With the two teams’ aces starting — Lee Meadows for the Pirates and Dazzy Vance for the Robins — a pitching duel wouldn’t have been surprising. That didn’t happen, though, as Meadows got knocked out early and Vance just hung on for an 8-7 Brooklyn win.
The Pirates got the early lead. In the top of the first, Kiki Cuyler tripled to drive in Johnny Rawlings, then scored on a single by Clyde Barnhart. The three-bagger was Cuyler’s 22nd, the most by any Pirate since Chief Wilson hit a record 36 in 1912. Rawlings remains in the lineup in Max Carey’s absence.
The 2-0 lead didn’t stand up. The Robins got one in the bottom of the third when Johnny Mitchell tripled with two out and Milt Stock singled. In the fourth, Brooklyn loaded the bases with nobody out on two singles and a hit batsman. Catcher Hank DeBerry doubled to drive in two runs and Bill McKechnie called for Red Oldham to replace Meadows. Oldham struck out Vance, but Charlie Hargreaves drove in two more runs with a single, putting Brooklyn up, 5-2.
The Pirates cut the gap to a run in the top of the sixth. An error and a Rawlings single put two on, and Barnhart tripled to drove both in.
Oldham kept the Robins in check until the bottom of the seventh. The home team loaded the bases with one out, though, and Cotton Tierney tripled to extend the lead to 8-4.
The Bucs kept plugging away at Vance, but couldn’t quite catch up. They made it 8-6 in the eighth on a two-run single by Barnhart. In the ninth, George Grantham doubled with one out and scored on a single by Johnny Gooch, but the next two batters were retired.
Meadows took the loss and is now 15-8. Barnhart went 4-for-4 and drove in five runs. New York won, cutting the Pirates’ first-place lead to two games.
