THE 1914 "MIRACLE" BRAVES
Lefty Tyler  overwhelms Pittsburgh again

July 23, 1914 ... The Braves left Pittsburgh tonight with their best record of victories ever earned here, today's game going the route in a shutout, 2 to 0. The Pirates should be glad that their series with Boston is over, because they have had nothing but trouble trying to solve the pitching of Bill James, Dick Rudolph and Lefty Tyler. Today it was Tyler, who was in the same excellent form that he showed in the opening game of the series last Monday. He was again opposed by Wilbur Cooper, the best pitcher the Pirates have, and again young pitcher lost to Boston.

Cooper had Boston at his mercy just as easily as his more experienced opponent, and the run secured by the Braves were the result of some shady support given him by his infield. In the very first inning the Braves started scoring when Oscar Dugey hit to center for a base hit. After Evers flied out to right, the hit and run plan came through with Dugey going to third and Ted Cather getting on at first, on a shot past second base, making Jim Viox run to the back to stop the attempted steal. The Braves then showed their speed on a double steal that was successfully worked, with Dugey scoring and Cather taking second on catcher Bob Coleman's low throw to Honus Wagner at second.

The other run was result of errors by Mike Mowrey and Viox, and for a while the whole Pirates infield was up in the air. Mowrey made a good stop of Bert Whaling's ground ball, but threw it into the grandstand, allowing the Boston catcher to get to second base. Tyler next laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt which Viox messed up, when he covered first. After Dugey grounded out to Konetchy, Evers walked to fill the bases with only one out. Cather then hit a long fly out to Eddie Mensor in right field and Whaling was across with the second run of the game. After that inning the Braves went out in order, only 12 men facing Cooper in the last four innings.

With the quality of ball served up by Tyler, two runs seemed to be enough and the defense of the Braves was perfect, so the Pirates really never had a chance to score. Tyler passed one man and nicked two on the elbow, but the next batters were helpless at the plate. Jim Viox doubled when there were two down and Konetchy popped up.

In the last inning, with one down, Konetchy hit one to left-field fence and the ball bounded off the wall letting him get to second with a double. At this point Tyler buckled down and forced Joe Kelly to pop out to Charlie Deal, and then Jake Kafora, who pinch-hit for Coleman, grounded out to Rabbit Maranville and the game was over.

The Pirates went 44 innings without a score at the hands of the Braves. Five games, one an 11 inning affair, and only scoring of three runs, is a feat that the Braves can be proud of. Tyler pitched 17 innings without allowing any of the Pirates to score. They began again today by firing everything at him like a bullet, and their first two hits glanced off his glove hand and went for safeties. He got the next two and the Pirates tried bunting, but it wasn't their day. Cather was very busy in center field, his putouts generally being away near the fence. Possum Whitted got a couple off-the-wall that looked good for three bases. Deal had some hard foul balls to get today and made good on them all, the nearness of the grandstand not bothering him. He chased down everything that came his way.

For the Pirates, Cooper struck out the side in the seventh inning and threw only 11 balls. Dugey went out on three pitches, Tyler on four and Whaling on four.

Never in the remembrances of the oldest fans here, has the Pittsburgh team been shutout four times in one series. The Braves are going home tonight full of satisfaction, not only because of their performance here, but because of the way they've played during the whole trip. They are safely sitting in fourth place and sure of a warm welcome home next Saturday. 12 out of 16 games in the West is the record of the Braves.