Evening star., 1914-07-27
MITCHELL SEEMS
OF GREAT WORTH
Showing on First Trial Indi-
Gates Griffith Has Signed
Very Capable Player.
BROWNS FAILED TO HIT
ENGEL, BUT HE WAS WILD
Ayers Holds St. Louis at Bay After
Being Substituted for Joe
in Fourth.
BY J. ED GRILLo.

DIX j. ED GR1LLO.
81. LOUIS, Mo-, July 26-There /.
every reason for believing that Manager
Grifnth has acquired the services of a
valuable player in Mike Mitchell If the
performance Of the veteran in the frs,
two games with his new team is to be
taken as a criterion he is sure to be OF
much service.
Ill lhe nrst game yesterday Mitchell
was largely responsible for the two runs
the team scored in the first inning, and
IN the fifth inning he probably saved the
game by remarkable catch Of line
drlVe from Walkers bat, which had all
the earmarks of a three-base hit. There
was man on second at the time. The
pali was hit close to the line, and, while
Mitcnell was running at full speed tc
intercept II, 1t seemed impossible for him
10 reach 1t. Just as the ball seemed tc
De passing him, however. he reached low
with MS bare hand, and the ball stuck
IN MS grasp. retiring the side.
incidentally, Mitchell showed conclu-
s,Vely that there Is nothing wrong with
ms legs, as was reported from Pitts
pursh: He ran with good speed, covered
iots or ground, and on one occasion prob
ably robbed Shotten of triple, when he
packed up Shanks, who allowed the ball
to get through him
1t was Griffs intention not to work
walter johnson here, and he probably
would have been better off IL he had gone
through with the plan. johnson Is never
eHectlVe here. He seems to weaken un-
der the hot rays that usually prevail, and
yesterday was not an exception to the
rule. He was hit hard in the opening in.
ming, and while he showed flash of his
real form on several occasions thereafter
he was not effective and should have beer
n \. ,,1l,
Bentley. who succeeded him, did not
allow hit nor run in the two innings
he worked. and he struck out three OF
the Browns.
Bobby Wallace is still great shortstop
This he showed in the two games yester-
day, when he made some clever plays
But his recently injured hand does not yet
allow him to get a good hold of the bat
hence he is Handicapped in this respect.
Jim Shaw or Joe Boehling will be used
in the game today. 1t will likely be Shaw.
for Boehling Is wanted for the final game
by which time he will have had sufficient
reSt.
Ensel had world of stuff in the first
game. 1t was simply impossible for the
Browns to hit him safely but he lost con-
probably taken out just in time. Ayers.
who succeeded him, pitched brilliantly
also, and allowed the only hit the
Browns We're credited with. He was par
tcuiarly strong in the closing inning.
Wien he added several strike-outs to his
list. Ayers, who in tie last few games
d1d not seem to have his stuff has come
through Well and probably can be relied
upon to do his share of the pitching now.
1t was terrifically hot day. Ainsmith
weakened under the strain and had to
be relieved after the sixth inning. Incl
ds,p, 11yv u
ever has attended a ball game in the
American League Park here. The crowd
occupied every foot of available space,
and 1t was given out that there were
more than 20.m0 paid admissions i'll the
inclosure. This has been a decidedly
profitable season for the Browns man
agement. and it will continue to be so If
the team stays in the race.
For a time. at least, Acosta is not apt
to break into the lineup again. Mitchell,
on what he has shown, is so much more
experienced that Griffith probably will
Keep him in left regularly until Milan re-
turns. Mitchell does not appear to have a
weakness. He seems to have one of the
best throwing arms on the team and he
TOOK delight in whipping the ball around
yesterday.
Dan Moeller continues to do consist
eht work with the bat. In the double
header Yesterday he corraled four
hits. evenly divided in the two contests,
IN the first game Dan. Of course, bat
ted rl5nt handed because a southpaw
was racing him. but this did not affect
his batting i'll the least. and he made
two hits. Against James in the final
game he turned left handed. with the
same effect, though he was up only
three times, walking the last time.
Walter Johnson. for the first time in
long while, looked weak with the
stick against James. He famed the
two times he was up against the tall
t"-irler. Schaefer, who batted for John
son i'll the seventh also famed, his
strlke-out coming after that of Will
liams who had just taken .Ainsmith's 8
place. This indicates James had some
thing in the deceiving line.
Yesterday was the first time since
1912 that the Browns have scored a.
victory over Walter Johnson Thev
broke his consecutive winning streai k
at that time and last season put a ston
to his consecutive scoreless inning rec
ord, but since then the Browns never
beat him until yesterday, though he
and has frequently been hit hard.
johnson has lost ten games to date
which is three more than he lost la ST
season. While. of course, he is sure
to lead his own team again this wear.
it is almost certain to be an off wear
for the great pitcher, because he is not
as consistent as he used to be- That is
true notwithstanding he has lost lot
of games because Of the inability Of his
teammates to hit behind him.
Leary's double in the first inning of
the second game, which virtually put
that contest on ice. was a scratch.
Pratt. who was on first. was stealing
when Leary. in trying to help him out
virtually threw his bat at a curve bali
which broke far outside In SO do
ing he hit the ball and pulled it over
the third base bag. 1t rolled into foul
cover it Pratt had scored
Eddie Foster made a brilliant play in
the fourth inning of the first game.
when. with the bases full and two out,
Doc. Ayers was called upon to pitch
against Weilman. The latter managed
to hit a sharp grounder almost directly
over third base. Had it gone through
it would have been good for two bases
and two or three runs might have
scored But Foster diyed for the hall