YDE'S 2-OUT 9TH INNING PINCH HR RESCUES BUCS
5-Run Lead Blown, Pirates Prevail in Final AB
PITTSBURGH, Sept. 27 (AP) - Emil Yde hit a two-out, two-run pinch hit home run
in the bottom of the ninth inning giving the Pittsburgh Pirates a wild 8-7 win
over the Chicago Cubs at Forbes Field. The victory, coupled with New
York's loss earlier in the day, cut Pittsburgh's magic number to two with three
games remaining. The Giants have two contests left in their season.
For much of the game it appeared that the Pirates would cruise to an easy
win. Pittsburgh pushed across two runs in the first inning on a Max Carey
double and a Glen Wright sacrifice fly and doubled their lead in the third on
Wright's sixth home run of the year, a two-run shot. The Pirates made it
5-0 in the fourth on Babe Adam's run-scoring single.
Adams, meanwhile, was having little difficulty taming the Cubs, shutting them
out through six innings. Everything fell apart for the Pirates in the
seventh, however, and with lightning speed. Butch Weis and Bill Barrett
started the frame with back-to-back singles, putting runners on first and
third. Howie Fitzgerald popped to short for the first out, but Gabby
Hartnett's infield single broke the shutout and left runners at first and
second. Harvey Cotter then walked. That brought up Hack Miller, who
had remained in the game after pinch hitting for Chicago starting pitcher Vic
Aldridge in the sixth. Miller drilled a 2-2 pitch into the right field
stands for a game-tying grand slam, silencing the crowd of 16,768. It was
a stunning turn of events. Adams had been toying with the Cubs through six
innings but saw a five-run lead vanish in what seemed like the blink of an eye.
The Cubs would take the lead in the eighth. With one out, Weis reached on
a Wright error and Barrett followed with a single to right-center, putting
runners at first and third. That brought up Fitzgerald, who was 0-for-13
on the season. He grounded a single into right field, scoring Weis with
the go-ahead run and moving Barrett to third. That ended Adams' day.
He was replaced by Jeff Pfeffer, who yielded a sacrifice fly to Hartnett to make
it 7-5.
The Pirates got a run back in their half of the eighth off reliever Rip Wheeler
when Rabbit Maranville's two-out double was followed by Charlie Grimm's
RBI-single.
Pfeffer set the Cubs down in order in the ninth, setting up the drama of the
bottom half of the inning.
Walter Mueller coaxed a leadoff walk off Guy Bush. Carson Bigbee's
sacrifice attempt failed--Mueller was forced at second. Max Carey's roller
back to the mound was the second out, but moved Mueller into scoring
position. Yde was called on to pinch hit for Pfeffer. Yde, a key
member of Pittsburgh's starting rotation, swings from the left side and has been
a dangerous hitter in the past, though he was struggling with the bat thus far
this season. Pfeffer worked ahead 0-2 and then fired a fastball that Yde
drilled to right field. Chicago right fielder Butch Weis retreated to the
wall and watched the ball disappear three or four rows into the outfield seats
for the game-winning blast that set the Forbes Field crowd into a state of
bedlam.
It was the final home game of the season for Pittsburgh. The two teams
head to Chicago where they'll meet for single games at Wrigley Field on Sunday
and Monday. The Pirates also have a Tuesday contest at Philadelphia
remaining on the
schedule.
9/27/1924, ChN24-Pit24, Forbes Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1924 Cubs 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2 0 7 9 2 4 0 1924 Pirates 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 2 8 11 1 5 2 Cubs AB R H BI AVG Pirates AB R H BI AVG Adams ss 5 0 1 0 .252 Bigbee lf 4 2 0 0 .273 Heathcote cf 2 0 0 0 .365 Carey cf 5 1 1 1 .340 Wheeler p 1 0 0 0 .053 Barnhart rf 4 1 2 0 .297 Elliott ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Pfeffer p 0 0 0 0 .372 Bush p 0 0 0 0 .083 Yde ph 1 1 1 2 .169 Grantham 3b 3 0 0 0 .326 Wright ss 3 1 1 3 .278 Weis lf 4 2 1 0 .302 Traynor 3b 3 0 0 0 .280 Barrett 2b 4 2 2 0 .301 Maranville 2b 4 1 2 0 .280 Fitzgerald rf 4 0 1 1 .071 Grimm 1b 4 1 2 1 .305 Statz cf 0 0 0 0 .255 Schmidt c 4 0 1 0 .219 Hartnett c 3 1 2 2 .323 Adams p 3 0 1 1 .273 Cotter 1b 3 1 0 0 .277 Mueller rf 0 0 0 0 .340 Aldridge p 1 0 0 0 .146 35 8 11 8 Miller ph 3 1 2 4 .277 34 7 9 7 Cubs INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Aldridge 5.0 7 5 4 1 3 82 55 3.52 Wheeler 3.0 3 1 1 0 0 41 27 4.28 Bush BS 1, L 5-4 0.2 1 2 2 1 0 16 10 3.63 8.2 11 8 7 2 3 139 92 Pirates INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Adams 7.1 9 7 5 3 3 111 69 2.94 Pfeffer W 7-9 1.2 0 0 0 0 2 23 15 4.85 9.0 9 7 5 3 5 134 84 ChN: Miller batted for Aldridge in the 6th Miller moved to cf in the 6th Weis moved to rf in the 8th Statz inserted at cf in the 8th Miller moved to lf in the 8th Elliott batted for Wheeler in the 9th Pit: Mueller inserted at rf in the 8th Yde batted for Pfeffer in the 9th E-Hartnett 2, Wright. 2B-Carey(37), Maranville(32). 3B-Barnhart(10). HR-Miller(4), Wright(6), Yde(1). RBI-Fitzgerald(1), Hartnett 2(67), Miller 4(20), Carey(73), Wright 3(120), Grimm(82), Adams(2), Yde 2(12). SB-Adams(15), Bigbee(15), Barnhart(7). CS-Maranville, Schmidt. K-Grantham, Barrett, Fitzgerald, Cotter, Miller, Carey, Barnhart, Adams. BB-Heathcote, Grantham, Cotter, Traynor, Mueller. SH-Hartnett, Wright. HBP-Bigbee. HB-Aldridge. GWRBI: Yde Temperature: 58, Sky: cloudy, Wind: out to right at 20 MPH. Attendance: 16,768 Game Time: 2:26