Game 1: Senators 0, Pirates 2

Pittsburgh, Pa. – As the Washington Express pulled into Pittsburgh's Union Station, a small crowd gathered not to witness the sparkling new Mohawk locomotive or to gape at the station's terra cotta rotunda, but to obtain a glimpse of Walter "Big Train" Johnson. The enduring pitcher has led the Senators baseball team for 17 seasons and is coming off his second MVP award and first World Championship.

In his first trip to Pittsburgh, Johnson and his teammates were welcomed with a tour of the recently completed Washington Crossing Bridge and a drive through the city's new $6 million Liberty Tunnel. Wednesday's welcome to the City of Bridges did little to distract the rugged Kansan from his task of taking on the upstart Pirates in the first game of a five-game exhibition series.

The game's early potential was cut short by aggressive baserunning. Goose Goslin took for second in the top of the first on a ill-timed hit-and-run as Joe Judge hit a bouncer just over the glove of the Pirates hurler Wilbur Cooper but directly into the rangy Glenn Wright's glove standing atop second base. Goslin's vicious slide broke up the double play chance. A single by Sam Rice reignited the Senators hope, but Cooper struck out Doc Prothro with a man in scoring position to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 1st, a leadoff single by fleet-footed Max Carey was squashed as Senators catcher Muddy Ruel fired a strike to intercept Carey's steal attempt—leaving both teams scoreless after one frame.

For the Senators the unproductive start would continue in the second inning. A lead-off single was cut short on a failed bunt attempt but left a runner on first for Walter Johnson's first of two hits on the day. But a Nemo Leibold grounder ended the inning and stranded Roger Peckinpaugh at third.

The Senators' first-innings-flounders would become more poignant as they managed a single hit after the second inning and the Pirates plated two on a lead-off walk by Charlie Grimm, back-to-back singles by Earl Smith and Glenn Wright, and a sacrifice fly by Rabbitt Maranville in the bottom of the second.

A three-hit inning by the Pirates in the bottom of the fourth was nipped by a failed sacrifice bunt, a strikeout and a run-saving play at the plate — leaving catcher Earl Smith and Pie Traynor tangled in a heap, after a wonderful throw by Leibold from shallow left-center field.

The Senators nearly engineered a game-flipping rally in the fifth after a double by Johnson and an error by Maranville put runners on first and third with one out. Goslin, looking for his second hit of the game hit a sharp liner that was headed for the grass when Maranville redeemed his muffed grounder by launching his diminutive frame and snagging the line drive for the second out and holding Johnson on third. The hardest hit of the day came next, off of Joe Judge's bat. On a 3-1 fastball, Judge launched a drive deep into the alley in left where the speedy young Kiki Cuyler pulled it in before taking a spin in the ivy, 400 feet from home. Judge and the Senators hung their head at another squandered opportunity.

The rest of the game was serene, as the smooth fielding Pittsburg team kept Washington off the basepaths, and Johnson settled in with a steady stream of strikeouts. The quiet hero for the Pirates was the 12-year veteran Cooper, who enduced weak fly-balls and lazy grounders throughout his complete game shutout. His steady presence lacked the athleticism and audience of Johnson, but it was enough to give the home team a game advantage.

After lunch with Mayor William Magee at the Oyster House, the Senators and Pirates will be back at Forbes Field this afternoon with a 3:30 game start. Tickets are $0.85.