Bosox and A’s Split Season Finale

As the season entered its final series, Boston and Philadelphia both had reasons to want to win the series.  For the A’s, who were trailing Boston by 2 games, it meant a chance to hopefully move into a tie or outright 1st place in the division; for Boston, who was leading Tampa Bay by a game, it meant securing first place with a sweep or at least increasing the pressure on the Rays by not losing the series.  Whatever the reasons both teams needed to win and there is NO DOUBT they game to play.  There were no “prisoners taken” in this series.

Game 1

Shibe Park

Dobson vs Grove

Philadelphia  9   Boston  1

The A’s Lefty Grove was the MVP of this game.  All his pitches were working and inning after inning he confused the Boston hitters.  Although he walked 4 batters in the first 4 innings none of the runners came close to scoring.  It wasn’t until Johnny Pesky singled with 2 outs in the 6th inning that Boston saw its 1st hit of the game and only a Billy Goodman RBI double in the 8th prevented Grove from a complete game 4 hit shutout.  Conversely, Boston’s Joe Dobson never found his groove and was on the short end of the score after 3 innings, 5-0, with Al Simmons hitting a 2 run homer in the first to start it all.  Max Bishop had 3 hits and 3 runs scored while Simmons connected on 2 two run HR to account for his 4 RBI and raise his league leading batting average to .410.  Philadelphia takes game 1, 9-1.

Game 2

Shibe Park

Kinder vs Walberg

Boston  4   Philadelphia  1

It was like the two teams changed uniforms from the previous day.  This time it was the Bosox who had the better pitching and enough hitting to even the series.  Like the day before when Al Simmons unloaded a 2 run HR for the early A’s lead, this game it was Boston’s “Splendid Splinter” Ted Williams who did the same for a Boston 2 run lead after 1 inning.  This time Ellis Kinder imitated Lefty Grove of the previous day as he set the A’s down on 4 hits through 6 innings.  Dom DiMaggio hit a 2 run HR in the 7th to give Boston a 4 run cushion and when Kinder tired in the 9th Harry Taylor came on to get the last 2 outs and earn the save as Boston tied the series 1-1.  Al Simmons went hitless in 4 AB and his average dropped to .397.

Game 3

Fenway Park

Ehmke vs Stobbs

Boston  22   Philadelphia  10

The ERA’s took a beating for both teams in this one and it didn’t take long for the fireworks to begin.  The visiting A’s scored 3 times in the top of the 1st on a walk, double, 2 singles and an error.  The Red Sox countered that with 5 of their own in the bottom of the inning on a single, 2 triples and a 2 run Vern Stephens HR.  Philadelphia then had RBI singles from Jimmy Foxx and Zach Wheat in the 2nd inning to tie the score at 5 apiece.  Both teams took a breather in the 3rd inning before Boston once again went to town with a triple, 2 doubles, a single, hit batter and SF that resulted in 4 runs and 9-5 lead after 4 innings.  Boston continued the onslaught with 3 spots in both the 5th and 6th innings and Philadelphia added its own 3 spot in the top of the 6th.  Boston led 15-8 after 7.  The A’s scored 2 more in the 8th to cut the score to 15-10.  However, in the bottom of the 8th the A’s pitching finished unraveling when Boston scored 7 runs on 3 hits, 4 walks and an error that ended the scoring and gave Boston a wild 22-10 win.  The hitting stars for Boston were Al Zarilla who went a perfect 6-6 and Walt Dropo who went 4-4.  DiMaggio and Zarilla, the first 2 batters in the Boston lineup, accounted each scored 5 runs to account for 10 of the 22 the Bosox scored.  Dropo lead the team with 5 RBI.  Boston had 10 extra base hits including 4 doubles, 5 triples and a HR.  Al Simmons went 2 for 5 to raise his average to .397 with one game to go in his quest for that elusive .400 BA.

Game 4

Fenway Park

Quinn vs Masterson

Philadelphia  15   Boston  8

The A’s scored single runs in the 2nd and 5th innings to take a 2-0 lead before Boston scored 6 highlighted by a 3 run Verns Stephens HR that gave Boston what looked to be a comfortable 6-2 lead after 5.  No lead was safe in this series as the A’s scored 3 in the 6th lead by a Mickey Cochrane 2 run HR.  Philadelphia took the lead with 2 in the 7th and the Red Sox added 1 in the bottom of the inning to knot the score at 7.  Finally the Boston bullpen, which has been the team’s weak link, imploded in the 8th when they gave up 6 runs on 5 singles, a double, a hit batter and 2 wild pitches to give Philadelphia a 13-7 lead.  Boston did get one back in the 8th but the A’s added 2 more in the 9th to complete the scoring and give Philadelphia a series split with Boston.  Zach Wheat had 5 hits with 3 runs and 3 RBI.  Boston’s Billy Goodman finished 4-4.  As for Al Simmons, he completed a magical season by going 4 for 6 to achieve that magical milestone and finish the season with a .409 BA.

--submitted by Erik Nelson--