DH SWEEP EXTENDS A'S 'W' STREAK TO 11
Browns Drop 8th Straight
PHILADELPHIA, June 23 (AP) - The Philadelphia Athletics extended their winning
streak to 11 consecutive games with a doubleheader sweep of the St. Louis Browns
at Shibe Park. Bob Johnson had five hits and drove in five runs on the day
for the A's. Bruce Campbell banged out five safeties in the two games for
the Browns.
In the opener, which Philadelphia won 6-3, A's starter Bill Dietrich shook off a
three-run St. Louis second, which gave the Browns a 3-0 lead, and pitched seven
innings of shutout ball the rest of the way. Frank Grube and starting
pitcher Bump Hadley had RBI singles for the Browns in the top of the second and
Alan Strange added a run-scoring double.
But the A's evened the score with three runs in the third off Hadley. Eric
McNair's one-out single and back-to-back walks to Doc Cramer and Johnson loaded
the bases; Jimmie Foxx's deep fly to center scored McNair. Pinky Higgins
then drove home Cramer and Johnson with a triple that rolled all the way to the
center field wall, tying the game at three.
Philadelphia then seized control in the bottom of the fifth with three more
runs, all of them unearned. McNair reached on Strange's error to open the
frame and, after Cramer and Johnson were retired, the floodgates opened.
Foxx dropped a single into right, advancing McNair to second, and Higgins rolled
a single into left, filling the bases. Ed Coleman then cracked a drive off
the base of the light standard in right-center field. The ball careened
wildly toward center and went for a triple, clearing the bases to give the A's a
6-3 advantage. Dietrich scattered three singles over the final five
innings to earn the complete game victory.
The nightcap was a wild affair, with the A's prevailing 11-10 in 11
innings. Philadelphia took the lead in the bottom of the first on Foxx's
RBI ground out and then extended to a 4-0 advantage in the fifth when McNair and
Cramer singled with two outs and trotted home when Johnson drove a first pitch
offering from Browns starter George Blaeholder off the facing of the left field
upper deck for a three-run homer and a 4-0 lead.
St. Louis cut the lead in half in the sixth on Campbell's two-run single and
tied it in the seventh on Sam West's RBI grounder and a run-scoring single off
the bat of Jack Burns.
The A's appeared to take control of the game once and for all with a six-run
bottom of the seventh. Johnson's bases loaded single with one out drove
home two runs and Foxx drove home two more with a double. Higgins and
pinch hitter Charlie Moss both had RBI singles before the inning came to an end,
giving Philadelphia a seemingly comfortable 10-4 lead.
But the Browns wouldn't quit and tied the game in the top of the eighth with
their own six-run outburst. Rollie Hemsley's RBI single brought home the
first run of the frame and reliever Harry Matusak's wild pitch allowed another
run to score. Base hits off the bats of Ski Melillo's and Burns brought
home two more and a bases loaded walk drawn by Roy Pepper made it a one-run
contest. Campbell's RBI grounder knotted the score at 10.
St. Louis reliever Bill McAfee stranded the bases loaded in the bottom of the
tenth but in the 11th the A's finally broke through. Foxx was hit by a
pitch leading off the inning and Higgins walked, putting runners at first and
second. Coleman's grounder to the right side moved the baserunners up 90
feet and Rabbit Warstler followed by lining sharply to Pepper in left.
Foxx tagged and beat the throw to the plate for the game-winning run. Al
Benton tossed 3 2/3 innings of shutout relief for Philadelphia to earn the
victory.
The A's are only the second team in the major leagues this season to have a
double digit winning streak. The Detroit Tigers have managed to accomplish
the feat twice, winning a major league best 14 games from May 25 through June 7.
The Browns have a lost eight in a row, the club's longest losing streak of
the year to date.
6/23/1934, SLA34-PhA34, game 1, Shibe Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1934 Browns 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 9 1 7 1 1934 Athletics 0 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 x 6 8 0 5 0 Browns AB R H BI AVG Athletics AB R H BI AVG Bejma 3b 5 0 0 0 .237 McNair ss 4 2 1 0 .256 West cf 4 0 0 0 .301 Cramer cf 3 1 2 0 .302 Burns 1b 4 0 0 0 .282 Johnson,B lf 3 1 1 0 .341 Pepper lf 4 0 1 0 .262 Foxx 1b 3 1 1 1 .321 Campbell rf 4 1 3 0 .267 Higgins 3b 4 1 2 3 .332 Melillo 2b 4 0 0 0 .210 Coleman rf 4 0 1 2 .297 Grube c 4 1 2 1 .250 Warstler 2b 4 0 0 0 .188 Strange ss 4 1 1 1 .240 Berry c 3 0 0 0 .236 Hadley p 1 0 1 1 .219 Miller ph 1 0 0 0 .196 Andrews p 1 0 1 0 .450 Hayes,F c 0 0 0 0 .154 Clift ph 1 0 0 0 .260 Dietrich p 3 0 0 0 .200 36 3 9 3 32 6 8 6 Browns INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Hadley L 2-6 4.2 7 6 3 2 2 98 59 4.74 Andrews 3.1 1 0 0 1 1 32 20 6.31 8.0 8 6 3 3 3 130 79 Athletics INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Dietrich W 4-1 9.0 9 3 3 1 2 115 70 4.47 9.0 9 3 3 1 2 115 70 SLA: Clift batted for Andrews in the 9th PhA: Miller batted for Berry in the 8th Hayes,F inserted at c in the 9th E-Bejma. 2B-Campbell(9), Strange(2). 3B-Higgins(6), Coleman(2). RBI-Grube(7), Strange(13), Hadley(5), Foxx(34), Higgins 3(48), Coleman 2(30). SB-Campbell(3), Grube(1). K-Bejma 2, Johnson,B, Warstler, Dietrich. BB-Hadley, Cramer, Johnson,B, Foxx. GWRBI: Higgins Temperature: 88, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: in from right at 4 MPH. Attendance: N/A Game Time: 1:58 6/23/1934, SLA34-PhA34, game 2, Shibe Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E LOB DP 1934 Browns 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 6 0 0 0 10 9 2 11 0 1934 Athletics 1 0 0 0 3 0 6 0 0 0 1 11 14 3 9 0 Browns AB R H BI AVG Athletics AB R H BI AVG Melillo 2b 5 2 2 1 .214 McNair ss 4 3 1 0 .256 West cf 4 2 0 1 .296 Cramer cf 4 2 2 0 .305 Burns 1b 5 0 2 2 .285 Johnson,B lf 6 2 4 5 .349 Pepper lf 5 0 0 1 .257 Foxx 1b 5 2 1 3 .319 Campbell rf 5 1 2 3 .271 Higgins 3b 5 1 2 1 .333 Clift 3b 5 1 1 0 .259 Coleman rf 6 0 1 0 .292 Hemsley c 6 1 1 1 .274 Warstler 2b 5 0 0 1 .184 Strange ss 4 1 1 0 .240 Berry c 3 0 1 0 .238 Blaeholder p 2 0 0 0 .043 Dietrich pr 0 1 0 0 .200 Hornsby ph 0 1 0 0 .500 Moss ph 2 0 1 1 .667 Wells p 0 0 0 0 .100 Cascarella p 3 0 0 0 .000 Grube ph 0 1 0 0 .250 Matuzak p 0 0 0 0 .000 McAfee p 2 0 0 0 .222 Benton,A p 1 0 1 0 .111 43 10 9 9 44 11 14 11 Browns INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Blaeholder 6.0 6 4 3 1 2 90 56 6.59 Wells 1.0 6 6 6 2 2 39 21 3.99 McAfee L 1-3 3.2 2 1 1 2 0 59 33 2.97 10.2 14 11 10 5 4 188 110 Athletics INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Cascarella 7.0 6 7 7 5 4 117 68 6.43 Matuzak 0.1 2 3 3 3 0 25 9 5.59 Benton,A BS 1, W 5-2 3.2 1 0 0 1 1 47 28 4.00 11.0 9 10 10 9 5 189 105 SLA: Hornsby batted for Blaeholder in the 7th Grube batted for Wells in the 8th PhA: Dietrich ran for Berry in the 7th Moss batted for Dietrich in the 7th Moss moved to c in the 8th E-Pepper, Hemsley, McNair, Johnson,B, Moss. 2B-Foxx(11). HR-Johnson,B(14). RBI-Melillo(24), West(40), Burns 2(35), Pepper(35), Campbell 3(29), Hemsley(26), Johnson,B 5(56), Foxx 3(37), Higgins(49), Warstler(15), Moss(1). SB-Johnson,B(6), Higgins(4). K-West, Pepper, Hemsley, Blaeholder 2, Johnson,B, Higgins, Coleman, Cascarella. BB-West 2, Burns, Pepper, Campbell, Clift, Strange, Hornsby, Grube, McNair 2, Cramer, Higgins, Warstler. SH-Melillo, Cascarella. HBP-Strange, Cramer, Foxx. HB-McAfee 2, Cascarella. WP-Wells, McAfee, Matuzak. GWRBI: Warstler Temperature: 88, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: in from left at 4 MPH. Attendance: 4,672 Game Time: 3:14