September 23, 1930: The Cardinals Explode With 26 Hits In Philly

On September 23, 1930, behind a 26 hit performance, the Cardinals outlasted the Phillies in a 19-16 win at the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. The Birds found themselves with an 11-0 lead before the Phillies catcher Tony Rensa hit a grand slam in the bottom of the fourth. The Phillies added four more in the bottom of the fifth and it started to look as if they might just pull off a comeback. The Cardinals answered back with three runs in the sixth, then four more in the seventh to open up an 18-8 lead. The last place Phillies didn't lay down for the league leading Cardinals even when it looked as if they were going to beat them with ease. The Philadelphia club scored three in the bottom of the seventh then the Birds came back with a run of their own in the ninth before surviving a five run Philadelphia rally to hold on to the 19-16 victory. It was a crazy game in Philly that day the two teams had ten doubles between them with seven of them coming off the bats of Cardinals hitters Frankie Frisch and Sparky Adams led the Cardinals offensive outburst with 4 hits apiece while catcher Gus Mancuso led the team with 4 ribbies with a 3 for 6 performance. The only home run in this high scoring affair was off the bat of the Phillies catcher Rensa. The victory gave the Cardinals a 2 and a 1/2 game lead over the second place Cubs. The Birds had five more to play while the Baby Bears had four, the Cards would finish two games ahead and go onto meet the Philadelphia A's in the Fall Classic. It would take 78 years for the Cardinals to match the 26 hits in a game, they accomplished that in 2008 with an 18-3 beatdown of the Atlanta Braves.

Check out the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI193009230.shtml

The Baker Bowl featured another very memorable game for the Cardinals. Just one year earlier they set the modern National League record with 28 run on 28 hits. That game was nowhere near as close as the 19-16 victory in 1930. You can read about it here: http://onthisdayincardinalnation.blogspot.com/2013/07/july-6-1929-cardinals-score-28-runs-at.html