[tm1681]

DUKE ASSAULTS AMERICAN WITH FIVE HITS
MASS. BAY RF CRACKS THREE DOUBLES, SCORES FOUR RUNS IN WIN AT GLENWOOD FIELD

PHILADELPHIA, PENN. (July 23, 1881) - American & Massachusetts Bay battled each other on Saturday, and even though American has the A.P.B.L.’s worst record they were able to give their visitors a tough contest before falling just a bit short.

Most of the action took place during the second half of the game. Mass. Bay scored once in T2, American scored once in T3, and the game was even at 1-1 in the middle of the fifth inning. American took the lead in B5 thanks to a Double by 3B Eamonn Todd, and they went ahead 3-1 via Sacrifice Fly. Mass. Bay leveled the score (3-3) in T6 when RF Kevin Duke’s run-scoring Double was followed by a Passed Ball that let 1B Gerhardt Berg run in from Third Base. American took the lead again (3-4) on a Single by LF George Kassabian in B6, but then the visitors took over.

Mass. Bay stepped up to bat for T7 and took the lead (7-4) with a four-run rally, the Runs scoring on a Single by SS Jonathan Quarles, a Double by Duke, and a two-run Single by CF James Johnson. In T9 they added an Insurance Run on a Single by PH Warren Foster, and the win was safe.

Mass. Bay had five men finish with multiple Hits, and the best of the five by a long shot was RF Kevin Duke:

• T2: Leadoff Single to LCF off J. Everhart (SB, R)
• T4: Leadoff Double to RCF off J. Everhard
• T6: 1-run Double to LF off J. Everhart (R)
• T7: 1-run Double to RCF off J. Everhart (R)
• T9: Single past 2B off W. Strickland (R)
• TOTAL: 5/5 (3 2B), 4 R, 2 RBI, SB, 8 TB

The 5/5 game continues Duke’s hot bat in July. He’s hit .360 over twenty games to raise his 1881 Average to .337 (.806 OPS) with 60 Runs, 53 RBI, 13 Stolen Bases, and 2.1 WAR through 71 games, figures very close to the ones that earned him his first All-Star Game appearances last year.

The win kept Mass. Bay alone in second place in the Colonial Conference with a record of 41-30, three games back of leaders St. John’s. On the other hand, American has the A.P.B.L.’s worst record by three games, with a mark of 22-49 (-128 RD).