1919 AL - Games of Saturday, 7 June

Athletics 5, Indians 2: Philadelphia buried Cleveland and Stan Coveleski (3-5) under an avalanche of eighteen base hits - sixteen of them singles - and Tom Rogers was sharp on the hill in front of the home fans. The Athletics clearly came to swing the sticks today, as they took no free passes, but the strategy paid off as they had multiple safeties in every inning but the 2nd and 8th. Tillie Walker got them off and running with a home run in the bottom of the 1st, and four more hits in the 3rd made it 3-0 and that would turn out to be enough although, despite their overwhelming superiority in the hit column they could never quite pull away. The Indians put the tying runs aboard in the 4th and then put the first two men on in the 8th, but Rogers (3-2) was up to the test and retired the final six men to face him. Whitey Witt led the hit parade with four knocks, while Walker and Joe Dugan had three each. [box]

Whitey Witt, PHA

Tigers 7, Red Sox 3: Detroit pounded out fourteen hits, five for extra bases, and used a big 7th inning to run away from the Red Sox in Boston. The score was 3-2 Detroit through six stanzas before Ray Caldwell (2-5) lost the plot - a leadoff triple by Ben Dyer led to the first run and then four consecutive hits plated three more with Harry Heilmann doing the final damage with a two-run single. Hooks Dauss (4-4) went the distance, allowing one earned run on nine hits and a walk, and Ty Cobb had a double, three singles and a stolen base. Stuffy McInnis had three hits and two RBI for Boston. [box]

White Sox 9, Yankees 6: Chicago spotted New York a six-run lead and then stormed back to stun both their hosts and the Polo Grounds assemblage. Eight straight Yankees reached base against Lefty Williams after one man was out in the 3rd, with Ping Bodie providing the big blow with a bases-full three-base hit. But the prosperity proved to be too much for Jack Quinn (4-3) - the White Sox got four back immediately in their next at-bat, with Swede Risberg (3-for-5, three 2B, 5 RBI) driving a two-run double, and by the time the 7th inning rolled around they had cur the lead to a single run. After Nemo Leibold and Buck Weaver began the 7th with singles and were bunted ahead by Eddie Collins, Quinn put Joe Jackson on first intentionally and then got Hap Felsch to pop out to third. But Chick Gandil (2-for-5, 3 RBI) answered the two-out call with a base hit to center that scored two runners and gave Chicago the lead. Exit Quinn, enter Allen Russell, but the pitching change was not enough to prevent Risberg from delivering the coup de grace with another two-base hit to make the score 9-6. Dickey Kerr came on in the 7th and pitched three clean frames to preserve the improbable win for the ineffective Williams (6-5). Truck Hannah reached base four times for New York. [box]

Browns 2, Nationals 1: Urban Shocker and Harry Harper both brought their “good stuff” to the hill this afternoon in Washington, but RBI from Jimmy Austin and Herman Bronkie in the 5th put St. Louis on top, and there they remained in a very tight affair. Washington had touched Shocker lightly first, when Rice singled to start the 2nd, stole a base, and scored on Buzz Murphy’s hit. But the Nats wouldn’t get a runner to second base again until the 8th inning, and by then the Browns had rallied. Wally Gerber led off the 5th with a single, and Shocker drew a walk one out later; Austin then poked one into right to score Gerber and move the pitcher to third, from whence he scored when Bronkie hit a chopper on the infield against which the only play that could be made was at second. Washington made some noise when they gathered two singles with one away in the 8th but Mike Menosky flied out and, after Rice reached on an error to load the bases, Shocker got Murphy to tap back to the box to end the last threat of the day. George Sisler had three hits, including his League-pacing tenth triple, and Eddie Foster singled three times for Washington. [box]