Glenn Wright drove in five runs to lead the Pirates to a 13-3 win over Chicago. That gave the Bucs a sweep of their three-game home series and put them over .500 for the first time on the season.
The game was close for a few innings. The Pirates got a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Max Carey led off with a single and Eddie Moore beat out a bunt, with both runners moving up on starter Sheriff Blake’s wild throw to first. Kiki Cuyler then singled in both runners.
The Cubs took a 3-2 lead with three runs in the top of the fourth. Tommy Griffith led off with a home run. With two out, Pirates’ starter Vic Aldridge — who walked six on the day — walked a pair, and a single to shallow center loaded the bases. Aldridge’s mound opponent, Blake, singled to center to drive in one run, and a second scored when Carey threw wildly to home.
The score didn’t stay close for long. In the bottom of the fourth, George Grantham led off with a single and took third on an Earl Smith double, the second of three by Smith in the game. Aldridge got some revenge with a two-run single to put the Pirates up, 4-3. The Pirates eventually loaded the bases on bunt hit by Moore and a walk to Cuyler. With two out, Pie Traynor walked to force in a run. Wright then blasted an opposite-field grand slam, his seventh longball of the year. The seven-run inning made it 9-3, Pirates.
Aldridge had to pitch out of trouble in the fifth, when an error and two more walks loaded the bases with two out. In the final four innings, he allowed just three hits.
The Pirates kept on adding runs. In the fifth, Smith doubled again, went to third on a single by Aldridge, and scored on a ground out by Moore. Two more came home in the sixth when Wright tripled in a run, then scored on a ground out by Grantham. The final run scored on a wild pitch in the eighth.
Aldridge allowed seven hits in the game and evened his record at 2-2. The Pirates had 16 hits, with Wright and Smith each getting three. Now St. Louis comes to Forbes for four games.
