Evening star., 1921-05-19

Courtney. who relieved Erick Of the
hurting burden. starting with the
second. permitted an average of only
one bingle a round for the seven re-
manning frames. which netted only a
single counter. but the damage had
been done. Today the Nationals find
themselves still in the first division
by margin of per centage points:
thanks to the shutout Sam Jones and
the Red Sox administered to the
Tigers. but only a game and a half
ahead of st. Louis. with the despised
Chicago White SoX. who occupy sew
enth place. just two games in the
rear of them.
No Room for Alibi.
1t was the old story of poor pitch
ing. but with no alibi due to climatic
conditions. the weather yesterday
being little short of ideal. George
Sisler. champion batsman of 1920 who
has been on the hospital list for
week with an injured foot, recovered
just in time to get into the battle
against the Nationals. and celebrated
his return by collecting pair of dou-
bles and a single.
Then Urban Shocker. the most ef-
fective of the leagues hurlers last
season. picked this as the spot for his
return to normalcy. and had the Griff-
men at the mercy of his moist offer
ings; that is, all except Howard
Shanks Hanks stickwork was the
one bright spot of an otherwise
dreary pastime for the visitora He
poled a homer into the right field
bleachers for their first run. In the
second inning. and in the sixth dupli-
Gated this feat with Brewer. who had
singled. on the paths ahead Of him.
ton offensive. Rice got an unsup-
ported double in the opener. Courtney
singled and was picked off hrst IN
the third when Lewis later got hit:
Harris bingled and Shanks obtained
the only walk Shocker issued in the
safety in the ninth.
Rice and Brewer helped maintain
the Nationals record of being the
poorest fielding aggregation In the
the garden. One error only was
charged against them. but two apiece
additional could have been recorded
had the official scorer been so minded.
That Fatal First.
A home run. a triple. a double and
four singles together with a walk.
sacrifice fly and some fuzzy work
afield gave the Browns seven count
ers in the opener: eleven men facing
Tobin started with rap down the
foul line which netted him three
bases when Brewer let the ball hop
past him. Gerber popped to ORourke,
Dut IODln scored on solSieE OouDie.
George took third on Williams. smash
to Shanks. credited as hit, and
counted on Jacobson's single, Will
liams taking third. McManus pro-
duced a sacrifice fly that cashed Will
liams. and after Lee singled. Severeid
accounted for three runs with wal
lop into the left field bleachers.
Shocker walked. and when Brewer
again let a safety by Tobin filter
through his legs. shocker scored and
Tobin pulled up at third. Shanks
tossed out Gerber to end the round.
Having concluded that Erickson did
not quite measure up to specifications
the slab with the beginning of the
second and the southpaw was prompt
ly nicked for one run on a safety to
center by Ssler. which netted two
bases when Rice juggled the ball in
trying to pick it up: walk to Jacob
son and McManus' single.
Courtney was threatened In the
third, which he started by walking
Shocker. but eased by. He escaped
being scored on in the NTH. when
SEVERED was credited with triple
on a smash. which got by Rice. but
was tagged at the plate on Judges
relay from Harris of Rice's throw.
In the sixth Tohin singled to center
and took an extra base. when Rice
fumbled for a third time, but was
left at the far corner. when Will
liams who walked was nipoed trrtng
to steal. In the following frame sin
giles by McManus and SevereiL were
wasted. as was Sisters single and
steal. and a walk to Williams in the
eighth.
The Browns have released George
Ecehler. a pitcher. to Tulsa OF the
Western League. With Jimmy Austin.
If.,A ,.ste 81