We get Carey back in the first week, but it doesn’t have the expected effect as we drop the next 7 games and undo most of the good work from the previous month. Short-term injuries to Bigbee and Easterly that each require an IL stint do not help matters. We right the ship to a certain degree in the final week to finish the month 15-14, but this was an untidy sectional indeed.
Everything is pretty much the mirror image of the month before. Our BA drops 7 points, our ERA jumps 23. Smith and Charleston both go almost completely missing, while Cooper (4.21 ERA for the month) and Johnson each post shockers.
All of which means that, instead of consolidating our lead and controlling the division into the stretch, we are now dragged back into a dogfight with the Giants, while the Cards and Braves are also right in it again. Over in the AL, the Browns have charged into the lead by a small margin from the Yanks, with the Sens, Red Sox and Tigers all still within reach.
We are not alone in being bitten by the injury bug. The Cards' Hugh Bedient has to call it a career courtesy of a torn rotator cuff, and their pitching ranks are further decimated with long-term injuries to Ferdie Schupp and Phil Douglas as well. The Giants lose ace Rube Marquard for a couple months, and most teams are down at least one key player.
On a brighter note, with still 60 games left to play, Heavy Johnson needs just 3 HR to break Wildfire Schulte's single-season mark of 22. Pete Hill (who leads the NL again this season with 10) and Ben Taylor each need just 7 more longballs to reach 100.
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