'27 Yankees defeat '12 Giants 3-1

Indeed, Gehrig and Ruth were a handful for the Giants, but not in the way expected. Ruth was mostly a singles hitter (no homers), albeit at a .438 clip. Gehrig supplied the power with 2 HRs and 8 RBI.

McGraw’s Giants were not intimidated by Murderer’s Row either with the first 3 games being 1-run affairs, with the finale seeing Mac’s men matching the powerful Yanks run-for-run in a slugfest.

GAME ONE – The Yanks struck first in the B2 when Tony Lazzeri raced home on a Buck Herzog error. The Giants defense was costly in this one with 3 miscues. “Poosh ‘em Up” Tony then pushed ‘em home in the B3 when his single plated Babe Ruth. The Jints countered in the T4 when Beals Becker doubled home “Laughing” Larry Doyle and then scored to tie in on Fred Snodgrass’s squeeze bunt. The Bronx Bombers quickly responded in the bottom of the frame with back-to-back doubles by “Jumping” Joe Dugan and “Nig” Grabowski to lead it off. Mark Koenig would later single in Grabowski to make it 4-2. Yankee starter Waite Hoyt would allow just one more run (only 5 total hits) the rest of the way as he completed the 4-3 victory. Rube Marquard took the loss. 

GAME TWO – Jeff Tesreau was the surprise starter for the Giants, but it turned out to be   the right call as the right-hander went the distance to even the series with a 3-2 win. Tesreau tallied the Jints first run when Snodgrass doubled him home in the B3. “Chief” Meyers swatted a solo home run in the 6th to make it 2-0. Red Murray singled home Doyle in the 8th to make it 3-0, but the Yanks were not about to be shut out. They scored twice in the B8 when Ruth scored on a passed ball and Earle Combs singled home Bob Meusel. The 9th was also tense as Koenig tripled with one out. Then Ruth and Lou Gehrig were both intentionally walked. The strategy worked as Meusel hit into a 4-6-3 DP to end it. Urban Shocker started and lost for the Yanks.

GAME THREE – “Big Six” Christy Mathewson finally climbed the hill for McGraw’s troups and had the best of things early on as the Giants jumped out to a 3-1 lead. That was erased in the T4 on an RBI single by Ruth (4-5, 3 RBI) and a 2-run clout by Gehrig. Ruth drove in another in the 5th. Yankees starting and winning pitcher Dutch Reuther singled in another run in the 8th to go up 6-3. But the Giants were going to put up a fight for Matty. PH Art Wilson led off the B8 with a homer. Doyle doubled and scored on a Snodgrass base knock. It just wouldn’t be enough as “Cy” Moore faced the minimum in the 9th for the save and a 6-5 Bombers win. Mathewson went the whole way, yielding 14 hits.

GAME FOUR – A wild one at the Polo Grounds despite a 15-mph wind blowing in. Of course, if you go down the lines here, it does not matter about the winds. The Jints mostly had this figured out as Meyers, Snodgrass and Fred Merkle all went deep. However, the biggest blow was probably Gehrig’s 3-run bomb in the T1. It set the tone, and proved to be the difference maker in a 14-11 Yankee win in the finale. The Bronx Bombers will go on to play the 1911 Athletics in the second round. Here are just a few of the staggering numbers in this one. Lou Gehrig was just a 3B shy of the cycle as he had 4 hits and 6 RBI. Combs did him one better in the hits department with 5. The Yanks as a team collected 21 safeties. The Giants had 17 hits of their own with Snodgrass and Murray leading the charge with 4 each. Bob Shawkey picked up the win in relief, while Marquard (0-2) was beaten like a drum and departed after 2 innings trailing 10-2.

--submitted by Bruce Thomas--