GIANTS DRAW FIRST BLOOD
McQuillan, Bucs Errors Pace N.Y. Win
NEW YORK, September 23 (AP) - The New York Giants set what they hope will be the
tone for the rest of the games in their critical three-game series with
Pittsburgh by whipping the Pirates 5-0 in the opener Tuesday afternoon.
Hugh McQuillan (12-10) scattered five hits en route to his second shutout of the
season and four Pittsburgh errors paved the way to four unearned New York runs.
The Giants seemed a bit disappointed with the size of the crowd on a perfect
afternoon. While the 13,754 represented the largest Tuesday audience of
the season at the Polo Grounds in a game not involving the cross--borough
Robins, given the stakes something on the order of twice that size might have
been expected. But those in attendance made up for their relative lack of
size with substantial volume.
New York won the game despite missing three key regulars: third baseman Heinie
Groh appears to be done for the season with a knee injury and fears are that
second baseman Frankie Frisch may be in the same boat. Left fielder Irish
Meusel has been out for more than a week with a chest problem. Meusel
didn't play at all on Tuesday--he has been used occasionally as a pinch hitter
and late-inning defensive replacement since leaving the starting lineup--but the
Giants remain hopeful that he'll return for Wednesday's contest. With
those three out, John McGraw turned to Freddie Lindstrom, Jimmy O'Connell and
Bill Terry as replacements. Lindstrom led off and played third; O'Connell
hit second and was in center field; Terry hit fifth and played first base.
George Kelly started the game at second base.
The Pirates missed their best scoring opportunity of the day in the very first
inning. Eddie Moore led off by spraying a single between Kelly and
Terry. Max Carey rapped one back to the mound and McQuillan threw to
second to force Moore. Kiki Cuyler flied to shallow left for the second
out but Glen Wright walked to put runners at first and second. Pie Traynor
then hit a dribbler to the third base side of the mound. McQuillan fielded
it and promptly dropped the ball for an error, filling the bases. But
McQuillan bailed himself out by retiring Rabbit Maranville on a routine ground
ball to shortstop Travis Jackson.
The Giants had potential scoring chances snuffed out by double plays in each of
the first two innings but broke through in the third courtesy of what was to
become a theme in this game: shoddy Pittsburgh defense. Hank Gowdy led off
the frame with a swinging bunt. Catcher Earl Smith fielded the ball
cleanly and fired the ball over the head of Charlie Grimm, the Pirates first
baseman. It went for a two-base error. McQuillan sacrificed Gowdy to
third and then, with the Pirates' infield pulled in to try to cut off the run at
the plate, Lindstrom hit a ground ball that went right through the legs of
second baseman Maranville. Gowdy scored to make it 1-0. O'Connell
flied out, but Kelly and Terry lined back-to-back singles off Lee Meadows (16-9)
to score the second run of the inning.
New York added to its lead courtesy of another Pirates miscue in the
fifth. With one out Ross Youngs singled and advanced to second on Kelly's
base hit. Terry's grounder to short forced Kelly at second, but the Giants
first baseman beat the relay to avoid the double play. Hack Wilson's
grounder to short appeared to be an inning-ender, but Wright booted the ball and
Youngs scored to make it 3-0.
McQuillan avoided trouble in the seventh. Charlie Grimm lined an opposite
field double to begin the inning, but Smith, Carson Bigbee pinch hitting for
Meadows, and Moore were all retired in order, preserving the shutout.
The Giants all but put the game away in the home half of the seventh off the
Pirates bullpen, and more defensive miseries. Don Songer started the
inning for Pittsburgh and yielded a single to Kelly--his third of the day--and a
double to Terry--his second of the day--before being pulled in favor of Babe
Adams. Adams was greeted by a Wilson single to center. Kelly scored
easily but Carey's perfect throw to the plate beat Terry easily. Smith,
however, dropped the ball for an error, allowing Terry to score the fifth run of
the contest.
And that was essentially that. The only baserunner during the remainder of
the game was Carey, who reached on a leadoff single in the eighth only to be
erased on Wright's double play grounder.
Pittsburgh's lead is now down to 1/2 game. The two teams will meet in the
second game of the series, with first place on the line, tomorrow
afternoon. Left-hander Emil Yde of the Pirates will face the Giants'
Virgil Barnes in a matchup of 16-game winners.
9/23/1924, Pit24-NYN24, Polo Grounds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1924 Pirates 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 4 7 2 1924 Giants 0 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 x 5 11 1 10 1 Pirates AB R H BI AVG Giants AB R H BI AVG Moore rf 4 0 1 0 .315 Lindstrom 3b 4 1 1 0 .239 Carey cf 4 0 2 0 .342 O'Connell cf 5 0 0 0 .279 Cuyler lf 4 0 0 0 .363 Southworth cf 0 0 0 0 .246 Wright ss 3 0 0 0 .278 Youngs rf 5 1 3 0 .347 Traynor 3b 4 0 0 0 .280 Kelly 2b 4 1 3 1 .309 Maranville 2b 4 0 1 0 .281 Terry 1b 4 1 2 0 .221 Grimm 1b 4 0 1 0 .301 Wilson lf 4 0 2 1 .322 Smith c 2 0 0 0 .435 Jackson ss 4 0 0 0 .300 Meadows p 2 0 0 0 .167 Gowdy c 2 1 0 0 .355 Bigbee ph 1 0 0 0 .277 McQuillan p 2 0 0 0 .088 Songer p 0 0 0 0 .000 34 5 11 2 Adams p 0 0 0 0 .250 32 0 5 0 Pirates INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Meadows L 16-9 6.0 8 3 0 2 2 99 57 3.12 Songer 0.0 2 2 1 0 0 7 3 99.00 Adams 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 24 18 2.05 8.0 11 5 1 2 3 130 78 Giants INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA McQuillan W 12-10 9.0 5 0 0 2 2 97 63 2.99 9.0 5 0 0 2 2 97 63 Pit: Bigbee batted for Meadows in the 7th NYN: Southworth inserted at cf in the 9th E-Wright, Maranville, Smith 2, McQuillan. 2B-Grimm(26), Terry 2(8). RBI-Kelly(110), Wilson(87). K-Traynor, Maranville, Lindstrom, Youngs, McQuillan. BB-Wright, Smith, Gowdy 2. SH-McQuillan 2. HBP-Lindstrom. HB-Meadows. WP-Meadows. Temperature: 68, Sky: clear, Wind: out to left at 9 MPH. Attendance: 13,754 Game Time: 1:59