Editor’s note: Tournament games are played with Strat-o-Matic cards and dice. Three-man pitching rotations will be used for starting pitchers. Injuries are in-game only during this single elimination event.
A sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th by Joe Medwick gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 4-3 win over the Cleveland Indians in the opening round of the 1938 Tournament.
With the victory, the Cardinals will face the winner of the St. Louis Browns at Pittsburgh Pirates contest in the second round.
Stu Martin had a one-out double to begin the game-winning rally against Cleveland starter Mel Harder.
After a single by Enos Slaughter moved Martin to third, Medwick lifted a fly ball to deep left and the Cardinals took the lead.
In the bottom of the 10th, St. Louis starter Lon Warneke finished the affair by getting pinch-hitter Skeeter Webb to hit into a double play before he retired Lyn Lary on a grounder to first.
Warneke (1-0) gave up seven hits with three walks and three strikeouts in his complete game effort.
Harder (0-1) surrendered a dozen hits with six strikeouts before exiting with two outs in the 10th. Johnny Humphries got the final out for the Indians.
The Indians scored all of their runs in the second inning as they grabbed a 3-0 advantage,
Ken Keltner and Frankie Pytlak had back-to-back RBI singles before Lary knocked in the final tally with a double.
The Cardinals closed their deficit to a run in the fourth as they scored twice as Medwick had a solo homer and Warneke slapped a RBI single.
Slaughter’s solo homer in the eighth tied the contest at 3-3 to set the stage for the extra inning victory for the Cardinals.
1938 Tournament
Second Round Pairings
(4) Cincinnati Reds at (1) New York Yankees
First Round Results and Pairings
(1) New York Yankees 4, (8) Philadelphia Phillies 2 (22 innings)
(4) Cincinnati Reds 3, (5) Washington Senators 1
(6) St. Louis Cardinals 4, (3) Cleveland Indians 3 (10 innings)
(7) St. Louis Browns (55-97) at (2) Pittsburgh Pirates (86-64)
(8) Philadelphia A’s (53-99) at (1) Chicago Cubs (89-63)
(5) Boston Bees (77-75) at (4) Detroit Tigers (84-70)
(6) Chicago White Sox (65-83) at (3) New York Giants (83-67)
(7) Brooklyn Dodgers (69-80) at (2) Boston Red Sox (88-61)