[jksander]

July 29, 1916: Chicago took the lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI single from Joe Jackson, and Happy Felsch hit a solo homer for them in the bottom of the fourth, extending their lead to 2-0. We were showing signs of a comeback in the top of the seventh, when, with one out and Lew Malone on second via a double, the umpires called the game as the sky unleashed in downpours. I’d like to think we would have made a comeback, but it didn’t matter, the game goes down as a 2-0 loss regardless. Gene Packard took the loss, falling to 5-6 after a six inning effort that allowed just three hits, two walks, two strikeouts and two runs, only one of which was earned. We actually outhit them 4-3, McInnis hitting twice and Malone picking up the seventh inning double along with a walk. The kicker? Bullet Joe Bush got the win, and he’s now 2-0 with a save and a 1.67 ERA since our trade back on July 1.

July 30, 1916: Amos Strunk hit a single in the top of the first, stole second, took third on a wild pitch, and came around to score when Stuffy McInnis reached on an E6 error to put us up 1-0! What a hell of a sequence THAT was! Too bad Chicago retook the lead in the bottom of the inning off an RBI double by Joe Jackson and an RBI single for Buck Weaver to go ahead 2-1. We answered with a sac-fly by Dibut that tied the score in the top of the second, retaking the lead in the third with an RBI single by Nap Lajoie, but Chicago found their answer to tie it in the bottom of the sixth off a sac-fly of their own by Jackson. Dibut gave up a sac-fly to Red Tabor which put the White Sox back into the lead, and they added an RBI single (again by Joe Jackson) to make it a 5-3 deficit heading into the top of the seventh. They bought an insurance run in the eighth and we went down without another punch, losing 6-3 as our hopes of a pennant seem to be fading into the sunset. They outhit us 11-7, and Dibut took the loss, lasing just six innings, allowing eight hits, four walks and five earned runs. Amos Strunk led with two hits and a run, while Lajoie added two hits and an RBI.
 
July 31, 1916: We’ve engaged in a ton of trade talks, but nothing has come of it ... nobody is willing to offer up the bats we need to make real improvements, so we’re going to stick with the players we’ve got and hope we can make some magic happen down the stretch. Joe Jackson broke a 0-0 tie in the botom of the sixth today with an RBI double, but Amos Strunk hit an RBI single in the top of the eighth to give us some life. Happy Felsch hammered us with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning, but pinch-hitter Eddie Murphy stunned the home crowd when he hit a two-run double in the top of the ninth to keep us in this one as he tied it 3-3. But the bottom of the 10th inning was an abject disaster as reliever Hi Jasper loaded the bases for the home team on two outs and then hit Buck Thrasher with a pitch, Jack Fournier literally walking in the winning run for Chicago as they taunted us with a 4-3 loss -- our team facing another rough skid as we continue to slide out of the race. They outhit us 10-5, Nap Lajoie leading our lineup with two hits and a run, while Jasper took the loss with 1.2 innings and one hit, though critically he walked three. Dick Rudolph only lasted seven innings, and our manager is going to take heat for pulling him after allowing just six hits, with three strikeouts, a walk and a single earned run.

We’ll stumble our way into August (and the final game of this series against Chicago) having lost six of our last seven games including our current four-game skid. We’re now in fourth place at 49-48, trailing the Yankees (50-47, 6.5 GB), St. Louis (53-48, 5.5 GB) and Chicago (58-42) in the standings, while holding a 2.5 game lead on Washington (47-51) that no longer feels safe in the least.

August 1, 1916: Chicago put up four quick runs on us in the bottom of the first, added another pair in the sixth, and then sat back and watched us melt down. The 6-0 shutout, our fifth loss in a row, will either serve as a true wake-up fall for this roster or it’s going to be our swan song, because despite outhitting them 10-7 we managed to make NOTHING happen on the basepaths, while commiting four critical errors. Gene Packard took the loss, falling to 5-7 while allowing just six hits, four of his six runs being unearned. Amos Strunk hit three times and got nowhere, while Jimmy Walsh hit twice and walked once.

As we head to Cleveland to face the 48-52 Indians on their field after a day off tomorrow, we are looking at a dozen games on this road trip and no sign that we can beat anybody. Our only hope is that we’re facing the bottom half of the standings, with Cleveland and Detroit (46-55) giving us a chance to hopefully breathe a bit before playing four against the Yankees (50-48) and our former manager Connie Mack.