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From the archives | July 11

Babe Ruth leads Red Sox to win in Boston debut

The Red Sox introduced Babe Ruth, one of the Baltimore recruits, to the crowd at Fenway Park and with the assistance of Dutch Leonard, Ruth led the Red Sox to a 4-3 win over Cleveland. The small crowd at Fenway Park enjoyed the game which only lasted a little over an hour.

All eyes were on Ruth as he displayed why he is a veteran in many ways. He has natural delivery, great command and a curve ball that is tough for opposing hitters. However, there’s still room for improvement for him but he will undoubtedly progress with the help of Manager Bill Carrigan.

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Ruth held the Naps to five hits in six innings, with one strikeout, but was hit hard in the seventh inning when Cleveland scored two runs to tie the game. That was the curtain for the Orioles importation, and he looked weak in comparison with Dutch Leonard, who pitched the last two innings, putting six men out in order, four of them on strikes.

Leonard is really pitching the best ball of any man in the American League and is the one man whom Manager Bill Carrigan can depend on to hold a game once won.

Boston scored a run in the first inning on a single by Everett Scott and a triple by Larry Gardner. The two runs in the fourth came on singles by Gardner and Carrigan, and a wild throw by O’Neill.

Cleveland scored once in the fourth and twice in the seventh, and with Willie Mitchell pitching so well, the Red Sox seemed to be in trouble.

However, Duffy Lewis who came in the game to pinch hit for Ruth, would be the game-winning run for Boston. Lewis hit a grounder which should have been an easy out for the Naps but instead a wild throw advanced him to second base. Scott would later hit a sacrifice fly to advance Lewis to third before Tris Speaker drove him home with a line drive.

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Terry Turner, Steve Yerkes, Hal Janvrin, Scott and Speaker also contributed in a crucial way with some great fielding plays.

Boston and Cleveland will play each other again on Monday.