HEATHCOTE, CUBS PREVENT BUCS CLINCHER
Pirates Blow Late Lead, Look to Claim Flag Tomorrow
CHICAGO, September 28 (AP) - Cliff Heathcote led off the bottom of the ninth
with a home run off reliever Don Songer and the Chicago Cubs came back late for
a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field. The loss
prevented the Pirates from clinching the National League pennant outright.
Their magic number remains at one. A loss by the New York Giants tomorrow
in that club's regular season finale would put Pittsburgh in the World Series as
would a win by the Pirates over the Cubs or over the Philadelphia Phillies in
the season's ultimate game on Tuesday.
The contest was close throughout. The Pirates drew first blood on Charlie
Grimm's second inning sacrifice fly, but the Cubs tied the contest in the third
when Pittsburgh starter Lee Meadows walked Bob Barrett with the bases full.
Chicago took the lead in the fourth. With one out, Harvey Cotter
walked. Elmer Jacobs' sacrifice attempt was so good that he beat out the
throw for a bunt single, putting runners at first and second. Sparky Adams
then drove Pirates right fielder Clyde Barnhart to the wall to haul in his long
drive and Cotter tagged and moved to third. Heathcote followed with a
bloop double that fell just fair down the left field line, plating Cotter.
Meadows fanned George Grantham to avoid further damage.
Pittsburgh regained the advantage in the fifth. Meadows led off and lined
a ball to right that Butch Weis dove for but missed. The ball rolled all
the way to the wall and Meadows ended up on third with a triple. Carson
Bigbee then launched his first home run of the year into the right-center field
bleachers to put the Pirates on top 3-2.
The Pirates protected their lead until the eighth. With one out, Chicago
left fielder Denver Grigsby singled to left. Meadows was then called for a
balk, moving Grigsby to second. Bob O'Farrell walked, bringing left-hander
Henry Cotter to the plate. Pittsburgh manager Bill McKechnie lifted
Meadows in favor of lefty throwing Don Songer. Cubs skipper Bill Killefer
countered with Gabby Hartnett. Songer appeared to win the battle when
Hartnett slapped a double play grounder to short but Glen Wright kicked the
ball, filling the bases. Otto Vogel was then called up on to pinch hit for
pitcher Jacobs. Vogel fell behind 1-2 and then rolled a weak grounder
toward first. Grimm grabbed the ball and tagged Vogel for the second out,
but Grigsby scored the tying run. Songer then ended the inning by inducing
Adams to ground to second. So Songer forced three routine ground balls but
the tying run--an unearned run--scored anyway.
Vic Keen replaced Jacobs and retired the Pirates in order in the ninth.
That set the stage for Heathcote's heroics in the bottom half of the frame.
In tomorrow's action at Wrigley Field, Emil Yde of Pittsburgh will take on
Chicago's Sheriff Blake.
9/28/1924, Pit24-ChN24, Wrigley Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1924 Pirates 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 8 3 9 0 1924 Cubs 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 4 8 2 10 0 Pirates AB R H BI AVG Cubs AB R H BI AVG Bigbee lf 5 1 1 2 .272 Adams ss 5 1 2 0 .253 Carey cf 5 0 1 0 .339 Heathcote cf 5 1 3 2 .368 Barnhart rf 5 0 1 0 .296 Grantham 3b 4 0 0 0 .323 Wright ss 4 0 1 0 .277 Weis rf 3 0 0 0 .295 Traynor 3b 4 1 2 0 .282 Barrett 2b 3 0 0 1 .295 Maranville 2b 4 0 1 0 .279 Grigsby lf 4 1 2 0 .359 Grimm 1b 1 0 0 1 .305 O'Farrell c 3 0 0 0 .226 Schmidt c 4 0 0 0 .214 Statz pr 0 0 0 0 .255 Meadows p 4 1 1 0 .171 Kearns 1b 0 0 0 0 .286 Songer p 0 0 0 0 .000 Cotter 1b 2 1 0 0 .276 36 3 8 3 Hartnett ph 1 0 0 0 .322 Jacobs p 3 0 1 0 .073 Vogel ph 1 0 0 1 .272 Keen p 0 0 0 0 .215 34 4 8 4 Pirates INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Meadows 7.1 7 3 2 4 4 128 84 3.09 Songer BS 1, L 0-2 0.2 1 1 1 0 0 14 9 16.20 8.0 8 4 3 4 4 142 93 Cubs INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Jacobs 8.0 8 3 3 2 0 104 65 3.22 Keen W 13-11 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 10 6 4.33 9.0 8 3 3 2 0 114 71 ChN: Statz ran for O'Farrell in the 8th Hartnett batted for Cotter in the 8th Vogel batted for Jacobs in the 8th Kearns inserted at 1b in the 9th Hartnett moved to c in the 9th E-Barnhart, Wright, Maranville, Adams, Grantham. 2B-Heathcote(32). 3B-Meadows(4). HR-Bigbee(1), Heathcote(2). RBI-Bigbee 2(29), Grimm(83), Heathcote 2(55), Barrett(33), Vogel(27). SB-Carey(48). K-Grantham, Barrett 2, O'Farrell. BB-Grimm 2, Weis, Barrett, O'Farrell, Cotter. SH-Grimm. BALK-Meadows. GWRBI: Heathcote Temperature: 53, Sky: cloudy, Wind: left to right at 18 MPH. Attendance: 6,445 Game Time: 2:13