1919 AL- Games of Saturday, 20 September

Nationals 5, Indians 1: Four Cleveland errors were their eventual undoing, as a pile of unearned runs allowed 21-year-old Bill Snyder to earn a victory in his first big-league start. Snyder (1-1) was outstanding, allowing seven hits and walking none, while Stan Coveleski (15-16) was nearly as good for the Indians. The game was scoreless in the 7th when Larry Gardner's fumble kept the inning alive long enough for Joe Judge to smack his third home run of the season, and a Jack Graney misplay of Sam Agnew's single in the 8th allowed two more runs to score. Snyder's armor was finally pierced for a single run in the 9th but the young righty, who hadn't pitched an inning in pro ball before being signed by the Nats, finished up in style. [box]

Bill Snyder, WAS

Nationals 4, Indians 3: In a fitting conclusion to a rough day for the Cleveland defense, two 5th-inning errors contributed to three runs that put Washington ahead, and there they stayed as Tom Zachary and Walter Johnson combined to hold the Indians at arm's length. Cleveland led 2-0 when Larry Gardner booted Howie Shanks grounder with one out in the 5th, and then Ray Chapman threw wildly to first on Zachary's dribbler past the mound to allow the first run of the inning to score. The Nats took advantage of the opportunity they were given, as Joe Judge doubled home Zachary and Buzz Murphy singled him home after Elmer Myers' (11-6) balk had placed Judge on third base. Zachary (4-3) was sharp until he began to fade in the 8th - a double and an error produced an unearned run that cut the lead to one and Clark Griffith decided to bring Barney on to pitch the 9th. After retiring the first man, Johnson walked Jack Graney and gave up a double to Chapman to put the tying and lead runs in scoring position; WAS then decided to put Speaker on first intentionally to set up a potential force at home or double play. The downside was that this brought Joe (.391) Harris to the plate, though, with no place to put him but Johnson whiffed him on three pitches and then got Gardner to pop harmlessly to third base to end the game and secure the doubleheader sweep. Joe Wood and Chapman reached base three times for the Indians, while Zachary and Buzz Murphy each had two hits for the Nationals. [box]

Yankees 7, Tigers 6: Duffy Lewis's solo home run in the bottom of the 14th inning ended a long, back-and-forth affair at the Polo Grounds in New York's favor. NY took a 4-2 lead with a four-run 6th that featured an RBI single by Lewis, but Detroit responded with four in the 8th behind two-run singles by Harry Heilmann and Ira Flagstead. That left the Yankees trailing by two runs, with two out and one on, in the bottom of the 9th but Sammy Vick, Roger Peckinpaugh and Frank Baker delivered last-gasp hits in succession to send the game into extra innings. There were a few baserunners, but no serious threats, in the additional frames until Lewis stepped to the plate with one out in the 14th and whacked a Doc Ayers offering into the LF seats for the sudden victory. Heilmann had four hits and three RBI, and four other players had three hits in the wild affair. [box]

White Sox 5, Red Sox 3: Babe Ruth's lack of command on the mound proved to be the difference as Chicago took advantage of seven free passes to beat Boston. The teams were tied at three through six innings, as Ruth had skirted damage from his five walks to that point (but not from two Red Sox errors that led to two runs in the 4th), but his luck ran out in the 7th. Eddie Collins led off with a double, and Buck Weaver singled him to third before Ruth (4-8) walked Joe Jackson to load the bases and then Hap Flesch to push across the tie-breaking run.  Chick Gandil's slow grounder to first produced another run, and that lead was all that Lefty Williams (24-11) needed to close out the contest. Braggo Roth and Stuffy McInnis accounted for six of Boston's nine safeties, while Collins stroked a triple in addition to his two-bagger. [box]

White Sox 12, Red Sox 8: Chicago pounded Boston pitching for a dozen runs, and still had to hold on at the end in the face of a ferocious Red Sox rally that fell short. The White Sox blew apart a 4-1 game with four runs in the 5th (Dickey Kerr with a three-run double) and four more in the 7th (three walks and an error lead to four unearned runs) and, with a 12-1 lead in the 8th it appeared that all that remained was the formality of recording the final outs. But Boston had other ideas, suddenly springing to life with eight hits that produced seven runs, and Chicago only escaping when Ruth hit into a double play with the bases loaded to end the inning.  Stuffy McInnis had four hits, Babe Ruth hit his 36th home run and Kerr drove in four for the White Sox. [box]

Browns 13, Athletics 2: St. Louis scored twice in the 1st and just kept on scoring, building an 8-0 lead through four innings and cruising to a crushing win over Philadelphia. Baby Doll Jacobson had three hits (of his five in the game) and two RBI in those first four frames, and George Sisler later homered just for the fun of it as the Browns piled on late. Lefty Leifield (9-3) wasn't overpowering, allowing ten Athletic hits, but he stranded ten men and threw strikes until the end as he pitched to the lead he was given. Ivy Griffin and Tillie Walker each had three hits for the As. [box]

Athletics 7, Browns 2: Philadelphia scored four times in the 5th, behind Al Wingo's bases-loaded triple, to jump clear of St. Louis and split the afternoon's honors at Shibe Park. William Pierson (1-0) was very effective on the slab for the As, allowing only seven St. Louis singles (three to the white-hot Baby Doll Jacobson, who had eight hits on the day),  and Wingo added a second triple and a single and scored twice. [box]