The Pirates piled up 24 runs and 32 hits, leading to a pair of laughers against the Phillies in Philadelphia. Glenn Wright had four RBIs to lead the Bucs to an 11-2 win in game one. In game two, Pie Traynor belted two home runs and drove in four in a 13-1 rout.
The Phillies got their only lead of the day in the second inning of the opener. Lew Fonseca doubled off Emil Yde and scored on a single by Bernie Friberg.
Phillies’ starter Art Decatur held the Bucs hitless through the first three innings, but the roof caved in on him after that. The visitors took the lead for good in the top of the fourth when Wright mashed his 16th home run of the year to center, driving in Kiki Cuyler, who’d doubled. That made it 2-1.
The Pirates made it 8-1 in the fifth. Yde singled with one out and then, with two out, the next six batters singled. Clyde Barnhart had a two-run single and a pair of Phillies’ errors helped runners move up. Traynor, Wright and George Grantham each drove in one run.
Yde wasn’t having nearly as much trouble. He stranded a pair of runners in both the third and fifth. Philly cut the lead to 8-2 in the sixth when Friberg doubled and Jimmie Wilson singled. Yde coasted after that, allowing just one more runner over the last three innings.
The Bucs kept pouring it on against Huck Betts, who replaced Decatur to start the sixth. In the seventh, Wright doubled home Barnhart, who had also doubled, and another run scored on a grounder. Barnhart drove in the final run in the eighth.
Wright finished with three hits, as did Cuyler and Barnhart. The RBIs left him with a team-leading 99. Barnhart drove in three. The win improved Yde’s record to 15-6. He has 14 wins in his last 16 decisions.
The second game brought even less suspense. Pirates’ starter Ray Kremer gave the Phillies little chance, holding them to five hits while striking out six. The only blemish was a solo home run by George Harper in the sixth. The only other runner who made it past first reached on an error.
Harper’s longball was of little use to the home team. The Pirates took control from the start, scoring six in the top of the first. Phillies’ starter Johnny Couch walked the first two batters he saw, then gave up run-scoring singles to Cuyler and Traynor. After another single loaded the bases, Couch walked Grantham to force in a run. Phillies’ manager Art Fletcher called for Skinny O’Neal, who gave up a two-run single to Johnny Gooch and an infield hit to Kremer that brought the score to 6-0.
The Pirates kept plugging away. Traynor led off the third with a blast to left, his fifth home run of the year. The next inning, he hit number six in the same direction with Johnny Rawlings on base. That put Pittsburgh up, 9-0.
The Pirates got single runs in the sixth and seventh on a double by Barnhart and a sacrifice fly. In the ninth, Wright and Grantham led off with doubles, then a second run scored on a ground out by Kremer.
For the game, Traynor had three hits and three runs, plus the four RBIs. Grantham went 4-for-4 with three doubles. Wright had three hits and three runs, and Gooch drove in three. Barnhart and Traynor made up ground on Wright for the team RBI lead, with 97 and 92, respectively. Kremer is now 12-8.
The Bucs have two more games in Philadelphia, following the Sunday off-day tomorrow. They’ve now won five straight. The Giants pulled on out against the Cardinals, scoring two in the ninth to tie and winning the game in the 11th. They still lost half a game and trail the Pirates by seven.
