Giants vs Reds, A's vs White Sox
September 11
White Sox 5, A's 3
Clinging to contention by a thread, the Athletics made a desperation move before the game began, signing veteran Kyung-Chor Kim to a major league contract. Kim was 17-14 for the crosstown Phillies last season but to date has missed all of the 1933 campaign with a dead arm. He won't be ready to pitch for a week but rumors out of the Athletics camp are that his cut fastball looks as sharp as ever.
For today though the A's had to go with Brian Barnes (6-6, 4.70), who has bounced around between the minors and the majors since 1930. They found themselves in this position thanks to injuries to Peter Brewer (14-16, 2.57), Al Monteith (19-9, 2.70), and 316-game winner Daffy Snyder (9-8, 3.05). Both Monteith and Baker should be back soon, perhaps as soon as tomorrow. Will it be enough?
It wasn't enough today, as Barnes went the distance but gave up 5 runs in the process on 11 hits, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts. The 6th inning solo homerun he gave up to RF Hunter Sunday (.274, 22, 103) was the difference-maker.
Brian East (17-15, 3.22) also went the distance for the White Sox. East has now won his last 3 games in a row and 4 out of his last 5; the 20-victory mark looks like it could be within reach for him now where it looked hopelessly beyond him just 3 weeks ago.
White Sox 7, Athletics 0
The Athletics moved Pete Brewer's (14-17, 2.59) rehab schedule up a little bit and had him start this important second game of a double-header. Brewer actually did a good job, far better than A's GM Connie Mack expected. However, it's tough to prevent runs when your defense behind you makes you produce five outs in an inning instead of the normal 3. That's what happened in the 7th, and that's why this game ended 7-0 instead of 1-0.
The A's can blame the left side of the infield for the 7th, as 2B Joe Firth (.239, 0, 11) and 1B Corey Jones (.355, 5, 44) committed muffs that kept the White Sox in play and which ultimately led to a towering homerun hit by RF Hunter Sunday (.276, 23, 106). In the end, the A's couldn't score at all so it was truly decided in the 2nd but one has to wonder if the Philadelphia squad could have manufactured that run if they weren't forced to swing for the fences from the bottom of the 7th on.
Bob Gordon (10-11, 3.83) fooled the A's hitters with a variety of junk. You'd think that teams would have figured him out by now, but he continues to find ways to make opponents hit easy groundballs to his middle infielders. He's never been considered more than a functional back of the rotation guy and yet he's 2 seasons away from 200 career victories (179-152 record). It goes to show what a little perseverance can bring you.
Reds 11, Giants 4
The Reds expected to win this game as they were starting Earl Crockett (28-9, 2.34), the odds-on favorite to win the Pitcher of the Year award. The Giants countered with Li Alport (17-8, 3.09), a career 108 game winner, all but 17 of those with New York. As it happened, the Reds could have put Josef Stalin himself on the mound and it wouldn't have made any difference.
The Reds scored early and often, nearly knocking Alport out of the box with a 5-run 3rd inning. He ended up coming out after just 5 frames, having allowed 8 runs in that time. 3B Jay Calvin (.372, 5, 84) went 4 for 5, lifting his average to its highest point since August 10. RF Brad Box (.315, 19, 106), 1B Bob Leonhart (.333, 4, 81), C Ed Townsley (.311, 7, 62), and 2B Bill Heath (.294, 5, 31) all had multi-hit games in this Reds rout that put them back to within one win (and two losses) of the Giants.
Other Key Games
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Tigers 1, Yankees 0
WP: Luis Lopez (11-10)
LP: Alan Hack (17-14)
The Yanks were stymied by Luis Lopez, which is odd; the Bronx Bombers are 24-11 vs. left-handed pitching this year, despite playing in a stadium that favors lefty hitters. They have now gone 20 straight innings without scoring a run (the last time they put a tally on the board: the 7th inning of a 3-2 victory against the Browns on the 9th).
Other Notes
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The Braves were walloped by the Cardinals tonight 12-5, extending their losing streak to 12 games.
Code:
American League Standings
Team W L PCT GB Home Away
Chicago White Sox 88 52 0.629 - 46-29 42-23
New York Yankees 83 55 0.601 4 44-20 39-35
Philadelphia Athletic 75 62 0.547 11.5 35-28 40-34
Boston Red Sox 70 69 0.504 17.5 37-29 33-40
Detroit Tigers 68 72 0.486 20 36-37 32-35
Washington Senators 65 73 0.471 22 30-34 35-39
Cleveland Indians 55 85 0.393 33 31-43 24-42
St. Louis Browns 52 88 0.371 36 28-49 24-39
National League Standings
Team W L PCT GB Home Away
New York Giants 93 46 0.669 - 51-22 42-24
Cincinnati Reds 92 48 0.657 1.5 42-24 50-24
Philadelphia Phillies 78 60 0.565 14.5 42-31 36-29
St Louis Cardinals 63 76 0.453 30 27-35 36-41
Brooklyn Dodgers 62 76 0.449 30.5 30-44 32-32
Chicago Cubs 62 78 0.443 31.5 33-32 29-46
Pittsburgh Pirates 60 79 0.432 33 25-43 35-36
Boston Braves 46 93 0.331 47 24-51 22-42