The last game of the regular season provided no small amount of drama. The Canaries hosted the Blue Legs with both teams sitting at 8-11. The winner would therefore clinch second place and home-field advantage in the play-in game for the right to face the first-place Haymakers in the championship. Hugh Duffy, the first batter of the game, took Nichols deep for his fifth career homer, tying him with George Davis and King Kelly for the most home runs in the three-season history of this league. Nap Lajoie answered with a home run of his own in the second. Canaries starter Tim Keefe, however, immediately settled down and didn't allow another run. The Canaries piled on Nichols, highlighted by an Ed Delahanty homer, and cruised to a 7-1 victory and their third straight season of finishing in second place. The game ended with a bitter note, however, as their captain and starting second baseman, Monte Ward, left the game in the ninth with an injury. He's been ruled out for the play-in game, so the Canaries will shift Delahanty from the outfield to second (spoiler alert: he's not very good at that position, but the Canaries have no one else who can play there) and insert reserve outfielder Pete Hill into the starting lineup. Can the Legs capitalize on the depleted Canaries? To do so, they'll have to get past starter Pud Galvin, who was unbeaten against the Legs during the regular season. Meanwhile, the well rested Haymakers and ace Cy Young await the winner...
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