NATS USE BIGGEST OF BIG INNINGS TO CRUSH BOSOX
16-Run 6th Does Boston In
BOSTON, May 8 (AP) -- It was a half-inning for the ages. Aided by a
dreadful Boston defense, the Washington Senators scored 16 unearned runs in the
sixth inning and went on to hammer the Red Sox, 20-2 at Fenway Park.
Turning a 1-1 pitching duel into a rout, the Senators sent 21 batters to the
plate in the top of the sixth, banging out 12 hits and drawing three
walks. The Red Sox contributed three errors as well.
The Red Sox had pushed across the game's first run off Washington starter Walter
Johnson (5-1) and the Senators knotted the game in the second when Ossie Bluege
singled Joe Judge with two outs in the second. That Washington run
produced an eerie case of foreshadowing; Judge had reached on a Harris error and
the run was unearned.
The first five innings shaped up as the anticipated pitching duel between two of
the American League's best starters: Johnson and Boston's Howard Ehmke.
But then came the sixth inning. Sam Rice reached on third baseman Danny
Clark's two-base throwing error. Goose Goslin grounded out, advancing Rice
to third. But Judge singled Rice home to make it 2-1 and Muddy Ruel
followed with a single of his own with Judge moving to second. Ehmke then
walked Doc Prothro to fill the bases. Bluege grounded to second, and while
the Red Sox forced the runner at second, Bluege barely beat the potential double
play relay at first. It was now 3-1--the inning should have been over
without a run scoring--and things completely fell apart for Boston.
Johnson double home a run. Lance Richbourg reached when right fielder
Shano Collins dropped his fly ball, allowing another run to score. Bucky
Harris walked and Rice--the Senators had now batted around--reached base when
second baseman Bill Wambsganns allowed his grounder to go right through the
wickets. That ended Ehmke's day, but if anything things were worse for
reliever Les Howe, who faced seven batters without retiring any of them.
In order, Judge walked, Ruel doubled, Prothro tripled, Bluege doubled, Johnson
singled, Richbourg singled, Harris doubled. Howe was replaced by Bill
Piercy, but he was greeted by singles off the bats of Rice and Goslin.
Judge finally, mercifully, ended the inning by grounding to Wambsganns.
The 5,825 partisans responded to the third out with the largest of sarcastic
cheers--a faux standing ovation.
Every single member of the Senators starting lineup reached base safely at least
once in the sixth inning. Harris, Goslin, Judge, Ruel, Prothro and Johnson
all reached safely twice.
The Red Sox, who have only seven pitchers on their current roster and had a
fatigued bullpen entering the contest, elected to use only three pitchers to
absorb the pounding in an attempt to keep from running into problems in the
coming days. The huge lead--and the ever-effective Johnson--allowed the
Senators to avoid any such considerations.
It was a welcome sign of offensive prowess for Washington. The Senators
entered the game having scored only 77 runs in 20 prior contests this
season. The victory leaves the team in third place, just one game behind
AL frontrunner Detroit. Boston slips into a fourth place tie with
Philadelphia, but remains just 1 1/2 games out of first.
5/8/1924, Was24-BoA24, Fenway Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1924 Senators 0 1 0 0 0 16 2 0 1 20 19 0 9 1 1924 Red Sox 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 6 5 7 1 Senators AB R H BI AVG Red Sox AB R H BI AVG Richbourg rf 7 2 4 3 .346 Flagstead cf 3 1 0 0 .277 Harris 2b 5 2 1 2 .244 Wambsganss 2b 3 0 1 0 .294 Rice cf 5 2 1 1 .198 Veach lf 1 0 0 0 .288 Goslin lf 5 1 3 2 .296 Ezzell ss 1 0 1 0 .286 Judge 1b 4 3 1 1 .279 Harris 1b 3 0 1 1 .233 Shirley 1b 1 0 0 0 .000 Collins rf 4 1 2 0 .273 Ruel c 4 2 2 2 .280 Clark 3b 3 0 0 0 .091 Tate c 1 0 0 0 .000 O'Neill c 3 0 0 0 .188 Prothro 3b 4 1 2 2 .342 Picinich c 1 0 1 1 .083 Peckinpaugh pr 1 2 0 0 .179 Lee ss 2 0 0 0 .208 Bluege ss 5 2 3 3 .667 Shanks lf 2 0 0 0 .200 Johnson p 6 3 2 2 .308 Ehmke p 2 0 0 0 .105 48 20 19 18 Howe p 0 0 0 0 .000 Piercy p 1 0 0 0 .200 Connolly ph 1 0 0 0 .200 30 2 6 2 Senators INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Johnson W 5-1 9.0 6 2 2 4 5 133 84 2.33 9.0 6 2 2 4 5 133 84 Red Sox INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Ehmke L 4-2 5.2 7 10 0 3 1 116 76 2.26 Howe 0.0 6 7 7 1 0 24 12 27.00 Piercy 3.1 6 3 2 1 0 64 40 4.70 9.0 19 20 9 5 1 204 128 Was: Peckinpaugh ran for Prothro in the 7th Shirley inserted at 1b in the 7th Tate inserted at c in the 7th Peckinpaugh moved to ss in the 7th Bluege moved to 3b in the 7th BoA: Ezzell inserted at ss in the 7th Picinich inserted at c in the 7th Shanks inserted at lf in the 7th Connolly batted for Piercy in the 9th E-Wambsganss, Harris, Collins, Clark 2. 2B-Harris, Ruel, Bluege, Johnson, Collins. 3B-Richbourg 2, Prothro. K-Harris, O'Neill, Ehmke 2, Shanks, Connolly. BB-Harris, Rice, Judge, Prothro, Bluege, Flagstead, Wambsganss, Veach, Clark. SH-Harris, Ruel, Veach, Harris. HBP-Goslin. HB-Piercy. GWRBI: Judge Temperature: 61, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 12 MPH. Attendance: 5,835 Game Time: 2:42