TIGERS CLINCH AL FLAG
Slugfest Win is Club's 100th
ST. LOUIS, Sept. 23 (AP) - The Detroit Tigers clinched the American League
pennant with an 11-10 white knuckle win over the St. Louis Browns in the first
game of a doubleheader at Sportsman's Park. The victory was necessary as
the second place New York Yankees swept a twinbill from the Boston Red Sox in
the Bronx. Detroit entered the day having already clinched a share of the
AL flag; with a magic number of one, the Tigers needed a single win or a lone
Yankees loss. They obtained the former.
The Tigers and Browns have played a string of seesaw, high-scoring affairs in
this series and the doubleheader was no exception. (The Browns won another
slugfest in the nightcap, prevailing by a score of 14-9.) In the last
three games of the series at Sportsman's Park, the two clubs have combined for a
total of 79 runs.
Detroit opened the scoring with a two-run top of the first. Goose Goslin's
two-out triple plated Mickey Cochrane and Hank Greenberg to give the Tigers a
2-0 lead.
Schoolboy Rowe's RBI single in the second plated Pete Fox to up the ante to 3-0
and the Tigers seemed well on their way to clinching with their ace hurler on
the mound. But the Browns rebounded and eventually took the lead over Rowe
and Detroit in the third.
Rollie Hemsley's second inning triple scored Ski Melillo, who had singled, and
Alan Strange brought home Hemsley with a base hit, winnowing the lead to
3-2. And then, in the third, St. Louis burst into the lead, with a pair of
Tigers errors playing a key role. With one out and Jack Burns at the
plate, Cochrane was called for catcher's interference. Roy Pepper then
bounced a tailor made double play grounder to second baseman Charlie Gehringer
who booted it for an error. The Browns now had runners at first and second
with one out. A somewhat flustered Rowe walked Bruce Campbell to load the
bases and Melillo's fly to left brought home Burns, tying the game at 3-3, with
Pepper advancing to third. Hemsley drew the inning's second free pass,
refilling the bags, and Strange's second base hit in as many innings brought
home two more runs, giving St. Louis it's first lead, 5-3.
Having just fallen behind, the Tigers roared to life in the top of the fourth,
scoring seven times and driving Browns starter Bobo Newsom from the game.
After Fox struck out to open the inning, Rowe aided his own cause with a base
hit. Jo-Jo White walked and a wild pitch moved the runners to second and
third with no outs. Cochrane then drew a free pass, loading the
bases. Gehringer followed by grounding a single to right, tying the game
as Rowe and White scored, with Cochrane stopping at second. Hank
Greenberg's would-be double play ground ball was kicked by third baseman Harlond
Clift, once again loading the bases. St. Louis manager Rogers Hornsby
pulled Newsom in favor of Jim Walkup, in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
But Goslin drew a walk, forcing in a run to put Detroit back on top 6-5.
Billy Rogell's infield single made it 7-5. Marv Owen drew a walk--the
fourth free pass of the inning issued by Browns pitching--to make it 8-5.
Fox, batting for the second time in the frame, lined a single to right, scoring
two more runs and leaving runners on the corners. It was now 10-5.
It could have been worse. Rowe drew the fifth walk of the inning, loading
the bases for the umpteenth time. White worked the count full before
finally putting an end to the inning by hitting into a double play.
At this point, the game's outcome seemed a foregone conclusion, but the Browns
scrapped back yet again. Roy Pepper led off the bottom of the fifth with a
single and Bruce Campbell followed with a two-run shot onto the pavilion roof in
right field for his tenth home run of the season. It was now 10-7.
Detroit got one of those runs back in the sixth when Rowe singled home Owen but
in the bottom of the sixth, back-to-back singles off the bats of Clift and Debs
Garms, followed by a Rowe wild pitch, put runners on second snd third with one
out. Burns' ground out scored Clift and St. Louis had pulled to within
three runs, 11-8.
With a three-run lead heading into the bottom of the seventh, Tigers manager
Cochrane made the questionable decision to rest a number of his overworked
regulars. It nearly cost him. Rowe, who had pitched an indifferent
game, was pulled in favor of Chief Hogsett who immediately ran into
trouble. Campbell led off the bottom of the seventh with a base hit and,
one out later, advanced to second on a wild pitch. Hemsley singled to
left, with Campbell stopping at third. It appeared Hogsett might escape
damage when Strange flied to shallow center but Ivy Andrews lined a base hit to
left, scoring Campbell to make it 11-9. Clift followed by flaring a single
to right, scoring Hemsley. The Detroit lead was now 11-10. Garmes
walked to fill the bases but Burns grounded out to end the inning.
After Andrews held the Tigers scoreless in the top of the eighth, Hogsett walked
Pepper to open the bottom half of the frame but then set the Browns down in
order. Andrews easily retired Detroit in the top of the ninth and Hogsett,
for the first time in his three-inning stint, retired the lead-off man when he
induced Strange to pop to shallow left. Pinch hitter Frank Grube grounded
to second but Clift drew a four-pitch walk to keep the inning alive. On
the first offering to Grams, Hogsett fired a wild pitch, allowing Grube to
advance to second. But Garms flied to center to finally end the game.
There's still a week left in the regular season, and the Tigers will now wait to
see who they will face in the World Series, which begins October 3 at Navin
Field.
9/23/1934, Det34-SLA34, game 1, Sportsman's Park (A) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1934 Tigers 2 1 0 7 0 1 0 0 0 11 14 2 11 0 1934 Browns 0 2 3 0 2 1 2 0 0 10 12 2 10 3 Tigers AB R H BI AVG Browns AB R H BI AVG White cf 4 1 0 0 .326 Clift 3b 5 1 2 1 .259 Cochrane c 4 2 0 0 .305 Garms lf 5 0 1 0 .305 Gehringer 2b 5 1 4 2 .389 Burns 1b 3 1 0 1 .292 Clifton pr 1 0 0 0 .000 Pepper cf 4 2 1 0 .292 Greenberg 1b 3 2 0 0 .301 Campbell rf 4 3 2 2 .270 Walker,G lf 1 0 0 0 .287 Melillo 2b 5 1 1 1 .228 Goslin lf 4 1 2 3 .309 Hemsley c 4 2 2 1 .291 Doljack 1b 0 0 0 0 .213 Strange ss 5 0 2 3 .245 Rogell ss 4 1 1 1 .281 Newsom p 1 0 0 0 .198 Owen 3b 3 1 1 1 .346 Walkup p 0 0 0 0 .000 Schuble 3b 1 0 0 0 .250 Bejma ph 1 0 0 0 .290 Fox rf 4 1 3 2 .285 Andrews p 1 0 1 1 .429 Rowe p 3 1 3 1 .273 Grube ph 1 0 0 0 .264 Hogsett p 1 0 0 0 .000 39 10 12 10 38 11 14 10 Tigers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Rowe W 25-9 6.0 8 8 5 3 3 108 63 3.55 Hogsett S 4 3.0 4 2 2 3 0 56 26 7.85 9.0 12 10 7 6 3 164 89 Browns INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Newsom L 17-15 3.1 6 8 7 6 2 93 43 3.75 Walkup 2.2 6 3 2 3 2 56 31 4.70 Andrews 3.0 2 0 0 1 1 39 25 5.41 9.0 14 11 9 10 5 188 99 Det: Clifton ran for Gehringer in the 7th Clifton moved to 2b in the 7th Walker,G inserted at lf in the 7th Doljack inserted at 1b in the 7th Schuble inserted at 3b in the 7th SLA: Bejma batted for Walkup in the 6th Grube batted for Andrews in the 9th E-Cochrane, Gehringer, Clift, Campbell. 2B-Gehringer(48). 3B-Goslin(6), Hemsley(8). HR-Campbell(10). RBI-Gehringer 2(150), Goslin 3(117), Rogell(91), Owen(103), Fox 2(57), Rowe(15), Clift(67), Burns(89), Campbell 2(79), Melillo(53), Hemsley(53), Strange 3(41), Andrews(6). SB-Fox(24). K-Greenberg, Goslin, Rogell, Fox, Hogsett, Garms, Pepper, Hemsley. BB-White 2, Cochrane 2, Greenberg 2, Goslin, Rogell, Owen, Rowe, Clift, Garms, Burns, Pepper, Campbell, Hemsley. SH-Fox, Newsom. CI-Burns. WP-Rowe, Hogsett 2, Newsom. GWRBI: Goslin Temperature: 70, Sky: cloudy, Wind: none. Attendance: N/A Game Time: 2:55