Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-08-11

him before he can be expected to win,
and the way the Nationals have been go
ing here runs are mighty scarce.
There were twelve men left on the
bases for the Nationals in the second
game. and there were no less than five
occasions when a base hit would have
changed the situation, but Powell APP
peared to have something on the bat
tiers who faced him when there was
chance to get runs.
1t seems a pity that such good pitch
ing as the Nationals twirlers have been
doing should not bring more victories.
Barring the poor inning which Vaughn
twirling has been of the highest kind
and would win ball games nine times
out of ten. Incidentally. the weak bat
ting streak makes it decidedly hard on
the pitchers. for they never have a
moment that they can take things easy.
being compelled to go at top speed the
entire route, for they never have lead
enough to warrant their loafing. lf the
team was hitting at all the games here
would not have been difficult to win.
but as matters now stand the Browns
seem to actually OutclaSS the Nationals.
The setback here has endangered the
Nationals hold on second place, let alone
talking about beating out Boston. The
Athletics are gradually moving up on
Griftiths men. and it is going to be a
hard struggle from now on to keep them
in our rear. 1t is reasonable to presume
that the present batting slump cannot
last much longer. The team may start
out tomorrow and drive several twirlerS
to the bench, but that will not help the
situation here to any eXtent.sfor to lose
three out of four to a team like St Louis
is the unexpected indeed
There is no such thing as giving up in
Griffiths makeup. The three defeats
here, while they have been most discour-
aging to him. have not caused him to
lose hope. He argues that his team will
come again, and then 20 through the re-
mainder of the season with a rush. It's
tough to fall into a batting slump right
at this time. and there is nothing to pre-
vent it, said he: but we will come
again, and l look for new start tomor-
row. The players are downcast. but not
discouraged. They are still full of deter
mination. Notwithstanding the fact that
they are not making many base hits
Laporte showed some of his hitting
ability today. getting a single in three
in many times at bat in the second.
He fielded his position we'll
There is chance of Outfielder Ken
worthy of the Denver Western League
club becoming the property of the
Washington club. Manager Jack Hen
bricks OF the Denver club was here to-
day and held a long conference with
mayer Inc deal mas not
yet been closed, but the chances are
that it will be. Hendricks insists that
his man is one of the best young ball
players in the country. and that he
would greatly strengthen the Ma
tionals.
Second Baseman Pratt of the Browns
has made wonderful batting record
since the team returned to its own
grounds. Today was his eighteenth
consecutive in which "a hit
safely. 1t seemed for a while that he
would go through the second game
without getting a hit off Hughes but
on the occasion of his final trip to the
plate he hit safely to center, a favorite
field for him to drop his base hits.
Gandil made a great stop of Austin's
grounder in the seventh. going well to-
ward second base to get the ball In
throwing to Hughes at first. however he
got it wide of the mark and il rolled past
Hughes, giving Alexander the chance to
score.
Both defeats can perhaps be blamed to
poor base running. Foster was at fault
in the ninth inning of the first game
when he tried to reach second on his long
hit to left center. Moeller had opened
this inning with a hit, and Foster had
followed suit. Moeller made third base
easily, but for some unaccountable reason
Foster did not get to second, though the
I'M "" "dS ioI tIutu DdSe, dnG was inter-
cepted by Austin. and he shot it to sec
ond. Had Foster remained on first, Mi
lan's drive which followed would have
been good for two bases. for Kutina
would have been at the bag to hold Fos-
ter on. AS 1t was, he was playing off,
made good stop of the singing drive
and touched first base in time to retire
Milan.
Milan. who is fast on his feet should
nave scored in the ninth inning of the
second game and tied the score. He had
walked with two out in this inning, and
promptly stole second. Gandil hit sharp
erounder at Pratt, who fell in fielding the
ball. 1t bounded over his shoulder and
rolled some little distance into center.
home in time to nail Milan. Had the
score been tied in this inning the chances
are that the Nationals would have won,
for Johnson was pitching, and the Browns
would have had their hands full trying to
get d run off him.
Williams caught two good games of bal
so far as receiving and throwing is con-
cerned. but he was unfortunate in making
two plumbers which proved disastrous.
In the first game with two out and ALI |
son coming up next, he threw to second
when Wallace went down and Alexander |
scored as result. as the ball did not
get back i'm time to make the play on
the young catcher at the plate
Williams muff Of Powell's foul in the /
proved disastrous. for Powell got a |
scratch hit after being saved which |
brought Wallace home from third base.