The Pirates stole seven bases and roughed up Robins’ ace Dazzy Vance in an 8-5 win. They took three of the four games in Brooklyn and maintained their one-game lead over New York, which kept pace with a win over Chicago.
The Pirates got a complete game from Emil Yde, who had to battle through five errors and five walks. Yde benefited from four double plays and also helped himself at the plate.
The Bucs got to Vance early. In the first, Max Carey singled and stole second. After a one-out walk to Kiki Cuyler, the runners pulled a double steal. Vance fanned Clyde Barnhart, but Carey scored when Pie Traynor grounded to deep short and beat the throw to first. Cuyler tried to score, too, but first baseman Jack Fournier threw him out at home.
In the second, Boots Grantham walked and stole second. With two out, Yde drove him in with a single up the middle. Carey tripled to drive in Yde, then scored on a single by Eddie Moore to put the Pirates up, 4-0.
Yde got a 6-4-3 double play to end the first. In the second, after a leadoff single, Grantham took a grounder, stepped on first, and threw to second for a tag play. A single and two walks then loaded the bases, but Yde fanned Vance.
Yde’s defense finally let him down in the bottom of the third. A dropped throw by Grantham, a walk, and a grounder booted by Moore loaded the bases with nobody out. Fournier singled to drive in two runs, and a third scored on a wild throw to home by Cuyler. A 5-4-3 double play ultimately ended the inning. The three errors let the Robins narrow the lead to 4-3.
The Pirates, however, kept after Vance. With one out in the top of the fourth, Yde, Carey and Moore all singled to bring in one run. Second baseman Milt Stock booted Cuyler’s grounder, letting Carey score and Moore take third. Cuyler then stole second and a single by Barnhart scored both runners, stretching the lead to 8-3.
The Robins replaced Vance after the fourth and three different relievers held the Pirates in check. They had only two hits the rest of the way.
Yde managed to hang on. He gave up a solo home run to Dick Cox in the bottom of the fourth, making it 8-4. In the fifth, an error by Glenn Wright led to a runner reaching second with two out. Cotton Tierney singled for his third hit of the game to drive in the run.
Tierney’s hit cut the lead to 8-5, but Yde allowed no more runs. He had his only perfect inning in the sixth, stranded two runners in the seventh and got a strikeout/caught-stealing double play in the eighth. The Robins picked up two more hits in the ninth, but Yde got a game-ending lineout with the tying run at the plate.
Yde has won eight of his last nine decisions and is now 9-5. Carey was 4-for-5 and scored three runs. He now has 19 steals and Cuyler has 16. The Pirates now head to Boston for five games to conclude their road trip.
