Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-03
SHOULD MAKE GOOD
RECORD IN EAST
Nationals Have to Win One to
Break Even With Boston
and Athletics.
JOHNSON TO PITCH
GAME NEXT MONDAY
Griff's Men Back in Form Yes
terday, Groom Winning
His Contest.
BY J. ED GRILLO.
eciaI dispatch 10 The star.

boS o-N. NtdN -'-NN llA d NlttOiN anu ii
defeat TO their credit here and but two
more games to play. one of which will be
pitched by Johnson. Ii seems certain that
only one of these games can be lost This
would give the team an even break with
the Athletic and the Red Sox and have
them in a good position to start their first
western trip, which should prove sue
cess.
The most encouraging feature of the
Nationals showing in the east Is that
they have not been outplayed by either
of their rivals. They looked just as good
as either of their opponents, and. if any
thing, had a shade on them. 1t is, of
course. generally supposed that Philadel-
phia and Boston are the two strongest
teams in the league, and to get an even
break with them OF their own grounds
would indicate that there is good
chance for the Nationals to make a good
showing on their western tour BY that
time the pitching staff will shape up bet
ter than it has. and this is the only de-
partment which has been lacking Of
course, Foster is missed and will continue
to be while he is absent, but even the
present makeshift infield manages to
give a good account of itself.
Joe Engel will very likely pitch the
tllFQ game OF the series TO-DAY. IL Is De-
tween him and Carl CashiOn, but the
chances are it will be Engel, whO in the
one inning he worked Thursday. gave evil
dence of having lot of speed. Monday,
OF course, Johnson will be sent the route
but Ii is not likely that he will be OPP
posed by Wood, because the latter's in
jured thumb is still bothering him.
Bob Groom displayed his last years
form yesterday, so far as effectiveness
hn rot 1Golf
into mess because of his wildness in
the sixth inning, when the Sox tied the
score. Up TO this time but one hit had
been made off Groom. and the Sox had
not even threatened to score He slipped
a cog in the fourth. when. after striking
out Bal! and Speaker. he walked Lewis
and Gardner, but Engle fortunately hit a
sharp Srounder right at Laporte, who had
only to touch third base to retire the SIDE.
1t was his wildness which got him into
the mess in the sixth, which Melted the
Sox enough runs to tie the score before it
was over. and it would not have ended
there but for a clever play by John Hen
ry. who. with men on third and first, re-
spectively. threw to rGoOm when the one
on first started 20 steal second
The play deceived Engle. who started
for the plate, and Groom had only to toss
the ball to Laporte to catch him trying
to return to that base. That ended the
inning after the score had been tied,
though there were still two hands on the
bases John Henry caught his first full
game yesterday, and he gave no evidence
of being hampered by his injured knee.
John caught splendid game and did
more than his share to help out Groom.
He batted in third place because It
had been left open for Ainsmith
He did not hit, because he has not had
any chance TO clear his batting eye of
late Henry will now take his regular
turn behind The bat. This will give Ain
smith an opportunity to rest, which he
nd inst t1,-.,
arm gets stronger he. too, will be worked
for the team needs his hitting.
Ray Morgan was very much in evil
dence with his bat again. His triple in
the second inning gave the Nationals
their first brace of runs. and he drove In
the third in the fourth with single
which scored Gandil from second. which
lie had reached on his own double.
Ii is really pleasure To watch George
Mcbride play his position thsee days. He
i doing the best fielding of his career.
and II was due To his brilliant work that
Groom did not find himself in more trou-
bic than he encountered. Every one of
NcBrides chances was difficult and his
pickup OF Janvrin's grounder in the
sixth. on which he threw Gardner out at
the plate. was one of the features of the
game. Mcbride is big favorite here,
and he was constantly applauded for his
brilliant work.
The spikinS OF Wagner by Morgan the
day previous kept him out of the game,
and Janvrin tried 10 fill the place. II is
needless to say that the youngster is not
IN the veterans class. and if Wagner
STAYS out of the game while the Ma
tionaIs are here their chances for win
ming the next two games will be ma
terially increased. Not only does Janvrin
not cover the ground that does Wagner.
but he is almost helpless at the bat.
.,rIy
work of the Nationals yesterday compar-
ed with that of the day previous. which
seemed TO be an off day for all hands.
Yesterday the team was full OF life, and
looked more like itself. II did lot OF
timely hitting and played brilliantly in
the field. The talk which Griffith gave
his charges in the morning seemed to
have the desired effect.
Here in Boston they consider Chick
Gandii a much better first baseman than
Hal Chase. In fact, they believe that
sshick IL the star of his position in the
American League. and that comes pretty
nearly to sizing up the situation. Gandil
IS hitting like fiend now. and even on
days when ne does not break into the
base hit coAsmn. which is not very often,
lie is hitting the ball hard. As fielder
lie has no equal. seldom making a mis-
play on anything that comes his way.
The other infielders have every con-
fidence when they throw in his direction
because If the ball is anywhere within
reach Chick is sure to get ii.
Howard Shanks started the rally in the
seventh which gave his team the runs 1t
needed to win. In this inning he hit a
long drive TO the left center field en-
bankment which netted him two bases
and he scored on a close play at the
plate when Groom hit to left for a base
and Lewis made great throw home.
Shanks. by the way. had chance yes
terday to display his wonderful throwing
arm. In the eighth inning with Speaker
on third the result of his triple. which
opened the inning. Lewis hit long fly to
left. 1t forced Shanks to go to the bank
TO catch il and yet after doing he
made q perfect throw to the plate which
Speaker beat by the narrowest of mar
gins, when IL seemed that Shanks was
out SO far that Speaker could have
walked home.
Frank I.aporte broke into the base hit
column In the second inning. when he
drove a single through Engle at first
Frank explains his fault 10 hit up to his
standard by the fact that he has not been
feeling well ever since he left Washing
ton. though he is gradually improving
now.