[Questdog]

Friday, May 9, 1884
Baltimore Orioles (1-5 .167 4 GB tied for 11th place in the Grand National Association) at
Omaha Mutuals (3-3 .500 2 GB tied for 5th place)

Same teams, new venue. This is our home opener. Sprague will give it a go, but he has not pitched in over 3 weeks, so if he looks shaky will take him out.

Last time we faced Yurky, he beat us in 11 innings and struck out 10.

Pop Yurkovich, Balt. (32-5.6) (R 1-2 2.17 10.2-1.2-5.6 H-BB-K/9) vs. Lee Sprague, Omaha (24-3.5) (R 41-18 1.56 7.1-0.9-4.8 last year, when he won the Hurler Trophy)

Won - 3 to 2 in 10 innings

Our third game to go to extra-innings in the last 4.

We did not get our first hit until the 5th inning and Sprague was the one to get it.

Sprague went 10 innings, allowed 6 hits, no walks and struck out 4.

Yurkovich allowed 6 hits, walked 2 and struck out 9.

We made 6 errors; they made 5.

Yurkovich retired the first 2 batters in the bottom of the 10th, but then 3B George Dominick (30-4.8) singled. He stole second and went to third when the catcher's throw sailed into the outfield. 1B Rube Ford (33-5.1) ended the game with a loud hit. He now has a 14 game hitting streak going back to last season. I think he'll get to play regularly at 3B and 1B now, until he cools off, at least. He had 2 hits and drew a walk in the game. Dominick also had a double and an RBI.

For Baltimore, C William Fisher (27-4.9) had 3 of their 6 hits and an RBI.

We had 1223 fans for the Home Opener; a new club record for attendance.

Grand National Association Games:
Kansas City (3) at Providence (6): Ted Ryther (30-4.3) (3-1) over Joe Osborne (26-3.0) (0-1) in his major league debut. Ryther allowed 8 hits, no walks and struck out 1. At bat, he had a hit and scored 2 runs. Osborne allowed 11 hits, walked 4 and struck out 5. For the Cowboys, SS Al Sarbacker (23-4.8) had 3 hits with a triple and scored all 3 Kansas City runs. 2B Warren Page (27-6.0), in his season debut, had 3 hits and 2 RBIs.

Brooklyn (5) at Philadelphia (3): Dick Cole (30-5.9) (3-1) over Bill McClean (38-6.0) (1-3). Cole allowed 6 hits, walked 1 and struck out 7. He also had 2 hits on offense. McClean allowed 10 hits, 1 walk and struck out 8. CF Mike Hammond (33-5.7) had 4 hits with a triple, stole 2 bases and scored a run.

Minneapolis (2) at Pittsburgh (8): Tom Adams (29-6.0) (4-1) over Charlie Moss (43-6.3) (1-2). Adams allowed 6 hits, 2 walks and struck out 4. With his mighty piece of lumber, he had 3 hits with a double, scored 2 runs and knocked 2 in. That outburst raises his career batting average to .182. Moss allowed 9 hits, walked 1 and struck out 2.

Louisville (1) at Milwaukee (4): Tom Washam (31-6.1) (2-2) over Ed Sharp (29-5.5) (1-3). Washam allowed 3 hits, walked 3 and struck out 8. Sharp allowed 6 hits, 2 walks and struck out 3. He had a hit and a walk at bat. Only 3 errors total were made in this game; pretty impressive for a pair of expansion teams.

Scranton (7) at Chicago (8): Bill Moore (28-5.7) (3-0) over Sam Paul (29-5.4) (1-3). LF Martin Arnold (29-6.2), who was a defensive replacement for reigning MVP Candy Simpson in the top of the 8th, led off the bottom of the 9th with a home run to end the game. 2B Henry Potter (30-6.4) hit 2 triples, drew a walk and scored 3 runs. For the Miners, RF Martin Griffin (33-6.3) had 4 hits with a double and a home run and 3 RBIs.

Liberty League Games:
Cincinnati (16) at Washington (4): Charlie Branham (24-4.2) (2-1) over Will Taylor (37-7.9) (0-1) in his first start of the season. Branham allowed 11 hits, walked 3 and struck out 8. He had 3 hits with a triple, scored 3 runs and had an RBI. Will Taylor seems to be just a shadow of his former self, when he was one of the best pitchers in the league. He won 33 games and led the Liberty League in strikeouts back in 1878. C Tim Fish (29-5.4) had 2 hits with a double, but messed up his thumb and will likely miss 3 weeks or so. Joe Turner (24-6.6) also had to leave the game with an injury, but not before he got a knock to extend his consecutive games hitting streak to 30, dating back to last season. He tweaked his shoulder and should be fine in a day or two. The all-time record streak is 33 games, set by Lou Landaal (34-6.8) back in 1876. Lou is currently on the Disabled List with New York. Bill Thompson (33-4.2) of Boston had a 32-game streak in 1878.

Cleveland (4) at Troy (7): John Bendickson (32-6.0) (2-1) over Tom Marshman (33-4.7) (1-2). Bendy allowed 9 hits, no walks and struck out 6. Rookie RF Ed Wakefield (24-5.8) had 4 hits with a triple, a walk, stole a base, scored a run and had 2 RBIs. After 8 games gone on the schedule, he is leading the liberty League in batting average with a .448 mark.

Detroit (7) at Boston (0): Rufus Lee (33-3.9) (3-1) over Joe Peters (28-4.9) (0-3). Lee allowed 6 hits, walked 2 and struck out 4. This was his second shutout in a row. No other Liberty League pitcher has even thrown one yet. You shut out Boston at their place and you can say you did something! Peters allowed 6 hits, walked 4 and struck out 11. Last year's Hurler Trophy winner is off to a slow start, but he has not pitched horribly; Boston has only scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts. 1B Jack Warren (31-7.2) had 3 hits with a double, a walk, stole a base, scored a run and had 2 RBIs.

New York (7) at St. Louis (8): Daisy Neidigh (36-7.4) (1-0) in his first major league start over Jack Roberts (32-6.1) (3-2). Neidigh allowed 12 hits, walked 5 and struck out 6. Down a run with 2-on and 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, LF John Rodgers (32-4.4) came through with a single to score both runners and win the game. He had 3 hits on the day, stole a base, scored a run and knocked in 4. SS Bill Loschiavo (26-5.8), who I wish was my shortstop, had 3 hits with 2 doubles, stole a base, scored 3 runs and had and RBI. For the Gothams, SS Ed Glass (24-4.5) continued his hot hitting with 4 hits, 2 of them doubles, a walk, 2 stolen bases, 3 runs scored and an RBI. He is now hitting .424 after batting .241 last season.