This Date in Baseball

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May 14

1913 — Washington’s Walter Johnson gave up a run in the fourth inning against the St. Louis Browns to end his streak of 56 scoreless innings. The Senators won 10-5.

1914 — Jim Scott of the Chicago White Sox pitched nine innings of no-hit ball against the Washington Senators, but lost 1-0 after giving up two hits in the 10th inning.

1920 — Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators recorded his 300th victory with a 9-8 win over the Detroit Tigers.

1927 — Chicago pitcher Guy Bush went the distance for the Cubs in a 7-2 18-inning win over Boston. Charlie Robertson of the Braves almost matched the feat, leaving with one out in the 18th.

1950 — Pittsburgh first baseman Johnny Hopp hit two home runs and four singles in six at-bats, leading the Pirates to a 16-9 victory over the Cubs in the second game of a doubleheader at Chicago.

1965 — Carl Yastrzemski of Boston hit for the cycle and added another home run for five RBIs in a 12-8 10-inning loss to the Detroit Tigers.

1967 — Mickey Mantle’s 500th home run, off Stu Miller, lifted the New York Yankees to a 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

1972 — In his first game with the New York Mets, Willie Mays hit a fifth inning home run off Don Carrithers for the difference in a 5-4 triumph over the San Francisco Giants.

1977 — Jim Colborn of the Kansas City Royals no-hit the Texas Rangers for a 6-0 victory.

1988 — Jose Oquendo became the first non-pitcher in 20 seasons to get a decision, taking the loss in the 19th inning when Ken Griffey’s two-out, two-run double led the Atlanta Braves over the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5.

1989 — Benny Distefano became the first left-handed catcher in a major league game in nine years when he caught the ninth inning of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 5-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves. Mike Squires caught two games with the Chicago White Sox in 1980 and Dale Long caught two games for the Chicago Cubs in 1958.

1993 — Jay Gainer of the Colorado Rockies hit a home run on the first major league pitch he saw. The first baseman became the fifth National Leaguer and 12th major leaguer to accomplish this feat. The Cincinnati Reds beat the Rockies 13-5.

1996 — Dwight Gooden pitched a no-hitter as the New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners 2-0. Gooden struck out five and walked six.

Today’s birthdays: Tony Gonsolin 27; Roy Halladay 44; Tony Perez 79.

May 15

1918 — Washington’s Walter Johnson pitched a 1-0, 18-inning victory over Lefty Williams of the Chicago White Sox, who also went the distance.

1919 — After 12 scoreless innings, Cincinnati scored 10 runs off Al Mamaux in the 13th to beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 10-0.

1941 — Joe DiMaggio began his 56-game hitting streak against Chicago’s Eddie Smith, going 1-for-4 with one RBI.

1944 — Clyde Shoun of the Reds tossed a no-hitter against the Boston Braves for a 1-0 victory in Cincinnati. Chuck Aleno’s only home run of the year was the difference.

1952 — Detroit’s Virgil Trucks pitched the first of his two no-hitters for the season, beating the Washington Senators 1-0. Vic Wertz’s two-out homer in the ninth off Bob Porterfield won the game.

1960 — Don Cardwell became the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter in his first start after being traded. The Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 at Wrigley Field.

1973 — Nolan Ryan of the California Angels pitched the first of a record seven no-hitters, beating the Kansas City Royals 3-0. Ryan tossed his second gem two months later.

1981 — Len Barker of Cleveland pitched the first perfect game in 13 years as the Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0 at Municipal Stadium.

1993 — The Montreal Expos retired their first number, No. 10 for Rusty Staub.

1996 — Chicago outfielder Tony Phillips went into the stands to confront a heckling fan during the White Sox’s 20-8 victory at Milwaukee. Phillips, who already had changed into street clothes after being taken out of the game in the sixth inning, went after a 23-year-old fan in the left-field bleachers.

2005 — Morgan Ensberg hit three home runs and finished 4-for-4 with five RBIs in Houston’s 9-0 victory over San Francisco.

2005 — New York’s Tino Martinez hit two homers and drove in three runs in the Yankees’ 6-4 win over Oakland. The two homers gave Martinez eight homers in his last eight games.

Today’s birthdays: Michael Brantley 34; John Smoltz 54; George Brett 68.

May 16

1933 — Cecil Travis of the Washington Senators made his major league debut with five hits in a 12-inning, 11-10 win over the Chicago White Sox.

1939 — The Cleveland Indians beat the Philadelphia Athletics 8-3 in 10 innings in the first American League night game, held at Philadelphia’s Shibe Park.

1953 — The White Sox loaded the bases against the Yankees in the ninth inning, but Vern Stephens, who had 10 grand slams in his career, was lifted for a pinch hitter. Pitcher Tommy Byrne, the substitute batter, then hit a homer off Ewell Blackwell for a 5-3 win.

1965 — Jim Palmer, 19, won his first major league game and hit his first homer, off Jim Bouton. The Baltimore Orioles beat the New York Yankees 7-5.

1972 — Rick Monday hit three consecutive homers to lead the Chicago Cubs to an 8-1 win at Philadelphia. Greg Luzinski’s 500-foot home run hit the Liberty Bell monument at Veterans Stadium for the Phillies’ only run.

1981 — Craig Reynolds of Houston hit three triples to lead the Astros to a 6-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

1997 — The Montreal Expos overcame an early nine-run deficit and rallied past the San Francisco Giants 14-13 on David Segui’s RBI single in the ninth inning. The Giants took an 11-2 lead after three innings. Montreal came back with four runs in the fourth, three in the fifth and three more in the sixth for a 12-11 lead. Glenallen Hill’s RBI single capped a two-run seventh that put the Giants ahead 13-12.

2000 — The Los Angeles Dodgers went into the Wrigley Field crowd after a fan ran off with Chad Kreuter’s cap in the ninth inning of Los Angeles’ 6-5 victory. The game was delayed for nine minutes while some Dodgers and fans fought.

2006 — The New York Yankees, down 9-0 in the second inning, matched the biggest comeback in Yankees history when Jorge Posada hit a game-winning, two-run homer with two outs in the ninth for a 14-13 victory over the Texas Rangers.

2008 — Jayson Werth of Philadelphia hit three home runs and tied the team record with eight RBIs in a 10-3 win over Toronto.

2009 — Gabe Gross and Akinori Iwamura pulled off a double steal in the fifth inning of a 4-2 win over Cleveland, giving Tampa Bay at least one stolen base in 18 straight games. It was the longest stretch in the AL since the New York Yankees had a 19-game run in 1914.

Today’s birthday: Jack Morris 66

May 17

1925 — Cleveland’s Tris Speaker got his 3,000th career hit, off Tom Zachary, in a 2-1 loss to the Washington Senators.

1939 — The first baseball game on television was broadcast by W2XBS, an experimental station run by NBC in New York. Bill Stern handled the play-by-play as Princeton beat Columbia, 2-1, in 10 innings.

1945 — For the fourth time in four days, every American League game in the country was postponed by rain.

1961 — Roger Maris hit his first home run of the season at Yankee Stadium (fourth overall) on his way to a record 61.

1963 — Don Nottebart pitched Houston’s first no-hitter as the Colt .45s defeated the visiting Philadelphia Phillies 4-1.

1970 — Hank Aaron scratched out an infield single against Cincinnati’s Wayne Simpson to become the ninth player with 3,000 hits. The hit came in the nightcap of the Atlanta Braves’ doubleheader loss to the Reds in Cincinnati.

1977 — The Chicago Cubs hit seven home runs in beating the San Diego Padres 23-6 at Wrigley Field. Larry Biittner, Jerry Morales and Bobby Murcer hit consecutive home runs in the fifth for the Cubs.

1979 — Dave Kingman of the Cubs hit three home runs and Mike Schmidt of the Phillies hit two, and Philadelphia beat Chicago 23-22 in 10 innings at Wrigley Field. Bill Buckner had a grand slam and seven RBIs for Chicago. The game included 11 home runs and 50 hits.

1984 — Alan Wiggins of the San Diego Padres tied a National League record by stealing five bases in one game. He joined three others who have performed the feat — Dan McGann in 1904, Davey Lopes in 1974 and Lonnie Smith in 1982.

1992 — Toronto surpassed the 1 million mark in attendance earlier than any team in major league history. It took the Blue Jays 21 dates to draw 1,006,294. The previous record was shared by the 1991 Blue Jays and the 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers.

1998 — David Wells pitched the 13th perfect game in modern major league history as the New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0.

2002 — Arizona’s Erubiel Durazo hit three home runs, a double and drove in nine runs as the Diamondbacks defeated Philadelphia 12-9.

2008 — Barry Zito became the first Giants pitcher to open a season with eight straight losses since 1890 when San Francisco lost 3-1 to the White Sox. Zito (0-8) worked five innings and gave up only two runs in matching Jesse Burkett’s record.

2009 — A pregame lineup mistake cost Tampa Bay its designated hitter for the game. The Rays listed both Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria as the third baseman. Longoria was supposed to be DH, but Tampa Bay lost that position because of the mistake and was forced to put pitcher Andy Sonnanstine in the third spot of the lineup. Sonnanstine hit an RBI double and gave up five runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings in a 7-5 victory over Cleveland.

Today’s birthdays: Ben Gamel 29; Carlos Pena 43; Jose Guillen 45

May 18

1912 — Detroit players went on strike to protest Ty Cobb’s suspension. To avoid a forfeit and fine, manager Hugh Jennings recruited college players and others; they lost to the Philadelphia A’s 24-2. Joe Travers gave up all 24 runs on 26 hits.

1929 — The Brooklyn Dodgers outslugged the Philadelphia Phillies for a 20-16 victory in the first game of a doubleheader. Brooklyn’s Babe Herman and Johnny Frederick each had five hits. Frederick scored five times to give him a major league record eight runs in two games. The Phillies won the second game 8-6. The teams combined for a record 50 runs in a doubleheader.

1957 — Dick Williams of the Orioles hit a ninth-inning, game-tying solo home run against Chicago’s Paul LaPalme seconds before 10:20 p.m. — the curfew set so the White Sox could catch a train out of Baltimore. If Williams had done anything else, Chicago would have won. The game was later replayed from the beginning and Baltimore won.

1968 — Frank Howard hit his 10th home run in a six-game span to power the Washington Senators to an 8-4 victory over Detroit at Tiger Stadium.

1990 — The Baltimore Orioles tied an AL record with eight consecutive singles in a seven-run first inning against Bobby Witt to beat the Texas Rangers 13-1. The eight straight singles equaled a record set by the Washington Senators against Cleveland in 1951 and matched by the Oakland Athletics against Chicago in 1981.

1999 — Edgar Martinez hit three home runs — tying a major league record with five homers in two games — to give the Seattle Mariners a 10-1 win over the Minnesota Twins. He homered twice in the opener of the series.

2000 — Mark McGwire homered three times and had a career-high seven RBIs, leading the St. Louis Cardinals over the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2.

2003 — The Texas Rangers swept three games at Yankee Stadium for the first time in the franchise’s 43-year existence, winning 5-3.

2004 — Randy Johnson, 40, became the oldest pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game, retiring all 27 hitters to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Atlanta Braves 2-0. It was the 17th perfect game in major league history and the first since the New York Yankees’ David Cone did it against Montreal on July 18, 1999.

2009 — Mark Teixeira homered from both sides of the plate and the New York Yankees finished a four-game sweep of Minnesota with a 7-6 victory.

Today’s birthdays: Josh Fleming 25; Reggie Jackson 75; Brooks Robinson 84.

May 19

1910 — Cy Young won the 500th game of his career as the Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Senators, 5-4, in 11 innings.

1910 — Boston beat the Pirates 6-3 for the first time in 26 tries.

1942 — Paul Waner of the Boston Braves got his 3,000th career hit off Pittsburgh’s Rip Sewell in a 7-6, 11-inning loss to the Pirates.

1956 — Pittsburgh’s Dale Long hit a ninth-inning homer against the Chicago Cubs. It was Long’s first of eight straight games with a homer.

1962 — Stan Musial of St. Louis became the NL career hits leader. The 41-year-old got a ninth inning single for his 3,431st hit and moved past Honus Wagner. The Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-1.

1968 — After hitting 10 home runs in six games, Frank Howard of the Washington Senators was stopped by pitcher Earl Wilson of Detroit, which won the game 5-4.

1981 — Pittsburgh’s Jim Bibby gave up a leadoff single to Terry Harper of the Atlanta Braves, then retired the next 27 batters for a 5-0 one-hitter. Bibby also hit two doubles.

1998 — Mark McGwire hit three two-run homers against Philadelphia. It was the second time this season and fourth time in his career McGwire hit three homers in a game. McGwire became the 12th player to have two three-homer games in a season.

2000 — Jason Kendall hit for the cycle and drove in a career-high five runs, leading Pittsburgh to a 13-1 rout of St. Louis. Kendall had a two-run homer in the first inning, an RBI single in the second, a double in the third and a two-run triple in the eighth.

2004 — Atlanta’s 45-year-old Julio Franco broke his own record for the oldest player to hit a pinch-hit homer. Franco, who had a pinch-hit homer two weeks earlier against San Diego, hit a two-out, two-run homer to tie the game at 4 in the eighth. The Braves lost 6-4 in 11 innings to the Diamondbacks.

2008 — Boston’s Jon Lester shut down Kansas City 7-0 for the first no-hitter in the majors this season. The 24-year-old lefty, who survived cancer to pitch the World Series clincher for the Red Sox last fall, allowed two baserunners, walking Billy Butler in the second inning and Esteban German to open the ninth.

2009 — Washington became the fourth team in major league history to score at least five runs in each game of a six-game losing streak. The Nationals lost 8-5 in 10 innings to Pittsburgh after they rallied to tie the game with a run in the ninth, but another letdown from a bullpen with a collective 1-14 record allowed them to join the 1929 Pirates, 2004 Cincinnati Reds and 2005 Texas Rangers.

Today’s birthday: Victor Robles 24; Brian Anderson 28; Luis Salazar 65

May 20

1919 — Babe Ruth won a game on the mound and at the plate. He hit his first career grand slam as the Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Browns 6-4.

1925 — The Cleveland Indians scored six runs in the last of the ninth to beat the New York Yankees 10-9. Tris Speaker scored the winning run from first on a single.

1932 — Paul Waner of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit four doubles in one game.

1941 — Lefty Grove of the Boston Red Sox won his 20th consecutive game at home, the longest home park streak in the major leagues. Boston beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2.

1947 — The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Braves 4-3 in a game that featured 22 hits — all singles. The Pirates had 12 singles, the Braves 10.

1953 — In the 13th game of the season, the Milwaukee Braves surpassed their 1952 attendance of 281,278, when they were in Boston.

1959 — The Detroit Tigers beat the Yankees, 13-6, to place New York in last place for the first time in 19 years.

1962 — Chicago Cubs rookie Ken Hubbs had eight singles in eight trips to the plate. The Cubs swept the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-4 and 11-2.

1978 — Willie Stargell hit a 535-foot homer off Montreal’s Wayne Twitchell — the longest home run in Montreal’s Olympic Stadium — to highlight the Pirates’ 6-0 victory. It was also Stargell’s 407th career homer, tying him with Duke Snider on the career list.

1984 — Boston’s Roger Clemens earned his first major league victory. The Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-4.

1991 — Jeff Reardon got his 300th save and Steve Lyons and Jack Clark homered as the Boston Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0.

1999 — Robin Ventura became the first major leaguer to hit grand slams in both games of a doubleheader, leading the New York Mets to a sweep over Milwaukee, 11-10 and 10-1. He had two slams in a game for the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 4, 1995.

2001 — Barry Bonds hit two homers in the San Francisco Giants’ 11-6 loss to the Atlanta Braves, giving him a total of five in two games, becoming the 23rd player in history to do so.

2006 — Barry Bonds tied Babe Ruth for second place on the career home run list during San Francisco’s 4-2, 10-inning victory over the Oakland Athletics.

2009 — Boston center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury tied a major league record with 12 putouts by an outfielder in a nine-inning game, previously done by Earl Clark of the Boston Braves in 1929 and Lyman Bostock of the Minnesota Twins in 1977. He accomplished the feat in the Red Sox’s 8-3 win over Toronto.

2009 — Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera hit consecutive home runs for the New York Yankees in an 11-4 victory over Baltimore. All three solo shots to right field came in the second inning off Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie — with two strikes.

Today’s birthdays: Jason Werth 42; Todd Stottlemyre 56

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