Evening star., 1936-05-20
TIGERS HELPLESS
IN HIS 3 ROUNDS
Succeeds After NeWsom Is
Pounded-0ffers Russell
Another Opening.
BY FRANCIS E. STAN,


BY FRANCIS E. STAN.
Stan Correspondent of The Star.
~LEvELAND. May 20.-Big
Fred Marberry, who has
vowed to quit base ball If he
~ can't make good with the Ma
Honals, had no reason to doubt his
comeback progress today in the wake
Of the only shred of silver lining at
tached to the Washington ball clubs
latest adventures in the West.
Neither, for that matter, did Man
aser Bucky Harris have cause for
doubt. If anything can help erase
part of Bucky's down-in-the-mouth
attitude today it must be the knowl-
edge that Marberry, whom Harris
personally signed 10 days ago, stands
q pretty fair chance of helping the
Nationals And this is a gross ex-
ample of understatement at that, for
1t's impossible to hurt them.
Here for a couple of games with
Cleveland's whiting Indians, on the
last leg Of their Western tour, the
Nationals truly were in desperate
straits. First it was their pitching
that had gone haywire. Next, at
least during the victorylesS three
game series they yielded at Detroit,
their batting attack went blooey, too.
To top it of, they haven't been able
to muster much resemblance to a
major league club on defense.
May Give Russell a Break.
XNERE it not for Marberry getting
w into the finale with the Tigers
yesterday and holding a club that had
found Buck Newsom no puzzle, gloomy,
indeed, would be the outlook. Fred
helped no little toward Frightening
things with a four-inning relief shift
that promised to prove boon to the
Washington pitching staff, such as
It is.
For one thing, Marberry's showing
since donning the habliment OF the
club with which he gained most OF
his glory makes it likely to mean thai
Jack Russell will get at least couple
more chances to start ball games.
Until Fred held the world cham
pions to a single scratch hit in four
innings of toll yesterday at Detroit it
looked as though Harris would have
to send Russell back to the bull pen.
Nobody else-Monte Weaver, Ed
T,iuke or Joe Bokina-had given any
indication of being capable of check
ing the enemy in relief-pitching roles
Now that the 36-year-old Marberry
with a little more rest than he used
to require back in his halcyon days
seems able to better the performances
Of the other trio, the slab prospects
are q shade brighter.
Great in Tigers AZ Win.
MARBERRY was of to a poor, but
" not discouraging. start as e Ma.
tional of 1886 when he first pitched
on May IA, at Chicago. He entered
the box in the eighth inning of ball
game that Washington was losing
12-11, and after the White Sox, in
hitting mood, had just belted Rus
sell, Weaver, Linke and Pete Apple
ton from the slab, Fred, with no.
body out and the winning run on
second base, promptly retired the nexl
three batters in easy fashion.
Opening the ninth, after the Griffs
had tied it up, Fred walked a batter
hit the next, and then threw the
game away by picking up bunt and
throwing it into left field in an at
tempt to nab runner at third base
Still it was a convincing perform
ence.
Yesterday Marberry bettered this
showing when he relieved Newsom
with the Tigers ahead in the fifth
inning, 4 to 0, and stopped them cold
In the sixth inning, his first in the
game, he retired AL Simmons, Ger
aid Walker and Jack Burns in order
In the seventh, with two down, Flea
Clifton sent a slow bounder to Cecil
Travis, who muffed a one-handed try
for the ball 1t was scored as a hit
but the next man. Mickey Cochrane,
died out
In the ninth it was one-two- three
again, Gehringer. Goslin and Sim
mons being the victims. Marberry
loose as goose" to quote Harris
had plenty on the ball and he knew
how to use 1t.
Miles Error Is Costly.
nESPITE the fact that Tommy
Bridges held Washington to foul
tits-making a total of only nine
safeties collected by the Griffs in the
last two days-yesterday's game might
be going on yet were it not for an
other defensive lapse. Newsom was
touched up a bit, but he pitched bet.
ter ball than the score indicated.
In the second inning, after Detroi
had scored run on double-play il
the initial frame, Marvin Over
grounded to Travis. with Walker ant
Burns on third and second bases. re-
spectively, and one out. Travis got of
q throw to Walter Miles at the plat.
and Walker was out by several feet.
The Detroit runner crashed into Mil
lies, however, and knocked him sprawl
ing. The ball dropped from Miles
hand and rolled away, permitting no
only Walker, but also Burns, to score
The next two batters went out bu
two unearned runs were scored, an
It was 80. In the fourth inning Wake