POOR DEFENSE PLAGUES ST LOUIS, 5-4

For the second straight game, poor defense did in the Plague as Harlem won 5-4 to take a 2-0 lead in the 1938 DBS World Series.

St Louis needed to win game 2 in order to return home with a split, although Harlem’s road record this season is much better than their home record. It was a above-normal 73 degrees at the start of this afternoon contest.

Luke Hamlin was Harlem’s starter, and he got into trouble right away as Buddy Myer singled, followed by a Bill Dickey double. Jimmie Foxx grounded out to short, allowing Myer to score. Harlem went down in order against Whitey Moore, giving St Louis a 1-0 lead after one.

The Knights tied it up at one in the second inning when Bill Dickey dropped the ball on a tag at the plate, allowing Rudy York to score. The score remained that way until the 6th, when York reached on an error and was followed with a home run by Al Simmons. A sac fly later in the inning made it 4-1, Harlem.

Each team exchanged runs, making it 5-2 going into the 8th. After walks to Myer and Foxx, Bob Johnson ripped a 1-0 pitch from Hamlin past a diving Ival Goodman, scoring both runners and sending Johnson to third with a triple. He was stranded there, but St Louis closed the gap to 5-4.

In the top of the ninth, Rip Radcliff lead off with a double, but Jumbo Brown retired the next three to preserve the 5-4 Harlem victory. The series shifts to St Louis on Monday, with the Knights up 2 games to none.

                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
1938 Plague            1  0  0  0  0  0  1  2  0     4 10  2     6  0
1938 Knights           0  1  0  0  0  3  1  0  x     5 11  0    10  2

Plague               AB  R  H BI   AVG    Knights              AB  R  H BI   AVG
Travis            ss  5  0  0  0  .125    Gehringer         2b  4  0  1  1  .111
Myer              2b  3  2  2  0  .571    Walker            rf  4  0  0  0  .111
Dickey            c   4  0  2  0  .375    Goodman           cf  5  0  0  0  .000
Foxx              1b  3  1  0  1  .143    Greenberg         1b  4  1  2  0  .556
Johnson           cf  4  0  1  2  .250    York              c   3  2  2  0  .500
Chapman           rf  4  1  2  0  .375    Simmons           lf  3  1  2  3  .714
Radcliff          lf  4  0  2  0  .250    Cronin            ss  3  0  1  0  .714
Rolfe             3b  3  0  1  0  .167    Higgins           3b  4  1  2  0  .571
 Mack             ph  1  0  0  0  .000    Hamlin            p   3  0  0  0  .000
Moore             p   2  0  0  0  .000     Brown            p   1  0  1  0 1.000
 McQuinn          ph  1  0  0  0  .000                         34  5 11  4
 Hutchinson       p   0  0  0  0  .000
 West             ph  1  0  0  0  .000
                     35  4 10  3

Plague                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Moore            L 0-1           6.0  7  4  2  4  2 113  67  3.00
Hutchinson                       2.0  4  1  1  0  1  31  21  4.50
                                 8.0 11  5  3  4  3 144  88

Knights                          INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Hamlin           W 1-0           7.2  9  4  4  2  4 111  67  4.70
Brown            S 1             1.1  1  0  0  0  3  25  16  0.00
                                 9.0 10  4  4  2  7 136  83

STL: McQuinn batted for Moore in the 7th
Mack batted for Rolfe in the 9th
West batted for Hutchinson in the 9th

E-Dickey, Rolfe. 2B-Dickey, Radcliff, Gehringer, Higgins. 3B-Johnson.
HR-Simmons(1). K-Travis, Dickey, Johnson, Chapman, Rolfe, Moore, West,
Greenberg, Higgins, Hamlin. BB-Myer, Foxx, Walker, York, Simmons, Cronin.
SF-Gehringer. PB-York. WP-Hamlin.
GWRBI: Simmons
Temperature: 73, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 18 MPH.