by Scott Fennessy
9/5/1905
Pittsburgh, PA
Ed Reulbach faces Charlie Case in game two of today’s twin bill. “Big Ed” has looked great the last three times out and I am really hoping for a sweep as this will guarantee they have at least a tie for first if the Giants should win both games of their double header against the Phillies in New York later this afternoon.
The Cubs come out inspired after a between-game meeting with manager Frank Chance. Johnny Evers takes a 2-2 pitch the opposite way and after a game of cat and mouse with Case he steals second just under Claude Ritchey’s tag. The red hot Chance gets an off-speed pitch but gets enough to drop it into right center and Evers scores when Ginger Beaumont’s throw is cut off. Johnny Kling walks, but Case keeps the score 1-0 Cubs in front as the Pirates leave the field.
The Pirates had a chance in the second when Dave Brain pulled a double down the left field line and moved to third on a ground out, but Ritchey hits a ball at Hans Lobert who was playing in at third and he goes home with the throw to get Brain at the plate, and Johnny Kling was able to fire a bullet to nip the batter for a nifty double play to end the inning and keep the score 1-0 Cubs.
The Cubs work hard to extend their lead, and in the third they get their run. Evers draws a leadoff walk and moves to third on a Frank Schulte single. This gives “Wildfire” a 6 game streak and puts runners on the corners. Chance pops the first pitch foul and Homer Hillebrand takes this one in just in front of the bucco’s dugout for the first out. Kling then gets a first pitch fastball and hits this one hard and deep to right field and Tom Leach catches it just in front of the wall. He has no momentum and Evers scores with no play and the Cubs are now on top 2-0. Case gets out of the inning with no further incident and the Pirates go down in order in the bottom of the inning.
The Cubs luck continues in the 4th inning as Lobert hits a grounder that Wagner fields in the hole, but his throw pulls first baseman Bill Clancey off the bag for an error. Moving to second with two out and Billy Maloney works Case hard and gets a 6 pitch walk; Evers then gets a single to right and collects an RBI and his second hit of the day. Chance has been thinking about switching Maloney and Evers. Does this constitute “Tinkering” with the lineup? Bad puns aside, Schulte whiffs to end the threat, but the Cubs are now in front 3-2 over the home squad in a big game.
From this point on no more runs are scored, although the Cubs press Case in almost every inning. Reulbach is really peaking right now and the Pirates still only have two hits (a pair of Dave Brain doubles) coming into the ninth inning, and the Cubs still winning 3-0.
Ginger Beaumont puts a scare in the Cubs with a two out drive that hits the wall and Schulte has trouble tracking the ball down. It looked like he may go for the inside the park homer, but the third base coach did not want to the game end at the plate with the heart of the lineup do to hit so Beaumont is held at third with his 6th triple of the season. Wagner walks and with runners at the corners and Clarke starting to heat up the hit and run is on. This is a liner just over Tinker’s leaping reach and Beaumont scores the first run of the day for the Pirates and Wagner slides into third just ahead of the throw and the game is suddenly in jeopardy. Brain strikes out to end the game and the elated Cubs head back the clubhouse.
For Reulbach it is his 22nd victory of the season and he almost had his 3rd shutout in 5 starts. The Reds were officially eliminated with the Chicago victory, and with about a month left only 4 teams remain in the hunt. Case struggled with wildness, walking an unusual number of hitters for him, but he kept the team in the game the whole way. Tomorrow the Cubs finish this series before heading on to St. Louis and the hated Cardinals.
