Evening star., 1945-07-17
Contest Today Is Off;
Mats Next Must Face
e-Settine Tigers
BY JOHN B. KELLER.

Two lickingS should not throw a
pennant-contending club out OF
gear, so the Mats could be well
over their shakes with the scheduled
windup of the series with st
Louis Browns today postponed by
bad weather.
They had better be, for a quartet
of games with the league-leading
Detroit Tigers opens with twi-
night double-header here tomorrow.
1t was Johnny Niggeling and Roger
Wolff who were smearingly shell
lacked in the 7-3 and 5-1 defeats
last night, with the not-so-highly
rated AL Hollingsworth and Tex
Shirley coming through impressive
-ly for the league champions.
Mats Revert to Early Form.
The Mats still were clinging to
second place today, although three
games removed from the top of the
procession. And they were only
a game ahead of both New York's
Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
There was too much in the Mats
performance last night that was rem
iniscent of their tawdry play in the
early part of the season, At least,
that was the sentiment of the 26,l20
the largest baseball crowd of the
year here in Griffith Stadium.
Niggeling reverted to his spring
form when wildness brought him
a string of lickings and was a
beaten pitcher in six innings of
the first game. He gave six hits
and three walks as he pitched him.
self out to almost every batter.
The blow-up in the sixth saw the
Browns cluster two hits with two
walks and a wild throw by Har-
lond Cliff for three runs. Santiago
Ullrich and Wally Holborow fin
iShed.
/. Wolff, who yielded II hits and
two passes-one intentional-was
all right until after two were out
in the fifth inning of the second
game. The Browns tied in the sixth,
then with three hits and that in
territorial pass cleaned three runs
off Roger in the eighth. That was
more than enough.
Torres Makes Smart Play.
The only smart play by a Nat
came in the sixth inning Of the
first game. With George McQuinn
on second as a result of a single
and passed ball, Vern Stephens
drove to Gil Torres. McQuinn, with
short lead, lodged back toward
second. The shortstop, instead of
trying for the out at first, whipped
the ball to Fred Vaughn and
McQu:nn was caught off second by
a whisker.
1t was not the Mats night to
hit. They matched the Browns with
eight safeties in the first game,
but did not score off the left-handed
Hollingsworth until the eighth when,
with four hits and a walk, they
got all their runs. Six hits were
all they cleaned off Tex Shirley
in the nightcap. Two got them a
run at the start. They wasted three
in the sixth.
George Case had a fuzzy time
of it on the bases. He overran
second on a fly ball in the first
game, neglected to touch the middle
sack on his way back to first and
was caught for a double play. In
the second game. he overran sec
ond again as George Myatt got
a bunt hit and was trapped. Myagt,
incidentally, made his 17th steal
and now is only one shy of Cases
theft total.
Lot of Bad Baseball.
To spoil the evening further for
the throng, the Mats rolled up five
errors in the two games and their
throws from the outfield would have
shamed the Chevy Chase Midgets.
Howard Mcfarland, new out
fielder, arrived In time to pinch
bat in the first game. He went up
with two on to be called out at
first, but the crowd thought he
was safe. Joe Kuhel went up in
a similar role in the second game,
after missing dozen games be-
cause of his cracked rib, and struck
out.
The Mats certainly got a lot of
bad baseball out of their systems.
Maybe some good will come of it.
FIRST GAME.