Evening star., 1932-06-25
-FOUR BIC TUSSLES
WILL TELL IN RACE
Johnson Band Must Win or
Second-PIace Fight Only
viii Remain.
BY IOHN B. KELLER.

\A| it will be squarely up to
the Nationals to put
themselves in the thick
of the flag race again.
During the period, Johnson's
charges in four games will have
an opportunity to carry the fight
directly to the Yankees in an eff
fort to cut the league leaders ad-
vantage over them which now
amounts to eight games.
Make-or- break battles for the
Nationals, these four loom.
Within the same period the Wash
ineton club will combat the Philadel-
phia threat, toe, and in as many en-
counters with a chance to climb. But
the big scraps will be those with the
Yanks, to be played in New York next
Tuesday and Wednesday and here on
independence day.
AS the campaigning progresses, 1t IS
clear that the Nationals must attend
personally to the upsetting of the New
York club-if any upsettng is TO be
done Excepting the AS, the Johnson
outfit seemingly NAV look for little aid
from other clubs in the circuit in
checking the Yankees rouslng rush
pennantward.
During their recent invasion Of the
West the Yanks boosted their leading
margin two and one-half games. They
were little checked during their swing
through the inland sector of the loop
and when the Western clubs visited the
seaboard in May the Yanks never drop
ped a game. -
Hating the New Workers is squarely
up to the Johnson band.
THUS far the Nationals have trim
i med the Yankees in of l3 en-
gagements. But Of the last seven
games between the clubs five were won
bv the Yankees. The New Workers
have come along flying, while the
Washington crowd has been slipping
and skidding about for six weeks.
Looks as though the Nationals must
brace for these four tussles with the
Yanks. or pass out of the contention
for the championship this year.
The New York club now enjoys an
advantage of seven and one-half games
over the second-place Tigers. An i'm
pressiye lead with the halfway point OF
their campaign is games away. And
while the Nationals between their i'm
pending series with the Yanks are play
ing the Athletics the league pace-Set-
ters will be playing the last-place Red
Sox. No help there to challengers OF
New York supremacy.
Unless the Washington club manages
to check New York in these four games
within the next 10 days not only will
it be well out of the flag contention
but also the other clubs at present
G-IzA - OiNrlN IN
would find themselves too far back to
continue a menace to the Yankees
All that American League followers
could look forward to then would be a
stirring scrap for second honors.
DEFORE plunging into their tussles
ID with the Yankees and the Ath-
letics, the Nationals must dispose
of a pair of engagements with the Red
Sox. This Boston bunch doesn't mean
much to others, but it is no bargain as
far as Johnson's henchmen are con-
cerned.
The Red Sox have won just II games
in the current campaign and four were
won from the Nationals. That's more
thar the new Manager McManus crew
has won from any other aggregation.
OF course, the Nationals as they en-
tered the two-game series this after
noon were hopeful of a sweep. But
after what the Red Sox did to them in
that double-header in Boston on June
anything may be expected. The Ma
tionals felt the sting of those two de-
feats far into the West.
There was a chance that Heinie
Manush, whose game leg again went
back on him in the Cleveland tilt
Thursday. would return to the lineup
this afternoon for the opening fray with
the Beantown boys. However, Manager
johnson was somewhat inclined to let
Sam Rice or Dave Harris take care of
the left garden for the Nationals and
have Manush rest until next Tuesday
so that he might be in fine fettle for
the stert Of those all-important con-
tests with the Yanks.