Ahead by two games with four left to play, the Senators might have seemed, on the face of it, to have had a slight advantage -- their last four games would be contested at Fenway Park against last-place Boston. But the Yankees' opponents weren't much better. They were to face the Athletics, fighting for sixth place, in Philadelphia. The Senators quickly dispensed with half their advantage when Walter Johnson's consecutive-win streak was broken at 13 in a 2-1 heartbreaker on September 26, despite the fact that Boston fans were openly rooting for the Senators. In the same game, Sam Rice's team-record 31-game hitting streak (broken by Heinie Manush in 1933) was brought to a halt. At the same time, New York was pounding the A's, 7-1. Once again, Johnson was struck on the arm, this time by a pitched ball on the elbow. Earl McNeely had a bad game, and the rookie admitted to being downright scared about what could happen to the Nats' World Series prospects.
The following day, George Mogridge gave up four runs in the first inning, and disaster lurked and seemed imminent. Bucky Harris brought in Fred Marberry, Allen Russell, and Tom Zachary, who held the Red Sox to just one more run the rest of the way. The Senators won the game, 7-5. At one point, the Boston fans jeered their pitcher, Howard Ehmke, for striking out Roger Peckinpaugh in a key situation. When the news came that a Bullet Joe Bush wild pitch had cost New York a 4-3 decision in Philadelphia, the Nats had their two-game lead back. More importantly, with two games left in the season, the worst the Senators could do was to finish the season in a dead heat atop the standings.
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02-18-2023, 03:48 AM
1924 Washington Senators Part 4
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