history. The game's pitching matchup was between Grover Cleveland Alexander and Bob Shawkey, both of whom had made appearances in previous games in the series. Shawkey had come in as relief in Games 2 and 3, while Alexander had pitched a complete game against the Yankees in the Cardinals' Game 2 victory. In the 1926 season, Shawkey had made most of his pitching appearances in relief, and had been an occasional starter on the Yankees rotation. He started 10 of his 29 total pitching appearances and posted an 8–7 record with a 3.62 earned run average. The game was lopsided from the start. In the top of the first inning, Shawkey gave up three runs on three hits, with the runs coming from a Jim Bottomley double and Les Bell single. Alexander encountered a minor setback in the fourth inning. To open up the bottom of the inning, Bob Meusel launched a triple into left field and scored on the following ground out by Lou Gehrig. Alexander shut down the Yankees for the rest of the inning, and the Cardinals held on to a 3–1 lead. In the top of the fifth inning, the Cardinals expanded their two-run lead. Tommy Thevenow hit a single to left fielder Babe Ruth. Alexander laid down a sacrifice bunt and was tagged out by first baseman Gehrig, but was successful in advancing Thevenow to second base. Wattie Holm, substituting for Taylor Douthit as center fielder, followed by hitting a single into center field, scoring Thevenow on the play. Billy Southworth and Rogers Hornsby followed with groundouts in the infield to end the inning. The Cardinals scored again in the top of the seventh inning. Thevenow again led the inning by hitting a single into left field. Alexander bunted right in front of the plate. Yankees catcher Hank Severeid made the throw to second baseman Tony Lazzeri, but Lazzeri made an error on the play, and both runners were safe at their respective bases. Holm followed by hitting a weak grounder that led to a force out of Thevenow at third base. With runners at first and second base, Southworth lined a double right by Ruth, scoring Alexander and sending Holm to third base. Urban Shocker, the starter in Game 2, then came in to relieve Shawkey as pitcher. Shocker gave up a single to Hornsby into center field, allowing Holm and Southworth to score.