EPIC OFFENSIVE OUTPUT DEFINES BRAVES ROMP
New Season Highs Set in Runs
PITTSBURGH, Aug. 29 (AP) - The Boston Braves' bats awoke en route to a 26-run,
29-hit outburst in the first game of a doubleheader at Forbes Field, producing a
26-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 26 runs scored is the
largest output of the entire major league season to date. 29 hits ties the
mark first reached by the Pirates in a 24-4 victory over the New York Giants on
August 15, also at Forbes Field. Every member of the Braves lineup banged
out at least one hit and Boston set another first in this game by having six
players amass at least four safeties in the same game: Billy Urbanski, Les
Mallon, Randy Moore, Wally Berger, Hal Lee and Shanty Hogan. Lee paced the
Braves with five hits--missing the cycle by a double--while also driving in six
runs. Moore, who came a triple shy of the cycle, drove in five runs while
Berger--also missing the cycle by a triple--drove home four and scored four
times. Urbanski scored five times, tying the major league high water mark
for a single game this season. The Braves scored at least one run in all
nine innings and scored multiple runs in seven of the nine frames.
The game was effectively over as soon as it started as Boston erupted for three
runs in the very first inning. It could have been more. Urbanski,
Mallon, Moore and Berger set the tone for the entire contest by going double,
double, single double to open play against Pittsburgh starter Larry French, who
entered the contest 16-9. Lee's deep fly to right finally recorded the
first out of the game but produced Boston's third tally of the opening frame
when Moore tagged and scored from third. Tommy Thompson then flied to
right and Paul Waner gunned down Berger at the plate for a double play to end
the inning. But if the Pirates thought that would provide a significant
lift, they were wrong.
Braves starter Huck Betts surrendered a lead-off single to Woody Jensen to open
the bottom of the first and then retired the next 12 batters he faced,
effectively closing the door on any potential Pittsburgh comeback hopes.
His teammates, meanwhile, put the game away conclusively in the second, chasing
French from the mound in the process. Pinky Whitney led off with a single,
stole second base and scored on Hogan's triple. Betts then drew a walk and
Urbanski's single scored Whitney to make it 4-0. That was it for French,
who was replaced on the mound by Bill Swift, but things didn't get any
better. Mallon sacrificed the runners to second and third and Moore
brought them both home with a base hit. It was now 7-0 and the Braves had
just gotten started.
Urbanski's two-run homer in the third made it 9-0 and Lee and Thompson added
RBIs in the fourth to give the Braves an 11-0 advantage. Lee's grand slam
in the fifth capped a six-run uprising and, after the Pirates added a couple of
consolation runs in the bottom of the inning, Boston produced single runs in the
sixth and seventh, the latter on Whitney's 12th home run of the season.
Just for good measure, the Braves produced seven more runs over the final two
innings, with Berger's 22nd homer of the year, a two-run shot in the eighth, the
most noteworthy blow.
The Pirates tallied a meaningless run in the ninth; it was far too little too
late.
8/29/1934, BoN34-Pit34, game 1, Forbes Field 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1934 Braves 3 4 2 2 6 1 1 3 4 26 29 0 8 1 1934 Pirates 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 3 8 0 8 2 Braves AB R H BI AVG Pirates AB R H BI AVG Urbanski ss 6 5 4 4 .274 Jensen cf 5 0 2 1 .271 Mallon 2b 5 4 4 3 .304 Lindstrom lf 4 0 0 0 .285 Moore,R 1b 6 3 4 5 .309 Waner,P rf 4 0 1 0 .369 Berger cf 6 4 4 4 .288 Vaughan ss 4 0 0 0 .288 Lee,H lf 7 2 5 6 .337 Thevenow 3b 4 1 2 0 .291 Thompson,T rf 7 0 1 2 .276 Suhr 1b 3 0 0 0 .290 Whitney 3b 7 2 2 1 .256 Lavagetto 2b 3 2 1 0 .192 Hogan c 6 3 4 1 .308 Grace c 3 0 1 0 .322 Betts p 3 3 1 0 .175 French p 0 0 0 0 .188 53 26 29 26 Swift p 1 0 0 0 .143 Meine p 2 0 1 2 .132 Smith,H p 0 0 0 0 .231 Lucas,Re ph 1 0 0 0 .188 34 3 8 3 Braves INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Betts W 10-8 9.0 8 3 3 4 5 124 77 4.25 9.0 8 3 3 4 5 124 77 Pirates INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA French L 16-10 1.0 7 7 7 1 0 28 15 4.01 Swift 3.0 8 9 9 4 0 78 39 4.38 Meine 3.0 8 6 6 1 1 46 35 5.61 Smith,H 2.0 6 4 4 1 0 41 23 5.32 9.0 29 26 26 7 1 193 112 Pit: Lucas,Re batted for Smith,H in the 9th 2B-Urbanski(21), Mallon 2(3), Moore,R(24), Berger(18), Jensen(12). 3B-Lee,H(9), Hogan(1), Thevenow(2). HR-Urbanski(5), Berger(22), Lee,H(8), Whitney(12). RBI-Urbanski 4(45), Mallon 3(13), Moore,R 5(56), Berger 4(90), Lee,H 6(61), Thompson,T 2(23), Whitney(59), Hogan(25), Jensen(18), Meine 2(6). SB-Whitney(6). K-Berger, Jensen, Lindstrom, Suhr, Lavagetto, Lucas,Re. BB-Urbanski, Mallon, Moore,R, Berger, Betts 3, Lindstrom, Suhr, Lavagetto, Grace. SH-Mallon. GWRBI: Mallon Temperature: 79, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: out to center at 9 MPH. Attendance: N/A Game Time: 2:42