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DOLF LUQUE |
THE 1914 "MIRACLE" BRAVES
Pittsburgh sweeps the series with the Braves
May 20, 1914 ... The Boston Braves dropped the third game of the series with the Pittsburgh Pirates by a score of 4 to 1. There were few hits in the game, with both pitchers being
effective.
Dolf Luque, the Cuban pitcher for the Braves, was the starter. He was very deliberate in his work and closely studied each pitch. He had the Pirates hitting the ball into the air, while Wilbur Cooper compelled the Braves to hit the ball on the ground. The Braves, therefore only had five
putouts at first base to Pittsburgh's seventeen ground ball outs.
Boston outfielders took care of ten fly balls while Pittsburgh brought down only five. Wilson Collins, the left fielder for the Braves brought down eight fly balls himself.
Rabbit Maranville gave his pitcher poor support, making four errors, two of them in succession on the same man. This happened in the third inning, when he muffed Cooper's pop fly and allowing the pitcher to reach first base. Cooper then made a bluff toward second and Maranville threw the
ball past first. A double by Max Carey brought Cooper home.
Only three Boston players got to third base, yet they had a man on base in every inning except the one. The Braves run came in the fifth inning and tied the score. Collins, the first batter, hit for a single and went to second on a sacrifice, scoring on a single by Johnny Evers. That was the
only inning in which the Braves put together two hits.
The Pirates retook the lead in their half of the inning. They scored two more in the eighth to make the score 4 to 1, when Luque gave evidence that he was tiring. |
