Evening star., 1949-03-14
Kuhe| Is Impressed
By Stint Against As;
Coan, Lewis Star
By Burton Howkins
Stor Stoff Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla, Mar. IL
Hosting Washington's pitching
hopes Is slim Sid Hudson, cur
rently confident and supporting
that controlled cockiness with a
brand Of. hurting which Is a Joy
to Manager Joe Kuhel.
sid is better than at any time
since he returned from the serv-
ice," said Kuhel today, following
the Mats 6-2 triumph over the
Philadelphia Athletics yesterday
at West Palm Beach. His arm
trouble has vanished and his con-
troll has returned. He'll be
vastly improved pitcher this sea-
son."
Hudson. battered brutally last
season. chiefly due to the fact he
was forced to groove pitches after
getting behind on batters. was the
most encouraging performer
among the Mats. Gil Coan fash
ioned three solid hits. and Buddy
Lewis contributed two others, but
Hudson's three inning effort was
more important to Kuhel.
Handouts Macks' Best.
The elongated right-hander,
who won only four games last
year while losing Is, was facing
the AS regulars and limited them
to one hit. He walked only one,
struck out two and displayed re-
markable control in getting ahead
of 10 of the IL batters he faced.
To better their plight as one
of the more despised clubs in the
American League the Mats must
show perceptible pitching i'm
provement. Hudson's indication of
a comeback thus is bolstering
Washington spirit.
Dick Welteroth, who saw slight
service with the Mats last year
also took his first hurdle of the
exhibition game in slick style. The
21-year-old righthander yielded
only two hits in three innings as
the AS were checked on four hits
Milo Candini permitted one hit
in his three-inning chore, but it
was his wildness which led to the
Athletics two runs in the sixth
inning. Second Baseman AL Kozar
was no help in that situation
when he fumbled a grounder and
dropped a throw after Candini
had walked Elmer Valo and
Ferris Fain.
Coan Stars as Leadoff.
Coan approached the status of
an ideal leadoff man. He doubled
on his first trip. but was stranded.
With two down in the third he
singled, stole second and scored
on Lewis single. Gil touched off
a three-run outburst against Jim
Wilson in the eighth with sin
gle.
The Mats picked up a run off
Dick Fowler on the Coan-Lewis
collaboration in the third and
grabbed a 20 advantage in the
sixth. when Lewis singled, went
to third when Alexander Kellner
threw wild past first trying to
pick him off and scored after Ed
Stewart flied to deep right.
Philadelphia two unearned
runs locked the score in the sixth
but the Mats bounced back in the
seventh when Eddie Yost doubled
and came around on Mark Christ
mans single to right. Singles by
Coan. Sherry Robertson. Stewart
and Kozar plus an error by Cen
terfielder Wally Moses produced
three Washington runs in the
eighth.
Face Phillies Today.
Washington fashioned 10 hits
in winning its first Grapefruit
League game and returned here
today with an even break in the
two-game series. Ray Scarbor-
ough, Walter Masterson and For
rest Thompson were to face the
Philadelphia Phillies today.
NAT NOTES-Commissioner A
B. Chandler was among the 2,266
spectators. First Baseman Eddie
Robinson of the Mats grounded
out four times to First Baseman
Fain of the AS . Fowler was
clipped on the left wrist by a
liner off Hudson's bat in the third