1905 Chicago Cubs replay update: Reds’ Ewing finally gets to Cubs

by Scott Fennessy

6/26/1905 Chicago, IL

The Cubs face the Reds in game 2 of this series. The Reds played well yesterday and came up with a tough loss. For the Reds Bob Ewing (right), a grade A pitcher who has had two very tough luck losses against Jake Weimer this season. The good news for Bob is that he does not face Jake today as he threw yesterday’s game. The bad news is he gets the returning Ed Reulbach an A & C starter who is 12-1 for the year and making his first start since coming off the DL a few days ago.

Nothing to note through the first three innings as both starters were solid and the game was scoreless as the Cubs come to bat in the bottom of the 4th. Frank Schulte draws a leadoff walk and steals second. Ewing and Chance had a real battle where he fouls off several pitches before getting a fastball that he put into center, Schulte slides just under George Schlei’s tag at home and he’s safe! Cubs lead 1-0. One out later Johnny Kling takes a curve to the opposite field and Chance scores for the second run of the inning. Hofman then hits a grounder that handcuffs Joe Kelley at third, and runners are on the corners and Kelly gets the error. Ewing however is still in charge and gets the next two hitters to end the inning. The Cubs however have a 0-2 lead.

Reulbach gets a 1-2-3 inning, and the Cubs come up again in the bottom of the 5th and with one out Jimmy Slagle gets a single, and steals second after a couple of pick off throws. Jimmy has been really big off the bench this year and is really pushing to take the struggling Art Hofman’s position in left. Schulte gets a change up and pulls it into left and Jimmy scores easily as Corcoran cuts the throw and holds Schulte at first. Ewing shuts the door again holding them to just the one run. Inning is over with the Cubs leading 0-3.

The Reds finally get to Reulbach in the 6th when Fritz Odwell who has been the Reds best hitter in June rips a solid single to right and is off with the first pitch. Kling makes a great throw but Odwell slides in just under Hofman’s tag and is safe. One out later Jim Seymour who is riding a 4 game hit streak gets a fastball exactly where he wants it and puts it into the right center gap. Maloney chases it down, and the throw to Tinker at second is held as Odwell scores the first run of the day for the red men. With two out Harry Steinfeldt kind of reaches out of the zone a bit, but still gets enough of the pitch to put it just between Tinker and Chance and Seymour scores. Kelley grounds to Casey at third to end the inning, but the Reds cut the lead to 2-3 Cubs. This has me a bit worried as the Reds have been very pesky over the last couple of weeks.

The Cubs do nothing in the 7th, and the reds continue to fight back in the 7th. Schlei hits a grounder that Hofman can’t handle and reaches on the error. Ewing lays down a sac bunt moving the runner over and Odwell comes through again with an RBI single and the game is now tied. Huggins grounds out and the inning ends. The Cubs come up empty again as Ewing now has retired 8 in a row as Reulbach strikes out.

Reulbach is starting to tire and perhaps should have been pulled, but Chance leaves him in anyway. Seymour gets his second straight extra base hit as he hits a deep fly ball over Schulte in right and slides into third just ahead of Tinkers relay to Casey at third. Sebring hits another deep fly ball to Slagle in left and Seymour scores and suddenly the Reds have a 4-3 lead with a very good pitcher on the hill. Things begin to look better for the Cubs in the 8th as Chance hits a fly ball down the line and Sebring appears to lose the ball in the sun, and it bounces off his glove and rolls into foul territory. Jimmy throws the ball into second but Chance is on second with one out; and is still there with two out when Kling gets his second hit of the game and ties the game. Ewing gets Hofman to end the frame and we go to the 9th tied 4-4.

Reulbach looks to have found his second wind as he faces Ewing with two out, but Bob is a pretty good hitter, and he gets a single to center, raising his average to .228 for the year. Not bad for a pitcher. Odwell then gets a single to right and Ewing moves to third. Fritz now has 3 hits for the day and has really exploded in the leadoff spot, and steals second base. This was his 21st of the year. The light hitting Miller Huggins then ropes a single to left center scoring both runners and Chance has finally seen enough and Pfeffer comes in to try and close the inning. He gets Seymour in a tough at bat, but the Reds go to the bottom of the 9th with a 2 run lead.

Ewing looks as strong as when he started and gets a perfect final frame and the Reds stun the Cubs for a 6-4 victory. While they are still not great overall, they are still right behind the 5th place Cardinals.

For the victorious Reds Fritz Odwell had 3 hits, stole two bases, scored twice and drove in a run. Jim Seymour had a double and a triple and scored a run and is now hitting a team high .286. Ewing improves to 7-10 for the season and has a 2.98 ERA and carries an impressive .90 WHIP.

For the Cubs they wasted a lot of chances today and should have won. Manager Frank Chance was particularly not pleased with the second straight game where the starter lets the other team back in the game after the 7th. Schulte has another small 2 game hit streak as does Chance and Kling had two hits and also has a 2 game streak. They did steal 6 bases as a team though.

Just in from the AP wire, in New York the Giants crushed the Dodgers 12-2 today. Christy Mathewson goes the distance allowing just 3 hits and is 15-3 for the season. Mike Donlin led the way with two hits 2 RBI and scored twice and is hitting .333 for the year. And once again we find a tie atop the National League.

Cubs 39 13 .750
Giants 39 13 .750

[photo credit]