After a rainout yesterday, the Pirates and Brooklyn played two today. The Bucs won both, giving them a sweep of the three-game series. They scored two in the eighth to take the first game, 5-3. They won the second game by a 6-2 count.
The Bucs got an early lead in the opener against Jumbo Elliott. Eddie Moore and Max Carey started the bottom of the first with walks. The next two hitters failed to advance them, but the pair pulled a double steal, with Carey getting his 36th steal of the season. Pie Traynor singled to drive in both runners.
The Robins got one run back in the top of the second off Specs Meadows on a walk and a one-out triple by Eddie Brown. Meadows stranded Brown on third, though, and the Pirates quickly got the run back in the bottom half on a two-out, RBI single by Carey.
Both pitchers settled in after that and the score stayed 3-1 through six innings. Meadows escaped a jam in the third inning when a single and a double put runners on second and third with one out. Meadows issued an intentional walk to set up a force play and Dick Cox obliged with a ground ball to Traynor that became an around-the-horn double play.
Brooklyn finally got to Meadows again in the top of the seventh. A pair of two-out singles and a triple by slugging first baseman Jack Fournier tied the game, 3-3.
In the bottom of the eighth, Elliott did himself in. With two on and one out, Elliott hit Meadows to load the bases. Walks to Moore and Carey forced in two runs and forced Elliott out. Guy Cantwell managed to prevent any further damage, but the Bucs led, 5-3.
Meadows had set the Robins down in order in the eighth. In the ninth, Cotton Tierney led off with a single, but Meadows got a strikeout and two fly balls to end it. The win left Meadows 19-10.
In the second game, the Bucs got a complete game from Red Oldham. It was the lefty’s third straight complete game, which has given the Pirates a late-season boost. He had to pitch out of some trouble, the result of eight hits and four walks, but Brooklyn went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
The Pirates did better at getting their runners in. Their first run came in the second off Tiny Osborne, thanks to George Grantham’s eighth home run of the season. An inning later they extended the lead to 3-0. Kiki Cuyler singled Carey, who’d walked, to third, then stole second. The steal was Cuyler’s league-leading 38th. Clyde Barnhart and Traynor followed with fly balls, each scoring a run.
In the fourth, leadoff singles by Grantham and Johnny Gooch knocked Osborne out in favor of Lloyd Brown. After Oldham fanned, a single by Moore and a sacrifice fly by Carey each plated a run, making it 5-0.
Oldham kept Brooklyn off the board until the top of the fifth. With runners on second and third, a two-out single by Milt Stock drove in both. The Robins managed to load the bases after that hit, but Cox lined out deep to right to end the threat with the score 5-2.
The Pirates got a last insurance run in the sixth. With Grantham on third and Oldham on first, Moore bounced to short and the throw home was too late to get Grantham.
Oldham survived leadoff doubles in the seventh and eighth. He picked off the first runner and the second was thrown out at the plate on a grounder to Traynor at third. Oldham finished with a perfect ninth.
Oldham’s record moved to 3-1. Grantham went 3-for-3, with three runs scored. It was his second straight three-hit game.
The Giants beat Cincinnati yesterday while the Pirates were idled, and topped the Reds again today. The doubleheader sweep left the Pirates with a six and a half game lead. They’ll host Boston for three games starting tomorrow.
