The 1931 Philadelphia Athletics finished the season off well, winning the final three games of their series against the 1946 Boston Red Sox. At 18-14, Philadelphia has a shot at a share of second place depending on how other results go.
Boston (15-17) scored five runs in the first two innings of game 1, then scored only five more runs the rest of the series.
Al Simmons hit .471 (8-for-17) with three extra-base hits and five RBI for the Athletics. Johnny Pesky batted .385 (5-for-13) for the Red Sox.
Game #1: Boston 5, Philadelphia 3
The Red Sox struck early, getting a two-run single from Rudy York in the first inning and a bases-loaded triple from Ted Williams in the second. The Athletics closed the gap with a two-run homer by Jimmie Foxx in the fourth inning. Foxx and Bing Miller led off the ninth inning with back-to-back doubles to make it 5-3, but Red Sox reliever Bob Klinger came in and got the final three outs.
1931 PHILADELPHIA AT AB R H BI 1946 BOSTON RED SOX AB R H BI
Max Bishop 2 0 0 0 Johnny Pesky 3 2 2 0
Mule Haas 4 0 0 0 Bobby Doerr 3 2 1 0
Al Simmons 4 0 2 0 Ted Williams 3 0 1 3
Mickey Cochrane 4 1 2 0 Rudy York 3 0 1 2
Jimmie Foxx 4 2 2 2 Dom DiMaggio 4 0 1 0
Bing Miller 4 0 1 1 George Metkovich 3 0 0 0
Jimmy Dykes 4 0 0 0 Hal Wagner 3 0 1 0
Dib Williams 3 0 0 0 Rip Russell 4 0 0 0
Roy Mahaffey CYW 2 0 0 0 Mickey Harris CX 3 1 1 0
Eric McNair 1 0 0 0
Doc Cramer 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 33 3 7 3 TOTALS 29 5 8 5
1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS 000 200 001 -- 3
1946 BOSTON RED SOX 230 000 00x -- 5
LOB--1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS 6, 1946 BOSTON RED SOX 6.
2B--Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx, Bing Miller, Al Simmons.
3B--Ted Williams. HR--Jimmie Foxx. SB--Bobby Doerr.
1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Roy Mahaffey CYW [L] 6.00 7 5 5 3 4 0
Jim Peterson DXYZ 2.00 1 0 0 3 1 0
1946 BOSTON RED SOX
Mickey Harris CX [W] 8.00 7 3 3 3 5 1
Bob Klinger BR [S] 1.00 0 0 0 0 1 0
Game #2: Philadelphia 5, Boston 1
Boston’s Dave Ferriss was hit hard and suffered his first loss of the season. Philadelphia’s George Earnshaw was terrific, giving up three hits and striking out 11. The Athletics went up early, getting an RBI single from Al Simmons in the first inning and a solo homer from Bing Miller in the second. They continued to add to their lead, making it 5-0 heading to the ninth. The Red Sox avoided being shut out when Bobby Doerr led off the bottom of the ninth with a home run.
1931 PHILADELPHIA AT AB R H BI 1946 BOSTON RED SOX AB R H BI
Max Bishop 5 0 0 0 Johnny Pesky 4 0 0 0
Mule Haas 3 1 2 0 Bobby Doerr 3 1 1 1
Al Simmons 4 0 2 2 Ted Williams 4 0 0 0
Mickey Cochrane 4 0 0 0 Rudy York 4 0 0 0
Jimmie Foxx 4 1 0 0 Dom DiMaggio 4 0 0 0
Bing Miller 4 1 2 1 George Metkovich 3 0 0 0
Jimmy Dykes 4 0 1 1 Hal Wagner 3 0 0 0
Dib Williams 2 2 1 0 Rip Russell 3 0 0 0
George Earnshaw BXYZ 3 0 1 1 Dave Ferriss BZ 2 0 1 0
Leon Culberson 1 0 1 0
TOTALS 33 5 9 5 TOTALS 31 1 3 1
1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS 110 010 110 -- 5
1946 BOSTON RED SOX 000 000 001 -- 1
LOB--1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS 9, 1946 BOSTON RED SOX 4.
ERR--Al Simmons, Johnny Pesky. 2B--Mule Haas, Dib Williams.
HR--Bing Miller, Bobby Doerr. HBP--Al Simmons. SACB--George
Earnshaw BXYZ.
1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS IP H R ER BB SO HR
George Earnshaw BXYZ [W] 9.00 3 1 1 1 11 1
1946 BOSTON RED SOX
Dave Ferriss BZ [L] 7.00 9 5 5 4 2 1
Mace Brown BW 1.00 0 0 0 1 0 0
Bill Zuber CYW 1.00 0 0 0 1 1 0
Game #3: Philadelphia 11, Boston 1
Rube Walberg earned his team-best sixth win of the season as the Athletics won another easy one. Max Bishop had a solo homer in the sixth inning and Jimmie Foxx hit a three-run homer in the eighth.
1946 BOSTON RED SOX AB R H BI 1931 PHILADELPHIA AT AB R H BI
Johnny Pesky 3 0 2 0 Max Bishop 3 2 2 2
Bobby Doerr 4 0 0 0 Mule Haas 5 1 2 1
Ted Williams 4 0 0 0 Al Simmons 5 2 3 1
Rudy York 3 1 0 0 Mickey Cochrane 5 1 2 2
Dom DiMaggio 4 0 4 0 Jimmie Foxx 4 2 2 3
George Metkovich 4 0 0 0 Bing Miller 5 1 1 0
Hal Wagner 3 0 0 0 Jimmy Dykes 3 0 0 0
Rip Russell 2 0 1 1 Dib Williams 5 1 2 1
Joe Dobson CY 2 0 0 0 Rube Walberg BY 3 1 1 1
Leon Culberson 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 30 1 7 1 TOTALS 38 11 15 11
1946 BOSTON RED SOX 000 100 000 -- 1
1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS 130 111 04x -- 11
LOB--1946 BOSTON RED SOX 6, 1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS 9.
ERR--Dib Williams. 2B--Rip Russell, Johnny Pesky, Dom
DiMaggio, Mickey Cochrane, Bing Miller, Al Simmons.
HR--Jimmie Foxx, Max Bishop. SACB--Rube Walberg BY.
1946 BOSTON RED SOX IP H R ER BB SO HR
Joe Dobson CY [L] 6.00 12 7 7 3 4 1
Clem Dreisewerd CZ 1.33 3 4 4 1 2 1
Earl Johnson CY 0.67 0 0 0 1 1 0
1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS
Rube Walberg BY [W] 9.00 7 1 1 4 3 0
Game #4: Philadelphia 4, Boston 3
The Athletics went up 3-0 as Al Simmons hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Jimmy Dykes walked and eventually scored on a passed ball in the second inning. The Red Sox got an RBI single from Bobby Doerr in the third inning and then tied it on Hal Wagner’s two-run single in the sixth inning. The Athletics regained the lead immediately on Jimmy Dykes’ two-out RBI single in the seventh. It stayed 4-3 as Philadelphia ace Lefty Grove won his fifth game and pitched his sixth complete game.
1946 BOSTON RED SOX AB R H BI 1931 PHILADELPHIA AT AB R H BI
Johnny Pesky 3 0 1 0 Max Bishop 2 1 0 0
Bobby Doerr 5 0 1 1 Mule Haas 4 0 0 0
Ted Williams 1 1 0 0 Al Simmons 4 1 1 2
Rudy York 4 0 0 0 Mickey Cochrane 4 0 2 0
Dom DiMaggio 3 1 0 0 Jimmie Foxx 4 1 2 0
George Metkovich 4 0 0 0 Bing Miller 4 0 0 0
Hal Wagner 4 0 1 2 Jimmy Dykes 3 1 2 1
Rip Russell 3 1 0 0 Dib Williams 4 0 1 0
Tex Hughson BXZ 2 0 0 0 Lefty Grove ACKZ 3 0 0 0
Wally Moses 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 30 3 3 3 TOTALS 32 4 8 3
1946 BOSTON RED SOX 001 002 000 -- 3
1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS 210 001 00x -- 4
LOB--1946 BOSTON RED SOX 8, 1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS 7.
ERR--Bobby Doerr, Dib Williams. 2B--Dib Williams. HR--Al
Simmons. SB--Jimmie Foxx.
1946 BOSTON RED SOX IP H R ER BB SO HR
Tex Hughson BXZ [L] 8.00 8 4 3 3 6 1
1931 PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS
Lefty Grove ACKZ [W] 9.00 3 3 3 8 6 0
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 