Young, Pilgrims Win Home Opener (5/8/01)

Today the Boston Pilgrims made their Huntington Avenue Grounds debut in front of the Royal Rooters and dominated the Philadelphia Athletics. The red hot Boston bats carried over from their road trip to smack around Bill Bernhard of the Athletics for TWENTY-TWO hits and 11 runs. Meanwhile Cyclone Young (3-1, 4.01 ERA) tossed a complete game while holding the Athletics to 4 runs off 11 hits. The offensive charge was led by Buck Freeman who drove in 5 runs while Charlie Hemphill went 4 for 4. All nine starters got a hit and when Chick Stahl left the game, his replacement Charlie Jones scored and drove in a run. It all added up to Boston's fourth straight win overall as they bashed the Athletics 12-4 at the Huntington Avenue Grounds.

                                     Mike "Nuff Ced" McGreevy approves of the win

Hero of the Night is Buck Freeman. He outscored the Athletics by himself by going 3 for 5 while driving in 5 runs.

                                                               Freeman The Hero

The Good:

Tommy Dowd was 3 for 5 with an rbi and 2 runs scored.

Charlie Hemphill was 4 for 4 with 3 runs scored and a stolen base.

Chick Stahl was 1 for 2 with an rbi.

Freddy Parent was 2 for 5 with a stolen base and a run scored.

Jimmy Collins was 2 for 5 with 2 rbis and a run scored.

Hobe Ferris was 3 for 5 with an rbi and a run scored.

Lou Criger was 2 for 5.

Cyclone Young got the win by tossing a complete game 11 hitter while allowing 4 runs. At the plate he was 2 for 5 with a stolen base and 2 runs scored.

The Bad:

None

The Ugly:

Charlie Jones was 0 for 2 but drove in a run and scored a run.

Final Thoughts:

This offense is rolling right now and Buck Freeman is the Pilgrims most dangerous hitter right now. He's got 16 rbis so far and the season is 11 games old. If it wasn't for their cold start they'd be in first place by now. There's plenty of time to overtake the Detroit Tigers so there's hope yet. Cyclone Young continues to be worth every cent Charlie Sommers is paying him as he continues to be Boston's best pitcher. Hopefully the pitching continues to improve around Young because this kind of offense can't possibly be sustained the whole season. There's going to be cold streaks at some point but enjoy this while you can. The win improves the Pilgrims to 6-5, 3 games behind the Tigers for first place in the American League. The Pilgrims look to make it five straight wins and second in a row tomorrow afternoon when George Cuppy (1-1) gets the start against Chick Fraser of the Athletics. The game begins at 2:00 PM at Huntington Avenue Grounds.