[jksander]

April 25, 1916: Until the bottom of the sixth inning Bullet Joe Bush was pitching a no-hitter, and this game was scoreless until the bottom of the eighth, when the Senators broke through with an RBI single for Sam Rice, their right fielder. Bush was pulled from the game after giving up that run, with Morrisette getting us the final out and our turn at the plate in the top of the ninth, and we came out fighting ... Amos Strunk hit a bouncing single into center, and with McInnis at the plate, he managed to steal second off an E6 error that let McInnis take first. Shag Thompson muffed a bunt that took Strunk out at third (but we maintained runners on first and second), and then we struck back -- Nap Lajoie tied the game with a single into right field that, coupled with an E9 error, allowed both remaining runners to advance into scoring position! But we were unable to get a second run across, and Morrisette had an awful bottom of the ninth ... Henri Rondeau singled, Joe Judge bunted him to second and still reached safely, John Henry walked the bases loaded, and Rondeau would score off a walk by Walter Johnson as the Senators beat us 2-1 without us even getting an out in the frame. Morrisette took the loss, getting just the one out in the eighth while allowing two hits, two walks and an earned run. But Bullet Joe Bush had a great night, lasting 7.2 innings with just five hits, three walks, three strikeouts and an unearned run. We even outhit them 8-7, led by Lajoie with two hits and an RBI (Strunk hit three times but got nowhere).

April 26, 1916: Today we scored first, a groundout by Stuffy McInnis scoring Pedro Dilbut from third for a 1-0 lead in the top of the third! In the top of the eighth we bought ourselves a bit of insurance with an RBI single from Nap Lajoie, and again Bill Morrisette took over with two outs in the eighth, staying out in the ninth to protect the two-run lead. This time he handled his business, and we were able to get out of the stadium with a huge 2-0 victory in another low-scoring defensive affair. We outhit them 8-4, led by Wally Schang with two hits and a run and by Lajoie, who had a hit and another critical RBI. Meanwhile, 23-year-old rookie Pedro Dibut improved to 2-2 with a 2.43 ERA, allowing just two hits in his 7.2 innings, with four walks and a strikeout. And Morrisette successfully shrugged off last night’s rough inning by pitching 1.1 innings today with just two hits, improving his ERA to 1.69 thorugh 5.1 innings, while earning his first save.

April 27, 1916: We wasted no time in this one, scoring off a groundout by McInnis and a passed ball by Senators starter Jim Shaw to take a 2-0 lead before throwing our first pitch. Our pitcher, Byron Houck, hit an RBI single in the second to put us up 3-0, and he grounded out in the fourth to drive home another run! Sam Rice hit an RBI single for Washington in the bottom of the eighth with two outs, and again Morrisette took the ball, this time leading 4-1, getting us into the top of the ninth with no issue. He let a pair of runners on base in the bottom of the ninth, but Clyde Milan grounded out to first and we were able to keep the 4-1 victory ... back to back wins, and we still have one game left against the Senators! Houck improved to 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA, allowing seven hits, three walks and one earned run with two strikeouts in his 7.2 innings, while Morrisette picked up his second save in a row with 1.1 innings and two hits with one walk, improving his ERA to 1.35.

April 28, 1916: With yesterday’s win, we jumped over the Senators in the standings, improving to 6-8 and sixth place in the AL, just half a game behind Boston and Detroit who are 7-8. And we’ve been emboldened, knowing we can beat these guys ... today we came out slamming the ball, taking the lead with a two-run double by Strunk and adding runs via a groundout by Oldring and a single for Lajoie, leading 4-0 midway through the first inning! Gene Packard gave them back a run in the bottom of the inning (off a single by Clyde Milan), and John Henry hit an RBI single (coupled with an E9 error) that cut our lead to two runs in the bottom of the third. Stuffy McInnis hit an RBI single in the fifth to get us back to a three-run advantage, and Amos Strunk hit a line drive double that drove home Jimmy Walsh to make it 6-2 heading into the stretch. Packard stayed out in the bottom of the seventh but came out of the game after Eddie Foster grounded out while driving home a run for Danny Moeller, bringing out Jack Nabors with one out. Sam Rice hit an RBI single to drive home another of Packard’s runs, but Nabors got us through with a two run lead still safe, and he kept it that way through the eighth. In the top of the ninth Nabors scored a run off a sac-fly by Amos Strunk to get our lead back to three runs, but in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, Clyde Milan hit an RBI triple to keep Washington’s hopes alive. But not for long ... John Henry grounded harmlessly to first and we completed the series with a 7-5 win, taking three of four from the Senators. Packard picked up the win, lasting 6.1 innings with eight hits, three walks and four runs (three earned) along with a strikeout, while Nabors pitched his best game of the season ... 2.2 innings with four hits, a strikeout and an earned run, improving his ERA to 10.61 through 9.1 innings over six appearances. They outhit us 12-11, but we were led by Amos Strunk with two hits, a run and four RBIs, while Wally Schang added three hits and a run. Strunk is now hitting .310, while Schang has a .333 average, and the two are combined for 14 of our RBIs. They are also our only two qualified hitters with averages above .230, so it’s impressive that we’ve managed to improve our way to a 7-8 record!

We’ll face a tough challenge from the Yankees (11-4, 1st in the AL) as we host them for a four game set. We’ll have Sundays off in the month of May, and will host Washington (6-10), Detroit (7-9) and St. Louis (9-7) for four each followed by three against Chicago (11-5) and four against Cleveland (5-11) before plying our next road game in Washington on May 26th. So this will be a good chance for us to show if we can differentiate ourselves from the crowded pack in the middle of this league. We’re currently alone in fourth place in the league at 7-8, half a game up on Boston and a game and a half behind St. Louis. But we’re currently playing two games above our expected record, considering our -23 run differential, and none of our team stats suggest we’re anything but a team boosted by a small sample size of games played. Offensively we’re dead last in every category but runs scored (46, 7th), extra base hits (24, tied for 6th), strikeouts (61, 7th), stolen bases (14, 7th) and baserunning (+4.1, 3rd). Our starters’ ERA of 3.02 has us ranked 5th in the AL, and our 138 hits allowed is third best in the league. But our bullpen ERA of 7.66 (8th) and defensive efficiency (.674, 7th) haven’t left us in a great position when playing against quality teams.