October 13, 1902
Philadelphia, PA
The A’s kept their hopes alive after a strong outing from lefty Rube Waddell, and now look to another left hander in Eddie Plank to keep the season alive. The Pirates will counter with Charles Phillippe. The weather is dark, cloudy, and chilly, which fits the mood of the Pittsburgh clubhouse after watching their chance at a series sweep disappear late in the game the day before.
The Pirates looked like they were going for the throat right out of the gate when Ginger Beaumont and Honus Wagner got back to back singles to put runners on the corners with just one out, but Fred Clarke grounded out to Jasper Davis at first to put runners on second and third, only to see Bill Bransfield pop the first pitch of the at bat into foul territory near the visitors dugout that Ossee Shreckengost handled easily to end the rally.
The A’s countered with a rally of their own in the bottom of the inning when Dave Fultz, who has shown better than usual pop in this series rips a double on a 2-2 offering and scores when Tullos Hartsel hits one up the middle for an RBI single. Hartsel steals second, and had moved to third with one out when Ralph Seybold hits a fly to deep left center field that Beaumont catches, but Hartsel tags and scores as the A’s take a 2-0 lead. Lafayette Cross fans to end the inning.
Both pitchers take care of business, and the game was still 2-0 Philadelphia when Plank hits a “Baltimore chop” that third baseman Tommy Leach waits to see if it will roll foul, but unfortunately it dies just on the edge of the infield grass for a single. Fultz gets a fastball that was very hittable and crushes this to the deepest part of the ballpark in center and had Fultz had a little more power would have had a homer, but Beaumont has to play the carom and Fultz runs like a jackrabbit into third with an RBI triple and the lead increases to 3-0 for the home team. Hartsel hits a sac fly to right and the lead is now 4-0 A’s. Seybold strikes out to end the rally, but things are suddenly coming up roses for the home team.
The pitching held strong the remainder of the way as Plank scattered just 6 hits and walked one, while striking out 2 in route to a 4-0 victory over Phillippe and the Pirates to bring this series back to Pittsburgh with the Pirates leading 3 games to 2.
It’s not like “Deacon” pitched poorly, he allowed 4 runs on just 6 hits himself, it was just that the other team just placed theirs closer together and took advantage. Manager Connie Mack was quoted “Bert (Husting) is on a VERY short leash this time”
