British and Irish Baseball

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Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Two: Saturday 14 March 1874

Two weeks into the season and there are three teams who have won both of their games. One of them is defending champions Peckham Rye, for whom a three run second inning was enough to overcome the Royal Artillery Barracks today. Greenwich Meridian also have two wins after leading from start to finish against the Old Westminsters.

Angel Islington, who were tied for last place last season, are the third team with two wins on the board after they scored three in the third and three more in the sixth on their way to a big win at Marylebone, who have lost both of their games.

The City of London Club got their first win although it was a close one against Hackney. The Exiles led it 1-0 in the sixth inning only for the City Club to tie it up and then win the year's first extra inning game in the twelfth. The day's other game saw a heartbreaking loss for Kensington who trailed 6-0 in the fifth inning against Clapham Common. Victoria came all the way back to tie it at 6-6 with a three-run eighth, only for Common to find the winning run in the ninth.

Scores:
Hackney Exiles 1-2 City of London Club (12 innings)
Clapham Common 7-6 Kensington Victoria
Angel Islington 8-1 Marylebone Regents
Greenwich Meridian 4-1 Old Westminsters
Royal Artillery Barracks 2-4 Peckham Rye

Standings:
Angel Islington 2-0
Greenwich Meridian 2-0
Peckham Rye 2-0
City of London Club 1-1
Clapham Common 1-1
Hackney Exiles 1-1
Royal Artillery Barracks 1-1
Kensington Victoria 0-2
Marylebone Regents 0-2
Old Westminsters 0-2

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Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Three: Saturday 21 March 1874

The defending Metropolitan League champions are still undefeated, but Peckham had to win today's game the hard way after falling behind 2-0 in the first inning against winless Marylebone. Either side of a long delay for rain, Rye scored in the third and the fifth to tie it at 2-2 before eventually winning the game in the tenth.

Also undefeated are Greenwich Meridian, so far proving wrong those who felt they would struggle to repeat their good form of last year. Today pitcher Oisin Sherin achieved a seven-hit shut-out as Meridian beat Clapham on a single sixth-inning run, Sherin showing that even at the age of forty-one he can still play to the highest standard.

Angel Islington fell to their first defeat as they could not score against Hackney, who led from the first inning to the last. Kensington remain without a win this year as they made another poor start today, falling behind 3-0 in the first inning against the Old Westminsters and never being able to recover.

Finally today, the City of London Club's formerly powerful batting line-up is really struggling this year. Today the City Club fell to a 2-1 defeat in thirteen innings against the Royal Artillery Barracks and they have now scored a total of just three runs in their three games this season.

Scores:
Hackney Exiles 5-0 Angel Islington
Greenwich Meridian 1-0 Clapham Common
Old Westminsters 5-0 Kensington Victoria
Marylebone Regents 2-3 Peckham Rye (10 innings)
City of London Club 1-2 Royal Artillery Barracks (13 innings)

Standings:
Greenwich Meridian 3-0
Peckham Rye 3-0
Angel Islington 2-1
Hackney Exiles 2-1
Royal Artillery Barracks 2-1
City of London Club 1-2
Clapham Common 1-2
Old Westminsters 1-2
Kensington Victoria 0-3
Marylebone Regents 0-3

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Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Four: Saturday 28 March 1874

There are five teams tied at the top of the standings at the end of March after the last two undefeated records in the Metropolitan League came to an end today. Champions Peckham took the lead in the first inning againt the Old Westminsters, but the Westminsters scored in the second, fourth and fifth to turn it around.

Greenwich fell to their first defeat after trailing throughout their game with Angel Islington, who to the surprise of many are another of the teams in the early tie at the top. Also going well are the Royal Artillery Barracks, who overcame Clapham Common 3-1 in a game where all the scoring for both teams came in the sixth inning.

The other team tied for first place are the Hackney Exiles, who added to Kensington Victoria's problems with a first inning run and five more in the third to leave their opponents still without a win. If Kensington cannot improve their pitching soon, they are in for a very poor season. They are now the only team without a win, as the Marylebone Regents recovered from giving up a first inning run to the City of London Club to take the lead with two of their own in the first and were never caught.

Scores:
Royal Artillery Barracks 3-1 Clapham Common
Angel Islington 4-1 Greenwich Meridian
Kensington Victoria 0-6 Hackney Exiles
City of London Club 1-4 Marylebone Regents
Peckham Rye 1-3 Old Westminsters

Standings:
Angel Islington 3-1
Greenwich Meridian 3-1
Hackney Exiles 3-1
Peckham Rye 3-1
Royal Artillery Barracks 3-1
Old Westminsters 2-2
City of London Club 1-3
Clapham Common 1-3
Marylebone Regents 1-3
Kensington Victoria 0-4

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Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Five: Saturday 4 April 1874

The Royal Artillery Barracks are the outright leaders of the Metropolitan League after today's games as they defeated Angel Islington thanks in the main to a five run fourth inning. The Artillery would have had company in first place from the winner of the game between Greenwich and Hackney, but that game fell victim to the weather and will be played as part of a double in September.

Champions Peckham Rye could also have had a share of the lead in the standings, but they fell to a surprise defeat against previously winless Kensington. Victoria have struggled to stop opponents from scoring this year but today kept Peckham off the scoreboard throughout, scoring two in the second and one in the fifth to earn the win.

Marylebone have won their last two after a single run in the sixth inning was enough to see off Clapham Common, while the City of London Club's problems with the bat continue. They fell 2-0 behind in the first inning against the Old Westminsters and gave up another run in the second, only being able to respond with four hits and no runs in the whole game against Westminsters pitcher Reuben Pethick. It was the first complete game shut-out of Pethick's career in the Metropolitan League and means that the City Club have scored just four runs in their five games this year.

Scores:
Old Westminsters 3-0 City of London Club
Hackney Exiles v Greenwich Meridian postponed
Peckham Rye 0-3 Kensington Victoria
Clapham Common 0-1 Marylebone Regents
Angel Islington 4-7 Royal Artillery Barracks

Standings:
Royal Artillery Barracks 4-1
Greenwich Meridian 3-1
Hackney Exiles 3-1
Angel Islington 3-2
Old Westminsters 3-2
Peckham Rye 3-2
Marylebone Regents 2-3
City of London Club 1-4
Clapham Common 1-4
Kensington Victoria 1-4

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Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Six: Saturday 11 April 1874

The Metropolitan League has new leaders today after Greenwich Meridian overcame the previous holders of first place, the Royal Artillery Barracks. In a game interrupted by a delay for rain, Meridian scored three in the second inning and held on after the Artillery came back to make it a one-run game.

Champions Peckham Rye are tied with the Artillery for second place after inflicting another defeat on the City of London Club, who are a pale shadow of their former successful selves. Peckham scored in the second and fifth and although the City Club avoided being shut out again when they scored one in the ninth, they fell to their fifth loss in six games this season. With many of the players who won six championships in seven years for the City Club still together in the team, it may be that they are now simply past their best.

Angel Islington are also tied for second, runs in the second and sixth enough for them to edge past the Old Westminsters, but Hackney lost ground after falling to a single eighth inning run at Clapham Common. After their win last week, Kensington returned to losing ways after giving up three in the second against Marylebone and failing to get on the board. Marylebone have now won their last three after starting with three defeats.

Scores:
Old Westminsters 1-2 Angel Islington
Hackney Exiles 0-1 Clapham Common
Marylebone Regents 4-0 Kensington Victoria
City of London Club 1-2 Peckham Rye
Greenwich Meridian 4-3 Royal Artillery Barracks

Standings:
Greenwich Meridian 4-1
Angel Islington 4-2
Peckham Rye 4-2
Royal Artillery Barracks 4-2
Hackney Exiles 3-2
Marylebone Regents 3-3
Old Westminsters 3-3
Clapham Common 2-4
City of London Club 1-5
Kensington Victoria 1-5

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Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Seven: Saturday 18 April 1874

Greenwich Meridian began the day on top of the standings but end it with three teams above them after losing to reigning champions Peckham Rye. Rye opened up with two runs in the first and added on to their lead in the second and fourth, with Greenwich only able to reply with two in the sixth. Of concern for Peckham was the injury to Frederick Walsh, who could be unable to play for the next two or three months.

Level with Peckham at the top are Angel Islington, who also had a fast start with three in the first and held on to beat Clapham 3-2. The third team tied at the top are the Royal Artillery Barracks, who edged past a Hackney team who have not started the season as well as many anticipated. The Artillery almost let the game slip away when they lost a 2-1 lead in the ninth, but two runs in the eleventh gave them the win.

Marylebone are in fine form at the moment as they won for the fourth successive week, a two run sixth inning the highlight of their win over the Old Westminsters. In the battle of the teams tied for last at the start of play today, the City of London Club doubled their run total for the season in overcoming Kensington Victoria. The City Club saw a 4-0 lead closed to 4-3 in the sixth inning but added a run in the seventh and held on to take it 5-3.

Scores:
Clapham Common 2-3 Angel Islington
Kensington Victoria 3-5 City of London Club
Peckham Rye 4-2 Greenwich Meridian
Royal Artillery Barracks 4-2 Hackney Exiles
Marylebone Regents 4-1 Old Westminsters

Standings:
Angel Islington 5-2
Peckham Rye 5-2
Royal Artillery Barracks 5-2
Greenwich Meridian 4-2
Marylebone Regents 4-3
Hackney Exiles 3-3
Old Westminsters 3-4
City of London Club 2-5
Clapham Common 2-5
Kensington Victoria 1-6

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Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Eight: Saturday 25 April 1874

Peckham Rye fell out of the tie for first place in the standings today after going down to defeat against the Hackney Exiles. Stand-in pitcher Leopold Vincent performed creditably on his first appearance but he could not hold on to the lead after Peckham had scored two in the fifth. Hackney came back with two in the sixth to level it at 2-2 and won the game with a three-run eighth inning.

The Royal Artillery Barracks kept a share of first place with an extra-inning win over the Old Westminsters, two runs in the tenth securing the victory. They are tied with Angel Islington, who defeated last placed Kensington in a remarkable game which was the highest scoring ever seen in the Metropolitan League. Angel led 4-0 early on, but Kensington scored six in the fifth to take the lead and led 7-4 going to the ninth. Incredibly, after a long delay for rain Angel found five runs to move ahead 9-7 only for Kensington to tie it, with the possible winning runner being out at home plate to end the inning. Angel then duly scored again in the tenth to win the game 10-9.

The league's form team are the Marylebone Regents, who have now won five consecutive games after a single run in the fourth inning saw them past Greenwich. There was also a narrow victory for Clapham Common, who saw a 3-0 lead disappear in the fifth inning against the City of London Club only for a run in the eighth to win it.

Scores:
Clapham Common 4-3 City of London Club
Angel Islington 10-9 Kensington Victoria (10 innings)
Greenwich Meridian 0-1 Marylebone Regents
Royal Artillery Barracks 3-1 Old Westminsters (10 innings)
Hackney Exiles 5-2 Peckham Rye

Standings:
Angel Islington 6-2
Royal Artillery Barracks 6-2
Marylebone Regents 5-3
Peckham Rye 5-3
Greenwich Meridian 4-3
Hackney Exiles 4-3
Clapham Common 3-5
Old Westminsters 3-5
City of London Club 2-6
Kensington Victoria 1-7

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Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Nine: Saturday 2 May 1874

One quarter of the way through the season, the Royal Artillery Barracks are the clear leaders of the Metropolitan League after a tougher than expected game against last placed Kensington today. Victoria have struggle to stop opponents from scoring this year but today the Artillery could manage just a single run in the sixth, although that was still enough for the win.

The Artillery have a clear lead because Angel Islington were defeated by Peckham Rye, who move into a tie for second. Rye led 3-0 after three innings only to see Angel tie it with three runs in the fourth, but the reigning champions took the win with a ninth-inning score. Hackney are close behind after ending the recent good run of the Marylebone Regents, the Exiles winning it with the only run of the game in the third inning.

Greenwich also have a winning record after edging past the City of London Club. Meridian led 2-0 for much of the game but the City Club scored in the seventh and then the ninth to tie it, only for Greenwich to respond immediately with a winning ninth inning run of their own. Finally on a low scoring day, there was another 1-0 game at Clapham Common where the visiting Old Westminsters got one man home in the third.

Scores:
Peckham Rye 4-3 Angel Islington
Old Westminsters 1-0 Clapham Common
City of London Club 2-3 Greenwich Meridian
Marylebone Regents 0-1 Hackney Exiles
Kensington Victoria 0-1 Royal Artillery Barracks

Standings:
Royal Artillery Barracks 7-2
Angel Islington 6-3
Peckham Rye 6-3
Greenwich Meridian 5-3
Hackney Exiles 5-3
Marylebone Regents 5-4
Old Westminsters 4-5
Clapham Common 3-6
City of London Club 2-7
Kensington Victoria 1-8

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Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Ten: Saturday 9 May 1874

Everything is looking good for the Royal Artillery Barracks at the moment as they won for the fourth consecutive week to move further clear at the top of the standings. Their win was another sign of the serious decline of the City of London Club, who took a 2-0 lead in the third only to let the Artillery tie it in the sixth and take control with a four-run seventh. Notably, for the first time in league history right fielder Archibald Farleigh was missing from the line-up for the City Club. That leaves City Club pitcher Gilbert Attwell as the only man to appear in every round of games since the league began in 1865. The City Club are now tied for last place, after Kensington Victoria scored three second inning runs and held on to the lead to beat the Old Westminsters.

Hackney and Greenwich are leading the chase at the top of the standings, the Exiles scoring six in the first inning and four more in the third as they enjoyed a big win over Angel Islington today. Greenwich fell behind in the first inning against Clapham Common, but turned it around to lead in the fifth and went on to a comfortable victory. In the day's other game, champions Peckham lost more ground as two runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings gave Marylebone a big lead, which they held on to despite Rye getting three back in the sixth.

Scores:
Royal Artillery Barracks 9-2 City of London Club
Clapham Common 1-7 Greenwich Meridian
Angel Islington 1-10 Hackney Exiles
Peckham Rye 3-4 Marylebone Regents
Kensington Victoria 3-1 Old Westminsters

Standings:
Royal Artillery Barracks 8-2
Greenwich Meridian 6-3
Hackney Exiles 6-3
Angel Islington 6-4
Marylebone Regents 6-4
Peckham Rye 6-4
Old Westminsters 4-6
Clapham Common 3-7
City of London Club 2-8
Kensington Victoria 2-8

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Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Eleven: Saturday 16 May 1874

The Metropolitan League standings are closer again this evening after the good run of leaders Royal Artillery Barracks came to an end. In truth they were lucky to be in contention in their game with Clapham Common, who allowed them to lead 4-3 after four innings through a number of basic mistakes. The Artillery held the lead until the eighth when Common tied it and Clapham went on to take the win in the tenth.

The Hackney Exiles are starting to fulfil their potential and moved into second place by winning a fourth successive game, this time beating last-placed Kensington thanks in large part to a three-run fifth inning which made a close game much more comfortable. There was a remarkable start to the game at Peckham Rye where the Old Westminsters opened up with three runs only for Peckham to reply with seven, all in the first inning. The reigning champions went on to add three more in the fourth and another in the eighth as they won easily.

Elsewhere, Angel Islington also stayed near the top of the standings as they scored the game's only run in the eighth to beat Greenwich Meridian, while there was a rare success this year for the City of London Club when they broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh to overcome the Marylebone Regents. The win was the City Club's two hundredth in the Metropolitan League, more than fifty ahead of any other team.

Scores:
Greenwich Meridian 0-1 Angel Islington
Marylebone Regents 1-2 City of London Club
Hackney Exiles 6-1 Kensington Victoria
Old Westminsters 3-11 Peckham Rye
Clapham Common 5-4 Royal Artillery Barracks (10 innings)

Standings:
Royal Artillery Barracks 8-3
Hackney Exiles 7-3
Angel Islington 7-4
Peckham Rye 7-4
Greenwich Meridian 6-4
Marylebone Regents 6-5
Clapham Common 4-7
Old Westminsters 4-7
City of London Club 3-8
Kensington Victoria 2-9

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Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Twelve: Saturday 23 May 1874

The Royal Artillery Barracks still lead the Metropolitan League after recovering well from last week's defeat. They started quickly against Angel Islington, scoring three in the first and five in the third and Angel could never recover. Peckham Rye also started very well against strugglers Kensington, with three in the first and five in the second on the way to an easy win.

Between the Artillery and Peckham in the standings are the Hackney Exiles, who have now won their last five. They almost let today's game with Greenwich slip away after losing a 1-0 lead in the eighth inning, but immediately regained the advantage and held on despite being outhit ten to four.

Elsewhere, a two run eighth inning turned the game in the Marylebone Regents' favour at Clapham Common, while a long battle between the City of London Club and the Old Westminsters went the way of the Westminsters when they scored the winning run thanks to a throwing error in the fourteenth inning.

Scores:
Royal Artillery Barracks 8-3 Angel Islington
Marylebone Regents 4-2 Clapham Common
Greenwich Meridian 1-2 Hackney Exiles
City of London Club 1-2 Old Westminsters
Kensington Victoria 3-9 Peckham Rye

Standings:
Royal Artillery Barracks 9-3
Hackney Exiles 8-3
Peckham Rye 8-4
Angel Islington 7-5
Marylebone Regents 7-5
Greenwich Meridian 6-5
Old Westminsters 5-7
Clapham Common 4-8
City of London Club 3-9
Kensington Victoria 2-10

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Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Thirteen: Saturday 30 May 1874

It was another good week for the Royal Artillery Barracks as they won and their closest rivals lost ground. The Artillery scored two in the second in opening up a winning lead over Greenwich, who have now lost their last three. Second placed Hackney could not keep pace, the Exiles falling behind in the sixth inning against Clapham Common and giving up another run in the ninth to lose it 4-2. Hackney travel to the Royal Artillery Barracks for a very important game next week.

Defending champions Peckham also slipped up as the City of London Club's batting line-up finally found some form, a five run third inning leading the City Club to a big win. Also in fine form with the bats were Angel Islington, who started off with four runs in the first and went on to defeat the Old Westminsters 10-5 in a high scoring game. Last placed Kensington also earned a win, recovering from an early 1-0 deficit with four runs in the third and three more in the fifth for a comfortable victory at Marylebone.

Scores:
Peckham Rye 1-9 City of London Club
Royal Artillery Barracks 3-1 Greenwich Meridian
Clapham Common 4-2 Hackney Exiles
Kensington Victoria 7-1 Marylebone Regents
Angel Islington 10-5 Old Westminsters

Standings:
Royal Artillery Barracks 10-3
Hackney Exiles 8-4
Angel Islington 8-5
Peckham Rye 8-5
Marylebone Regents 7-6
Greenwich Meridian 6-6
Clapham Common 5-8
Old Westminsters 5-8
City of London Club 4-9
Kensington Victoria 3-10

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Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Fourteen: Saturday 6 June 1874

With the summer double games set to begin next week, the Royal Artillery Barracks have a two game lead in the standings after winning the big game against the Hackney Exiles today. It was tense throughout with the Artillery struggling even to get base hits against Exiles pitcher Harry Hardy, but once he had left the game in the tenth inning they managed to score the crucial run in the eleventh.

Peckham Rye move into second place after an extremely hard fought win over Greenwich, who are in a poor run of form. Rye trailed 4-2 in the eighth and managed to tie the game, only to fall behind again in the ninth. Once more they tied it, before snatching a 6-5 win in the tenth inning. Peckham and Hackney face two games against each other next week, with neither team wanting to lose further ground on the Royal Artillery Barracks.

Marylebone have been in good form over the last few weeks and today they earned a narrow victory over the Old Westminsters with an eleventh inning run, while Angel have faltered after a good start and today fell behind 2-0 in the first inning at Clapham Common. That would be decisive, as they eventually lost by two. Finally today the City of London Club now have two consecutive wins as they easily beat last placed Kensington Victoria, for whom starting pitcher William Michaelson continues to struggle.

Scores:
Angel Islington 4-6 Clapham Common
City of London Club 7-2 Kensington Victoria
Old Westminsters 1-2 Marylebone Regents (11 innings)
Greenwich Meridian 5-6 Peckham Rye (10 innings)
Hackney Exiles 0-1 Royal Artillery Barracks (11 innings)

Standings:
Royal Artillery Barracks 11-3
Peckham Rye 9-5
Hackney Exiles 8-5
Angel Islington 8-6
Marylebone Regents 8-6
Greenwich Meridian 6-7
Clapham Common 6-8
City of London Club 5-9
Old Westminsters 5-9
Kensington Victoria 3-11

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Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Fifteen: Saturday 13 June 1874

The Royal Artillery Barracks are still two games better than anybody else after sharing their two games with the Old Westminsters today. The league leaders won the first after a six-run seventh inning broke a 2-2 tie, but fell to a 1-0 defeat in the second as the Westminsters scored the only run in the seventh. Westminsters pitcher Caleb Dean doesn't always start games any more, but he did today and earned a seven hit shut-out in game two.

Neither Peckham nor Hackney could close the gap as they also shared their games against each other. Two in the third and two more in the sixth were enough to win the first game for Peckham, but the Exiles opened up a 2-0 lead in the first inning of game two and were never caught. Angel Islington have moved into a tie for second with Peckham after earning two wins over Kensington Victoria, a five run seventh making it a big win in game one while Angel recovered from falling behind in the first inning to win game two.

The Marylebone Regents really should have won both games at Greenwich, after a four-run fifth lifted them to victory in the first game. In the second game the Regents lost a 2-0 lead in the ninth and a 3-2 lead in the twelfth inning before losing 4-3 in fourteen. Clapham Common and the City of London Club also shared their games, the City Club turning around a 1-0 deficit with a two run sixth in game one, but Clapham keeping them off the scoreboard in winning game two 2-0.

Scores:
Kensington Victoria 3-10 Angel Islington (Game One)
Kensington Victoria 1-5 Angel Islington (Game Two)
City of London Club 4-1 Clapham Common (Game One)
City of London Club 0-2 Clapham Common (Game Two)
Marylebone Regents 7-2 Greenwich Meridian (Game One)
Marylebone Regents 3-4 Greenwich Meridian (14 innings, Game Two)
Peckham Rye 4-2 Hackney Exiles (Game One)
Peckham Rye 1-4 Hackney Exiles (Game Two)
Old Westminsters 3-8 Royal Artillery Barracks (Game One)
Old Westminsters 1-0 Royal Artillery Barracks (Game Two)

Standings:
Royal Artillery Barracks 12-4
Angel Islington 10-6
Peckham Rye 10-6
Hackney Exiles 9-6
Marylebone Regents 9-7
Greenwich Meridian 7-8
Clapham Common 7-9
City of London Club 6-10
Old Westminsters 6-10
Kensington Victoria 3-13

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Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Sixteen: Saturday 20 June 1874

As the season reaches the half-way point, there was no change at the top of the Metropolitan League standings as all the leading contenders won one and lost one of their games today. Everyone expected the Royal Artillery Barracks to take both against last placed Kensington Victoria, but although Kensington have struggled with pitching this year they took the first game 1-0 on a single run in the fifth. Despite the loss, Artillery pitcher Brendan McGuire tied the league record with fifteen strikeouts in a nine inning game. The Artillery hit back with two runs in the first inning of game two and were never caught, ensuring that the day was shared.

The teams tied for second, Angel Islington and Peckham Rye, met for two games and Peckham took the first with two runs in each of the second and sixth innings. Angel trailed 1-0 in game two as well but three runs in the sixth won the game for them. The other teams in the top half of the standings also met, with the Marylebone Regents winning the first game against Hackney thanks to a two run third inning. The Exiles fought back to take the second game, tying it at 1-1 in the eighth and winning it with two runs in the tenth.

After a very poor start to the season, the City of London Club are finding their form and have now won five of their last six games after winning both against Greenwich today. Meridian have been struggling lately and dropped game one after giving up five runs in the fourth inning, while game two was tight and went to extra innings at 0-0. It was the City Club who found the important run to earn the victory.

There was a hugely controversial incident in the day's other double game between Clapham Common and the Old Westminsters, where only one of the games was played. It saw another complete game shut-out from Westminsters pitcher Caleb Dean, who will be back in the starting line-up permanently on current form as he allowed Common just six hits, the Westminsters scoring three in the first and another in the second to win. Although that game was playing in dry weather, recent rain meant that the condition of the field at the end of play was poor and the umpires refused to allow the second game to go ahead, to the annoyance of both teams. The teams are not scheduled to meet again this year at Westminster, so if the same principles are followed as last year the game may be made up on the week following the final scheduled games in October.

Scores:
Greenwich Meridian 1-5 City of London Club (Game One)
Greenwich Meridian 0-1 City of London Club (10 innings, Game Two)
Royal Artillery Barracks 0-1 Kensington Victoria (Game One)
Royal Artillery Barracks 3-1 Kensington Victoria (Game Two)
Hackney Exiles 2-4 Marylebone Regents (Game One)
Hackney Exiles 3-1 Marylebone Regents (10 innings, Game Two)
Clapham Common 0-4 Old Westminsters (Game One)
Clapham Common v Old Westminsters postponed (Game Two)
Angel Islington 3-4 Peckham Rye (Game One)
Angel Islington 3-1 Peckham Rye (Game Two)

Standings:
Royal Artillery Barracks 13-5
Angel Islington 11-7
Peckham Rye 11-7
Hackney Exiles 10-7
Marylebone Regents 10-8
City of London Club 8-10
Clapham Common 7-10
Greenwich Meridian 7-10
Old Westminsters 7-10
Kensington Victoria 4-14

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Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Seventeen: Saturday 27 June 1874

Four of today's double games were shared one each, the only one which was not allowed the Royal Artillery Barracks to extend their lead in the standings as they beat the Marylebone Regents twice. In the first game a three-run third inning turned around a 1-0 deficit for the Artillery, while the second game went to extra innings only for the league leaders to find six runs in the tenth to make it a big win.

Angel Islington really should have won both against the City of London Club, but let slip a 4-2 lead in the ninth inning of the first game and lost in eleven. They recovered to win the second 6-3. Peckham Rye also lost ground on the Artillery despite rallying to win their first game against Clapham Common thanks to two runs in the eighth. Common led from start to finish to win game two and share the day.

Kensington Victoria earned a rare win in their first game against Greenwich, a two run fourth inning turning it in their favour and then further runs in the next four innings making it look easy. Meridian won a tight second game though, breaking a 1-1 tie with a run in the eighth. Hackney and the Old Westminsters almost played three as their first game took seventeen inning, with the Westminsters winning it 6-5. Thankfully the second game was much quicker, the Exiles leading all the way from the second inning to take it 3-1 as the light faded.

Scores:
Angel Islington 4-5 City of London Club (11 innings, Game One)
Angel Islington 6-3 City of London Club (Game Two)
Greenwich Meridian 2-7 Kensington Victoria (Game One)
Greenwich Meridian 2-1 Kensington Victoria (Game Two)
Royal Artillery Barracks 3-1 Marylebone Regents (Game One)
Royal Artillery Barracks 7-1 Marylebone Regents (10 innings, Game Two)
Hackney Exiles 5-6 Old Westminsters (17 innings, Game One)
Hackney Exiles 3-1 Old Westminsters (Game Two)
Clapham Common 2-3 Peckham Rye (Game One)
Clapham Common 4-1 Peckham Rye (Game Two)

Standings:
Royal Artillery Barracks 15-5
Angel Islington 12-8
Peckham Rye 12-8
Hackney Exiles 11-8
Marylebone Regents 10-10
City of London Club 9-11
Clapham Common 8-11
Greenwich Meridian 8-11
Old Westminsters 8-11
Kensington Victoria 5-15

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Eighteen: Saturday 4 July 1874

The summer double games have come to an end for this year and with that Peckham Rye's chances of holding on the the Metropolitan League championship may be coming to an end as well. They could not afford to lose more ground to the Royal Artillery Barracks when they met for two games today, but that is exactly what happened as the Artillery won both. Peckham led for much of game one but saw a 3-2 lead turn into a 4-3 deficit in the seventh inning and could not recover. They also scored first in game two, but this time fell behind quickly and suffered a heavy defeat.

Nobody expected Angel Islington to be challenging at the top of the standings but they are now the closest chasers for the Artillery after two wins over a Marylebone Regents team which has now lost the last five. In game one Angel opened up a 3-0 lead after six and held on when the Regents cut the lead to one in the seventh, before turning round a 4-2 deficit with a five-run eighth to take game two as well.

Hackney are close behind Angel in third after winning both games against the City of London Club. The City Club led 2-0 after the first inning of the first game, but in the end a three-run eighth was the difference for Hackney. The second game was not close, the Exiles leading it 6-0 after three innings and going on to win by that margin.

Elsewhere today, Greenwich's recent poor form continued as they lost both games to the Old Westminsters by exactly the same score of 5-3. There was also a double success for Clapham Common, who kept Kensington's poor season going by taking the first game 3-1 and then taking the second easily after opening up with three runs in the first inning. That meant that unusually, none of the five pairs of games were shared today, one team won both in every case.

Scores:
Marylebone Regents 2-3 Angel Islington (Game One)
Marylebone Regents 4-7 Angel Islington (Game Two)
Kensington Victoria 1-3 Clapham Common (Game One)
Kensington Victoria 0-7 Clapham Common (Game Two)
Old Westminsters 5-3 Greenwich Meridian (Game One)
Old Westminsters 5-3 Greenwich Meridian (Game Two)
City of London Club 4-7 Hackney Exiles (Game One)
City of London Club 2-8 Hackney Exiles (Game Two)
Peckham Rye 3-5 Royal Artillery Barracks (Game One)
Peckham Rye 2-8 Royal Artillery Barracks (Game Two)

Standings:
Royal Artillery Barracks 17-5
Angel Islington 14-8
Hackney Exiles 13-8
Peckham Rye 12-10
Clapham Common 10-11
Old Westminsters 10-11
Marylebone Regents 10-12
City of London Club 9-13
Greenwich Meridian 8-13
Kensington Victoria 5-17

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Nineteen: Saturday 11 July 1874

The City of London Club may not be in contention for the championship this year but today they handed out a humiliating defeat to the team who have been looking like the champions in waiting. The Royal Artillery Barracks could not cope with the City Club's hitting and fell to a loss which saw a number of league records broken. The City Club scored an unprecedented sixteen runs and achieved twenty-four hits, also a record. The Artillery themselves scored five, for a new record total in one game of twenty-one, while the combined total of forty-one hits was a record for nine inning game. At least the Artillery were saved from a record margin of defeat, the eleven run gap being one short of the largest the league has seen.

With the teams in second and third meeting each other, one had to take advantage to move closer to the Artillery and it was Angel Islington who did so. They trailed 1-0 in the ninth inning at Hackney, but found three runs just in time to take the win, the fourth in succession for Angel. Reigning champions Peckham also moved a little closer, runs in the fifth and eighth innings seeing them past a Marylebone Regents team who are really struggling for form at the moment.

Kensington Victoria have struggled all year and today was no different, giving up four run in the third inning and three more in the fourth in losing to the Old Westminsters. The day's other game was a tight encounter, with no runs until the eleventh inning when Greenwich scored to see off Clapham Common.

Scores:
Royal Artillery Barracks 5-16 City of London Club
Clapham Common 0-1 Greenwich Meridian (11 innings)
Angel Islington 3-1 Hackney Exiles
Peckham Rye 2-0 Marylebone Regents
Kensington Victoria 2-8 Old Westminsters

Standings:
Royal Artillery Barracks 17-6
Angel Islington 15-8
Hackney Exiles 13-9
Peckham Rye 13-10
Old Westminsters 11-11
Clapham Common 10-12
City of London Club 10-13
Marylebone Regents 10-13
Greenwich Meridian 9-13
Kensington Victoria 5-18

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Twenty: Saturday 18 July 1874

The Royal Artillery Barracks have made a quick recovery from their heavy defeat last week, continuing their championship challenge with a comfortable win over Clapham Common. The Artillery opened up with a run in the first and added two more in each of the second and seventh innings, with Common only able to manage three hits and no runs in the entire game.

This week it was the turn of second placed Angel Islington to suffer a heavy loss, as they gave up five runs in the fourth in going down 10-2 to Greenwich Meridian. The Hackney Exiles took advantage to close the gap to second place by defeating Kensington, with the league's worst team not able to recover from giving up two runs in the first inning.

Champions Peckham Rye are still just about in the hunt for the title again this year and they came from behind to defeat the Old Westminsters today, tying the game at 1-1 in the fourth before taking the lead for good in the fifth. There was another win for the City of London Club, who inflicted a seventh successive loss on a Marylebone Regents team who are in an awful run of form. The Regents had come from 2-0 behind to tie the game in the seventh and then took the lead in the tenth, only for the City Club to reply with two to win it.

Scores:
Greenwich Meridian 10-2 Angel Islington
Marylebone Regents 3-4 City of London Club (10 innings)
Hackney Exiles 3-1 Kensington Victoria
Old Westminsters 2-7 Peckham Rye
Clapham Common 0-5 Royal Artillery Barracks

Standings:
Royal Artillery Barracks 18-6
Angel Islington 15-9
Hackney Exiles 14-9
Peckham Rye 14-10
Old Westminsters 11-12
City of London Club 11-13
Clapham Common 10-13
Greenwich Meridian 10-13
Marylebone Regents 10-14
Kensington Victoria 5-19

[as5680]

Metropolitan Baseball League
Week Twenty-One: Saturday 25 July 1874

Angel Islington's hopes of pushing the Royal Artillery Barracks close in the standings suffered a serious setback today as they went down to a second successive heavy defeat, this time at the hands of the Artillery. The league leaders scored three in the first and did not look back, adding on plenty of late runs to win it by a big margin and move four games ahead of anyone else in the standings. The Artillery are now very strong favourites to win their first Metropolitan League championship.

Peckham Rye are now tied for second with Angel, after they struggled to get past last placed Kensington Victoria. Kensington had tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth inning only to fall behind again in the fifth and this time Peckham held on. Hackney could have moved into second place, but they could not figure out how to hit the pitching of Oisin Sherin for Greenwich Meridian. Sherin achieved a two-hit complete game shut-out as Meridian won it on a single second inning run.

Elsewhere, the dreadful run continues for the Marylebone Regents. They have now lost their last eight games after giving up runs in the first and third innings to go down to defeat at Clapham Common. In the day's other game, a six-run second inning saw the Old Westminsters comfortably defeat the City of London Club. Significant there was the injury suffered by the City Club's pitcher Gilbert Attwell. He hurt his knee while pitching and may not be able to play for a month. That means that next week he will be missing from the line-up for the first time since the Metropolitan League began in 1865, the last player to have been ever-present in the league having played in the City Club's first 307 games.

Scores:
Royal Artillery Barracks 12-1 Angel Islington
Marylebone Regents 0-2 Clapham Common
Greenwich Meridian 1-0 Hackney Exiles
City of London Club 3-8 Old Westminsters
Kensington Victoria 2-3 Peckham Rye

Standings:
Royal Artillery Barracks 19-6
Angel Islington 15-10
Peckham Rye 15-10
Hackney Exiles 14-10
Old Westminsters 12-12
Clapham Common 11-13
Greenwich Meridian 11-13
City of London Club 11-14
Marylebone Regents 10-15
Kensington Victoria 5-20