New York starter Kent Greenfield limited the Pirates to five hits in the final game of the teams’ four-game series at Forbes Field, giving the Giants a 4-1 win. That left the Bucs with a split in the series, but they’re still four and a half games in first.
The Giants got all the runs they needed in the top of the third off Vic Aldridge, partly due to a defensive miscue. With two on and one out, Ross Youngs doubled in a run. The next hitter, Irish Meusel, bounced back to the mound, but catcher Earl Smith couldn’t handle Aldridge’s throw home and a run scored. A third run then scored on a sacrifice fly by Bill Terry.
The Pirates closed to 3-1 in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Max Carey and Stuffy McInnis hit back-to-back doubles. After that, the Bucs got only two more hits. One was a two-out single by Smith that sent Glenn Wright, who’d walked, to third. The Pirates tried one of their favorite tactics, the delayed double steal, but the return throw from shortstop Travis Jackson caught Wright at home. The final hit was a triple by Kiki Cuyler in the eighth, his 21st three-bagger of the year, but he got thrown out trying for an inside-the-park home run.
Aldridge pitched well enough, allowing seven hits over six innings. The Giants went up, 4-1, when Billy Southworth led off with a walk and Frankie Frisch, who had four hits in the game, doubled him to third. Babe Adams relieved Aldridge at that point and Southworth scored on a sacrifice fly. Adams and Tom Sheehan combined to get the last nine outs.
The loss dropped Aldridge to 7-6. The Pirates are now 11-6 on their 19-game home stand, which concludes with two games against the Reds, starting tomorrow.
