The Pirates played their last regular-season games at Forbes Field this year, dropping a doubleheader to the Giants. The twinbill was necessitated by a rainout yesterday. The Giants’ wins gave them a sweep of the three-game series, too late to do them any good in the pennant race.
The first game was a tight one, as the Giants jumped on Vic Aldridge early and held on for a 4-3 win. In the second game, the Pirates got shut out for the second time in the series, this time by Freddie Fitzsimmons. The final was 3-0. The Pirates gave Pie Traynor, who hadn’t missed a game all season, a rest. Eddie Moore played third in both games and Fresco Thompson replaced him at second.
Aldridge came into the opener with wins in his last eight games, but he got off to a rough start. With two on and two out in the first, George Kelly tripled to right. Kelly held at third as Billy Southworth beat out a bunt, then scored on a single by Travis Jackson. New York went up 4-0 in the second when Ross Youngs singled, went to third when Frankie Frisch reached on an error by Moore, and scored on a ground out.
Aldridge settled down after the second. Over the last seven innings, he allowed just one hit and one walk.
The Pirates didn’t get their first hit off Giants’ starter Virgil Barnes until Aldridge singled in the third. They got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when a single and an error put two aboard, and Earl Smith doubled to drive them both in. The Bucs narrowed the gap to 4-3 in the fifth when Max Carey walked, stole his 44th base of the year, and scored on a two-out single by Clyde Barnhart.
But that was all the home team could get. Barnes allowed singles in the sixth and seventh, and a walk in the eighth, but the Pirates couldn’t get another runner past second. The loss left Aldridge at 15-8.
Game two was a scoreless pitching duel between Fitzsimmons and the Pirates’ Johnny Morrison through six innings. In fact, neither team got a hit until Thompson singled off Fitzsimmons in the third. Unfortunately, after moving up on an infield hit by Carey, Thompson got picked off second. The Giants didn’t get a baserunner off Morrison until Southworth and Freddie Lindstrom singled with two out in the fifth.
Finally, in the top of the seventh, the Giants got two on via singles by Bill Terry and Kelly. With two out, John McGraw sent pitcher Jack Bentley up to bat for catcher Frank Snyder and Bentley doubled to drive in Terry. On error on Glenn Wright brought in Kelly to give the Giants a 2-0 lead.
New York got another two-out, RBI double in the eighth, this one from Southworth. The Pirates, meanwhile, went down in order over the last three innings. They finished with only four hits in the game, all singles. Morrison dropped to 17-14.
The Pirates finish the season with four games in Cincinnati, starting tomorrow.
