (0-2)
Olsen gave up 9 walks in 7 innings; this game wasn't as close as it looked.
Other Notes
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The Braves lost to the Cardinals 7-3, their 11th loss in a row. They are on pace to become just the second team in National League history to lose 100 games in a season (the 1925 Braves lost exactly 100). If they don't manage to win a single game for the rest of the year, they would pass the 1925 Cleveland Indians for the worst record of all time.
As a side note, the 1925 American League "featured" 2 teams, the aforementioned Indians and the Detroit Tigers, who lost more than 100. Every other team in the league was over .500, including the league champion Boston Red Sox, who won 108. That was, of course, the record for victories until last year.
Code:
American League Standings
Team W L PCT GB Home Away 1Run Streak
Chicago White Sox 86 52 0.623 - 46-29 40-23 20-20 W6
New York Yankees 83 54 0.606 2.5 44-19 39-35 24-24 L1
Philadelphia Athletic 75 60 0.556 9.5 35-26 40-34 24-20 L1
Boston Red Sox 69 69 0.500 17 36-29 33-40 21-28 W4
Detroit Tigers 67 72 0.482 19.5 36-37 31-35 20-15 W1
Washington Senators 64 73 0.467 21.5 29-34 35-39 20-22 W1
Cleveland Indians 55 84 0.396 31.5 31-43 24-41 19-13 L1
St. Louis Browns 52 87 0.374 34.5 28-49 24-38 15-21 L4
National League Standings
Team W L PCT GB Home Away 1Run Streak
New York Giants 93 45 0.674 - 51-22 42-23 27-14 W1
Cincinnati Reds 91 48 0.655 2.5 41-24 50-24 20-21 L1
Philadelphia Phillies 78 59 0.569 14.5 42-31 36-28 26-12 W1
St Louis Cardinals 62 76 0.449 31 26-35 36-41 21-24 W2
Brooklyn Dodgers 61 76 0.445 31.5 30-44 31-32 16-19 L2
Chicago Cubs 61 78 0.439 32.5 32-32 29-46 21-23 L1
Pittsburgh Pirates 60 78 0.435 33 25-42 35-36 15-23 W2
Boston Braves 46 92 0.333 47 24-51 22-41 16-26 L11