The Pirates rallied twice in the late innings of their game with Brooklyn. They came back to tie the game in the seventh inning. After falling behind again, they rallied to win in the ninth, 10-9, on a hit by third-string catcher Roy Spencer.
The early innings were relatively quiet. The Pirates got a run in the bottom of the first off Burleigh Grimes when Max Carey singled, stole second and scored on a single by George Grantham.
The score remained 1-0 until the top of the fourth, when Bucs’ starter Lee Meadows got hit with five unearned runs. A grounder booted by second baseman Eddie Moore with one out started things rolling. A single and a double followed, producing one run. With second and third, Meadows induced a grounder to Moore, who threw the lead runner out at home. That was followed, though, by a walk, a three-run double by Robins’ catcher Zack Taylor and an RBI triple by Grimes.
Over the next two innings, Meadows allowed just a harmless single while the Pirates inched their way back. They made it 5-2 in the fourth when Kiki Cuyler doubled and scored on a single by Pie Traynor. In the fifth, Cuyler singled with two on to make it 5-3. Moore then cut the deficit to one run in the sixth when he singled in Traynor, who’d doubled.
Meadows, though, couldn’t keep it close and got knocked out in the top of the seventh. With one on, second baseman Milt Stock tripled and, after a pop up, scored on another triple by first baseman Jack Fournier to extend the Brooklyn lead to 7-4. Babe Adams came on to get the last out.
The Pirates stormed back in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. Carey and Grantham singled to start the inning and finish Grimes; Carey, though, left for a pinch runner after sliding into third. Cuyler loaded the bases with an infield hit off Joe Oeschger. A ground out by Clyde Barnhart scored one run and a sacrifice fly by Traynor scored another. Glenn Wright then singled and Barnhart was able to score when right fielder Dick Cox fumbled the ball. That made it a 7-7 game.
Adams couldn’t keep it tied. Three singles loaded the bases with two out in the top of the eighth and Stock singled to center to drive in a pair of runs. The Pirates failed to score in the bottom half and, with Adams out for a pinch hitter, Johnny Morrison set the Robins down in the ninth.
Trailing 9-7, the Bucs came back quickly against Brooklyn’s Rube Ehrhardt. Cuyler walked, Barnhart singled and Traynor drove Cuyler in with his second double of the game. Brooklyn manager Wilbert Robinson replaced Ehrhardt with Bill Hubbell, who intentionally walked the Pirates’ RBI leader, Wright. Moore followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the game. That brought up Spencer, who was in the game because starting catcher Johnny Gooch had been lifted for a pinch hitter and Earl Smith had been used as a pinch hitter. Spencer came through with a single to center to score Traynor and win the game.
Morrison got the win to improve to 11-10. Carey, Cuyler and Traynor each went 3-for-4, and Traynor drove in three runs. The Giants lost to the Reds, leaving the Pirates three and a half games in first. They play two against Brooklyn tomorrow.
