The Pirates got a split of their two-game series in Chicago with an 8-6 win. A six-run outburst in the seventh inning keyed the win.
Each team scored once in the first. For the Pirates, Max Carey, Kiki Cuyler and Clyde Barnhart all singled off Pete Alexander, bringing in a run. The Cubs came back quickly, getting a leadoff single by Sparky Adams and a one-out, RBI double by Howard Freigau.
For the next five innings, Alexander was in his best form. The Pirates had just three hits and one was wiped out on a double play.
The Cubs managed a couple more single runs off Ray Kremer. One came after the Bucs got a break in the fourth. Butch Weis and Gabby Hartnett led off with back-to-back doubles, but Weis held up initially on Hartnett’s fly to left and got caught at the plate on a relay from Barnhart to shortstop Glenn Wright. Charlie Grimm then singled to score Hartnett. The Cubs made it 3-1 in the sixth on a solo home run by Hartnett. The Cubs’ catcher has hit seven of his 17 homers this year against the Bucs.
In the top of the seventh, the Pirates suddenly broke things open against Alexander. They tied the score quickly when Traynor led off with a walk and Wright belted his 11th home run of the year. One out later, Johnny Gooch singled and scored on a double by Kremer, then Carey drove Kremer in with a double. Manager Bill Killefer replaced Alexander with Guy Bush, but after a strikeout, Cuyler singled and Barnhart doubled for two more runs and a 7-3 lead.
The Pirates got one more insurance run in the top of the ninth when Cuyler’s sacrifice fly drove in Carey, who’d doubled and moved up on a bunt.
Kremer needed the margin in the bottom of the ninth. A Grimm double, a ground out and a sacrifice fly produced one run. Then a walk and a home run by Cliff Heathcote narrowed the gap to 8-6. The next two batters singled to put the tying runs on base, but Bill McKechnie stuck with Kremer and the righty got Freigau to ground out, ending the game.
Kremer allowed 13 hits, but still ran his record to 7-4. Cuyler and Carey each had three hits.
The Giants swept a doubleheader from the Phillies, so the Pirates are now half a game out of first. They head home for a four-game series against the Reds.
