August 29, 1908: Cubs have one big inning and pull off their 7th straight win in a legendary battle
The battle of two legendary future Hall of Fame pitchers didn't disappoint. Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown took the hill for the Cubs today and was opposed by arguably one of the best pitchers in the history of baseball not named Cy Young, Big Train Christy Mathewson.
I mean, Three Finger Brown had a stellar season in 1908. He was 29-9 with a 1.47 ERA, 27 complete games, nine shutouts, and five saves. That said, Big Train Mathewson was even better ... going 37-11 with 34 complete games, 11 shutouts, and five saves. The dude was an absolute stud!
The Big Train Christy Mathewson
But on this day in 1908, the Cubs managed to derail the Big Train for just one inning, putting all three of their runs on the board in the 4th en route to a massive 3-2 victory over the first place Giants. The gap that was six games two weeks ago has now been closed to just a game and a half, with one more game in this series tomorrow.
The Giants drew first blood ripping off three hits to start the game, including an RBI double from outfielder Mike Donlin, who's .334 batting average in 1908 was second only to batting champion Honus Wagner's lofty .354 total. The Giants looked like they would tack on a few more in the first and had the bases loaded with one out, but a well-timed double play from the Cubs defense ended the threat.
The score remained 1-0 for the next three innings as Mathewson mowed down the Cubs hitters, but in the bottom of the 4th the Cubs finally managed to break through. Solly Hofman led off the inning with a double, and then scored on a single by player-manager Frank Chance. Johnny Evers followed with a single to put runners on first and second. Harry Steinfeldt and Del Howard then delivered back to back base hits that scored two more runs.
Mathewson managed to settle down after that, but the damage was done, sending the Cubs to a 3-2 win, their 7th victory in a row. The Giants added one more run in the 5th, but Brown shut the door from there, scattering five hits and five walks on the day for the victory.
The Tribune had a bunch of pictures in the paper from today's game, which I always love to share, especially when they can be traced to the exact game we're talking about ...
In summary, the Cubs 7th win in a row sends them to 69-47 on the year, and they're now just a game and a half back from the first place Giants. The final game of the series takes place tomorrow at the West Side Grounds, followed by a five game series with lowly St. Louis.
