In addition to being the best power hitter of his time, Babe Ruth was also an elite level pitcher. He proved to be one of the MLB’s best pitchers in the previous 1916 season, leading the AL in ERA with a 1.75 and winning 23 games. Ruth further cemented himself as a top pitcher when he went toe-to-toe with legend Walter Johnson every time they faced off. Going into his game against the Senators, he had been 5-0 in five match-ups against Johnson. In pursuit of their third straight World Series, the Red Sox opened the season 10-4. Even though Johnson had a solid 2.23 ERA, he was 2-3 at that point in the season, having lost to the Yankees twice.

For the first seven innings, the game remained scoreless. While Ruth was efficient, only allowing four base-runners, Johnson was superior, retiring 15 Red Sox on 41 pitches. Ruth broke the scoreless match-up on a sacrifice fly to center field that scored his teammate, Everett Scott. Ruth closed out the game easily, improving his record against Johnson to 6-0. He would finish the season with a 24-13 record with a 2.01 ERA. Johnson would finish 23-16 with a 2.21 ERA and a league-leading 188 strikeouts.