Evening star., 1927-06-02
BY JOHN B. KELLER.

A FTER being held to an ever
" break in a four-game series by
IA the lowly Red SoX, almost any
4 thing terrible can happen tc
the Nationals. The 6-to-l lick
ing they took yesterday. the second in
a row from Bill Carrigan's outfit, left
Bucky Harris bunch somewhat
dazed, but there was a chance the Ma.
tionals might come out of their trance
this afternoon and give the Browns a
fair argument.
Hollis Thurston was to go to the
slab for the home folks and as Hollis
for some time has been rank poison to
the Browns. for which aggregation he
once pitched, Boss Bucky figured upon
getting the jump on the visitors in the
set of four contests scheduled here.
But even a win over the Mound City
crowd this afternoon would not re-
lieve to any great extent the suffering
of the Harrismen resulting from the
two successive lickings administered
by the Red SoX. Now the Nationals
have lost three games to the tail-end-
ers, more than any other outfit in the
circuit has lost to the club that Bill
Carrigan has dragged together And
as the local athletes view it. that 5
enough to make any big league club
feel hurt.
II would seem, though, that the
Nationals played to form in the series
just ended. Since the start of the
season they have been unable to
stand prosperity. Instead of getting
a winning spirit after bagging a game
or two. they always have promptly
let down in their work after victory.
That has not helped them at all this
season.
Never Developed Pep.
During their training campaign in
Florida a lack of hustle was most
noticeable in the performances of the
Nationals They played their games
then as though they were mere ex-
hibitions, not contests intended to pre-
pare the club for the more serious
business of the American League
championship campaign. There was
no real effort made to develop good
working habits and now the club is
paying dearly for the loafing spell.
1t was failure to give his all to his
third basing job that had much to
do with Ossie Bluege's absence from
yesterdays lineup. The National
hot-corner guardian has been field
ing we'll when the bail came his way,
but he has not been covering the
amount of ground he might reason
ably be expected to cover and he has
been somewhat over careful in the
matter of tagging runners. Ordi-
narily, Bluege is a third sacker who
thrusts himself into plays, come what
may, but he has not performed so
lately.
Having conserved his energy too
much to satisfy those in charge, Os-
sic warmed the bench yesterday while
Bob Reeves toiled around the third
sack until relieved by pinch batter
Then Stuffy Stewart took care of the
hot corner for an inning. Bob had
his troubles right off the reel. but
he played with all he had. And that's
what Manager Harris insists upon all
of the other Nationals doing. Every
regular must step lively at all times,
or give way to some more willing
worker, says the pilot.
Can't Hit Harriss.
The Nationals showing against the
Red Sox yesterday was particularly
dismal. They did no hitting to speak
of at the expense of their arch-enemy
of the pitching hill. Slim Harriss,
while their hurlers could not stem the
onslaught of the Hubmen when hits
meant runs.
Harriss yielded six hits and one