Evening star., 1936-07-17
WHITE S0X, TRIBE
POISON TO HARRIS
Even Break on Season With
link Clubs Would Have
Meant Flag Chance.
BY FRANCIS E. STAN.

ped two straight and lethal
White Sox wallops with their
i collective chins, aWoke today
10 find themselves relieved OF their
first division lease and facing not too
bright prospects of being able to re-
claim it.
The realization that two Western
clubs-the White Sox and Indians
have caused 80 per cent OF the Grlffs'
grief this campaign is not calculated
to help the Washington's morale. To
succeSSions of Setbacks by Chicago
and Cleveland can be traced the
Nationals chief source Of trouble and
by now the germs OF complex appar-
emily are breeding.
The White Sox, who today were to
wind up their current invasion OF
Griffith Stadium, won their ninth
victory in 13 games with Washington
yesterday by a 9-to-7 count. The In
dians, who will follow the Sox into
town tomorrow for a three-game
series, have won at approximately the
same ratio-seven games to three.
Nothing in the last lew hours has
disturbed the fear that Cleveland Will
be a red-hot ball club when 1t in
vades. The current Eastern tour OF
the Indians, which yesterday culmin-
ated in Steve O'Neills band rolling
into second place, is by far their most
successful in recent years. And, II
these prospects are not dark enough,
Washington's first stop when it ends
its home stand on Sunday will be
Chicago, where a four game series will
be played.
Schedule Unfavorable to Griffs.
THUS, for the next seven games,
the schedule calls for the Ma
tionals to battle their prize nemesis,
Chicago and Cleveland. Unless the
Harrismen can produce a new for
midability against them it isn't likely
that Washington will climb out OF
NTH place in hurry
Some idea of how much the Is de-
feats in % games with the Sox and
Tribe have hurt the Griffs' cause
isn't difficult to approximate. If
Washington, for instance, had played
500 ball against Chicago and CleVe-
land so far this campaign you could
have started sending in world series
requests. The Mats wouldn't have
been in first place, Of course, but
they would have been close enough
to have much to say about where the
American League pennant is going.
In plain figures, if Washington had
been able to win, say, IL of % games
against Chicago and Cleveland, it
would be riding undisputedly and
safely in second place today and only
six-and-one-half games behind the
league-leading Yankees. That is
big penalty to pay for inability to
cope with a couple ball clubs that
hardly rate as serious flag contenders
themselves.
Appleton. Dietrich. De Shong Flop.
IT BEGINS to look as though it just
isn't in the books for the Mats to
beat the Dykes and ONeill-headed
outfits. In Chicago, recently, Joe
Cascarella pitched a four-hit game
and lost. In the opening games of the
current White Sox series the Dykes
men made five runs in the first inning
and managed to stagger home in front
when the Griffs blew scoring chances
galore to lose, GA. Yesterdays defeat
was little short of civic calamity.
The 9-to-7 lacing yesterday was in
some respects the most disappointing
performances perpetrated at the sta
dium all season. Chicago, after bat
ting Pete Appleton out of the box in
the second inning by scoring four runs,
seemed to have lost the game when the
Griffs rallied to take 7-to-5 lead 60
ing into the seventh inning.
But from this point on some un-
pardonably poor pitching by Bill Diet
rich and later by Jimmy De Shong
made the game White Sox all the way.
Dietrich couldn't hold the Us lead for
a single inning. He walked three bat
ters in the seventh and pitched a
double that produced one run and left
the bases filled. De Shong, hurrying
10 the rescue, walked across the tying
run.