ON THIS DATE (May 31, 1926)
... Eighteen long innings were battled through at
Fenway Park, before the day was marked with an even split. The Red
Sox handed the A's best pitcher, Lefty Grove, a 2-0 defeat in the
opening game. The Macks then turned around and gave the Sox an 8-2
beating in the nitecap.
The story of the first game was Howard Ehmke. While the tally sheet
read 0-0, he rang out a game-winning hit to bring home the deciding
run.
For seven long rounds, his mates were helpless against the offerings
of Grove. In the interim, Ehmke was also sending A's batters back to
the dugout in disappointment.
Then in the eighth, Fred Haney waited for a free pass and moved to
second on a sacrifice bunt. Ehmke came to the plate and the applause
changed to pandemonium, when he slammed one of Lefty's pitches into
left field. Haney scored and Ehmke stopped at second base. He
continued over to third when Ira Flagstead sent a long fly ball to Al
Simmons in center, and cantered home when Topper Rigney smacked one
safely to right field.
The Athletics tried to get back in the game in the ninth and their
chances looked mighty good when Ehmke walked Joe Hauser, Walt French
and Frank Welch to load the bases. But Bill Wambsgnass, pinch hitting
for Grove, slapped a grounder to Rigney, who threw him out by a
stride and ended the game.
