Evening star., 1936-08-07

w YAsHINGToN'S skidding ball
M club, saved by the rain
wv yesterday. grasped des-
perately at a straw today
as 1t opened a fifth-place scrap with
the only American League team with
a greater claim to disappointment
Boston's Red Sox.
It might we'll be called the battle
of broken promises that is scheduled
TO be perpetrated at Griffith Stadium
today, tomorrow and Sunday. SPEND
Ing more lavishly than any club owner
In history, Tom Yawkey of Boston
has only a fifth-place club to show
for 1t. Clark Griffith, far more
frugal but building shrewdly, enter
tained high hopes for his Nationals
as recently as three weeks ago. only
to see them fall to pieces. Still, de-
spite Washington's record of having
dropped 16 of its last % games, the
Nationals found themselves today
trailing the Red Sox by only three
full games.
The Nationals, losers of 9 of their
last 10 games, are in the throes of
o slump that has been approached
only by the Sox The Bostons. for
whom Yawkey spent approximately
$2,000,000 in player talent during his
brief regime as whip-cracker, have
dropped eight of their last nine games.
Harris Shakes Up Line Up.
WHILE the final game of the Ath-
wv letic series was postponed yester-
day on account of rain, Manager
Bucky Harris nevertheless had time
TO serve warning on the Nationals
that he would experiment in hopes of
finding a winning combination. Con-
trary to an announcement of new
policy made couple of days ago,
Harris yanked Dee Miles out of right
field and benched Cecil Travis. He
put Carl Reynolds in Miles place and
sent the veteran Red Kress to Short
stop in place of Travis.
Judgment on the shifts hardly could
be made, however, inasmuch as a
steady rain at the end of the first
inning halted play. But even the few
AiOu1CA4ec Va pay A4AS k1lllS SLAo"Sa VIA
Washington still is not out of its
slump. When the game was called
the AS were ahead. 4 to 8.
Buck Newsom. beaten In his last
four starts. opened for the Griffs
and the AS promptly began to tee
off. Newsom walked Finney to start
the game and pitched a single to
ua1I1y fnrNod
at third but Bob Johnson hit the
center-f1eld fence for triple, Higgins
and Hayes singled and Newsome
doubled to account for four runs.
incidentally, it was the eleventh
straight game in which the opposition
has scored on the Nationals in the
nrst inning.
Mats Make Valiant Comeback.
THE Griffs were making a valiant
- comeback. despite the dishearten-
Ing start. After Ben Chapman had
Iooped q fiuke double to right field,
Buddy Lewis doubled him home and
scored q moment later when Johnny
Stone singled following Joe Kuhel's
pop fly.
Reynolds, bidding for the regular
risht-field job, singled sharply to
right, Stone racing to third. When
Finney threw wild to third base, how
ever. Stone scored and Reynolds
went to second. Neither Kress nor
Bluege could help Carl, though, and
the frame ended with Philadelphia
ahead, 4 to 8.
The crowd. smallest of the season,
sat in the stands for 20 minutes after
the umpires had cleared the field
when the first inning was over.
Finally, with no respite from the
steady drizzle in sight. the game was
called. 1t will be played here as
part of double-header on Sunday,
Eeptember 6.