[jksander]

April 11, 1917: It’s opening day here in Philly, and Pat Ragan took the mound for us in his first game as an Athletic as we look to build on the successes of last season. Washington took the lead in the top of the third off an RBI double by Sam Rice and an RBI triple by Joe Judge, but we got on the board in the bottom of the inning with a double by Amos Strunk, and Jimmy Walsh helped us tie the game with an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth. We took the lead when the next batter, Mike Mowrey, hit a sac-fly that drove home Rube Oldring, and in the bottom of the sixth Oldring hit an RBI double to drive in another run as we extended our lead to two runs. That was enough, as we held firm to win this one 4-2, a strong opening salvo for what we hope will be a memorable season. Ragan pitched 8.1 innings with five hits, two walks and two runs, striking out six, while Byron Houck got the final two outs on seven pitches for his first save of the season. We outhit them 9-5, led by Oldring who had three hits, a run and an RBI, while Strunk hit twice and had an RBI.

April 12, 1917: We took the lead in the bottom of the first off a single by Tony DeFate, but Washington tied it with an RBI triple by Joe Leonard in the top of the third, taking the lead moments later off a groundout by Sam Rice. They added on another pair of runs in the fourth, but we rallied in the fifth, scoriing off back to back RBI singles for Rube Oldring and Eddie Murphy to get back within a run, down 4-3. Amos Strunk hit a single into the outfield that, aided by an E9 error, helped Stuffy McInnis tie the score in the bottom of the sixth, and we remained tied going into extra innings. In the top of the 12th Clyde Milan scored a run for Washington off a wild pitch, and that wound up being the game-breaker. They would hold on from there to win 5-4 as we fell to 1-1 on the season. Gene Packard only made it through six innings, allowing nine hits and four runs with four strikeouts, but our bullpen held its own down the stretch. Socks Seibold took the loss, pitching two innings with three hits, a walk and an unearned run, and we lost despite outhitting them 17-13. Stuffy McInnis led the way with four hits, a walk and two runs, and Rube Oldring added four hits and an RBI.

April 13, 1917: The Senators got off to a hot start, scoring off an RBI single by Charlie Jamieson and two runs off a double by Eddie Ainsmith, to lead 3-0 midway through the first inning. They added a run in the third, and in the bottom of the fourth we finally got on the board with a sac-fly by Rube Oldring and an RBI single for Manuel Cueto. In the bottom of the fifth McInnis hit a sac-fly and Tony DeFate tied it up with a well placed RBI single, but Washington hammered us from there ... two runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth were enough to bury us 9-4. Dick Rudolph only pitched 7.1 innings, allowing nine hits and six runs with three walks and a strikeout, hardly looking like himself early, and Washington outhit us 11-9. McInnis led the offense with two hits, a run and an RBI, while Amos Strunk added two hits and two runs.

April 14, 1917: We took the lead in the bottom of the fourth, off a two-run single by Jimmy Walsh, adding on with a sac-fly by Mike Mowrey to lead 3-0 heading into the fifth inning. In the top of the ninth, however, we gave it all back -- Clyde Milan hit an RBI single, Sam Rice hit a sac-fly, and Turner Barber walked in a run to make it a 3-3 ballgame heading into the bottom of the inning. This one went into extras, our second game to do so in this series, and this time we got a better result ... in the bottom of the 14th, Socks Seibold hit a walk-off single to win this one for us 4-3! He’d been the goat in the earlier extra innings loss, but this time he got the win after pitching two innings with just one hit. Last year’s Rookie of the Year Pedro Dibut pitched 7.2 innings with just three hits, three walks and three strikeouts, but Oscar Tuero blew the save. We outhit them 8-7 in an incredibly long pitching duel that matched two very strong bullpens. Tony DeFate had a hit, a walk and a run scored, Wally Schang had two hits and a walk, and Seibold had his hit and RBI to win the game.

Boston won their opening series against the Yankees on the road three games to one, so they’ll come into town after a rest day tomorrow with their heads held high as we’ll hope to get off on a good foot ourselves in the four-game series.

April 16, 1917: Boston took the lead off a sac-fly by Larry Gardner in the top of the second, adding an RBI double off Tillie Walker’s bat to take a quick 2-0 lead. Jimmy Walsh got us on the board in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single, and strong pitching helped us keep that margin until the bottom of the eighth, when Wally Schang batted home Amos Strunk with a single to tie things up, 2-2! Boston got the lead back off a lead-off solo homer from Del Gainer in the top of the ninth, however, and we weren’t able to get it back, losing this one 3-2. Babe Ruth dominated, pitching a five-hitter with three strikeouts and two unearned runs, giving Boston the edge though Pat Ragan had a solid 8.1 innings with eight hits, three walks and three runs, striking out three of his own before giving up that leadoff homer that lost the game. He’s now 1-1 through 16.2 innings with a 2.70 ERA. Nobody got on base for us more than once (we had no walks), with Schang and Walsh leading the way with a hit and an RBI apiece.

April 17, 1917: Boston again took an early lead, this time picking up two runs in the top of the second off Jack Barry reaching on an E5 error and an RBI single by Carl Mays. Tony DeFate walked in a run in the bottom of the fourth to get us on the board, and in the bottom of the fifth DeFate helped tie it up with an RBI single! That started a rally, as Rube Oldring reached on an E7 error, putting us into the lead, and Jimmy Walsh added on with an RBI single to make it a 4-2 lead heading into the sixth. But again we failed to add any insurance, and another ninth inning meltdown put us in jeopardy again ... Jack Barry reached on another error to drive in a run, Pinch Thomas singled in the tying run, Ray Haley hit a sac-fly for the lead, and Duffy Lewis hit another sac-fly to make it a two-run Boston lead in the bottom of the ninth. This has already happened too many times so early in the season, and we had no answer, losing 6-4 as Boston completely flipped the script on us. Byron Houck blew the save and took the loss, allowing five hits and four runs (three earned) in the ninth inning, blowing it for Gene Packard who had a good night, eight innings with six hits, a strikeout and two unearned runs. Boston outhit us 11-8, but much of that came in the ninth. Tony DeFate led with a hit, a walk, a run and two RBIs, and Rube Oldring added two hits, a run and an RBI.
 
April 18, 1917: This one was knotted up for four and a half innings, and then we exploded in the bottom of the fifth, in a rally that was sparked when Boston’s Al Demaree hit Michael Cueta with a pitch in the leadoff spot, nearly causing a brawl. Instead, we hit them where it hurt -- with two outs and McCarthy on third (as a pinch runner) with Jimmy Walsh on second, Amos Strunk hit an RBI single, driving both of them in to score! Wally Schang then walked the bases loaded, and Tony DeFate hit a grand slam home run to put us up 6-0! Alex McCarthy hit a sac-fly in the bottom of the eighth to add another run, and this time we shut them down in the ninth to hold on to the 7-0 shutout victory! Dick Rudolph pitched a complete game two hitter, walking one and striking out three, and we had eight hits ourselves, led by DeFate, who had two hits, a run and four RBIs as he’s improved to .296 through seven games as a rookie!

April 19, 1917: Wally Schang hit an RBI single to put us into the lead in the bottom of the third, and Mike Mowrey hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth to add on. Schang hit an RBI double in the fifth as well, followed by a single by DeFate that increased our margin to 4-0, and Stuffy McInnis got in on the action in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single to make it a five-run lead! Boston stranded two runners in the top of the ninth as we held on to win the game 5-0, our second shutout in a row! Pedro Dibut completed his own game with a seven hitter, walking one and striking out three as he improved to 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA through two starts, and we outhit them 13-7, led by Wally Schang who had three hits, a run and two RBIs.

We’ll now head out on the road with our 4-4 record, to play Washington (4-4), New York (3-5) and Boston (5-3), all in four-game sets. We’ll then host the Yankees for four in early May before spending most of the rest of the month on the road. Cleveland and Chicago are both off to hot starts, with 7-2 records atop the American League standings.