The Pirates got an early lead for their top winner, Lee Meadows, but couldn’t hold it in the opener of their three-game series in Philadephia. Phillies’ starter Jimmy Ring finished strongly and pitched his team to a 6-3 win.
The Bucs jumped on top with two runs in the top of the first. Eddie Moore singled and Kiki Cuyler doubled to put two on. Ring threw a wild pitch to score Moore and Clyde Barnhart singled to bring in Cuyler.
The Phillies tied it in the bottom of the third. Third baseman Clarence Huber singled, went to third on a double by Bernie Friberg and scored on a balk. Friberg later scored on an errant throw by Moore.
The Pirates quickly got the lead back when Barnhart led off the top of the fourth with a home run, his fourth of the year. Ring, however, got tough after that. The Pirates had nine hits on the day and Earl Smith walked three times. They managed to get two runners on twice and loaded the bases with two out in the sixth, but they weren’t able to plate anybody.
The Phillies meanwhile chipped away at Meadows. They tied the game, 3-3, in the bottom of the sixth on back-to-back doubles by Jimmie Wilson and Lew Fonseca. In the seventh, they took a 5-3 lead. George Harper doubled with two on and two out to drive in one run, then Meadows wild pitched in another.
Meadows left for a pinch hitter in the eighth and Babe Adams took over. Clarence Huber greeted him with a home run to set the final score at 6-3.
The loss dropped Meadows to 13-5. While the Pirates were off yesterday, Cincinnati beat New York to extend the Pirates’ first-place lead to a full game. Today, though, the Giants rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Reds, 6-5, leaving them in a tie with the Bucs.
