This Date in Baseball-Week Ahead
May 9
1901 — Earl Moore of the Cleveland Indians pitched nine hitless innings against the Chicago White Sox before giving up two hits in the 10th to lose 4-2.
1937 — Ernie Lombardi of the Cincinnati Reds went 6-for-6 in a 21-10 rout of the Phillies in Philadelphia.
1947 — In his first game outside of New York City, Jackie Robinson has two hits and scores twice in the Dodgers’ 6-5 loss to the Phillies.
1961 — Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles hit consecutive grand slams in the first and second innings of a 13-5 rout of Minnesota.
1962 — Brooks Robinson becomes the 6th major leaguer this century to hit grand slams in back-to-back games, as he hits one against Kansas City’s Ed Rakow. Baltimore wins, 6-3, at home.
1967 — Cardinals outfielder #9 Roger Maris hits his first National League home run on the ninth day of the month in seat 9 of section 9.
1973 — Johnny Bench of the Reds hit three home runs off Philadelphia’s Steve Carlton for the second time in his career. Bench drove in seven runs in Cincinnati’s 9-7 victory.
1984 — The Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers played for 8 hours, 6 minutes in the longest game. After playing 17 innings the previous day, the teams met again before a regularly scheduled game, making the total 34 innings for two days. Harold Baines homered off Chuck Porter with one out in the bottom of the 25th for a 7-6 victory. Tom Seaver won both games for the White Sox.
1987 — Baltimore’s Eddie Murray became the first major leaguer to homer from both sides of the plate in consecutive games as the Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox 15-6 at Comiskey Park.
1993 — Cubs 1B Mark Grace hits for the cycle in Chicago’s 5-4 loss to the Padres. He is the 14th Cub to do so.
1999 — Marshall McDougall hit six consecutive homers and knocked in 16 runs — both NCAA records — in Florida State’s 26-2 rout of Maryland. The second baseman opened with an RBI single, then hit six straight homers. After his base hit, McDougall had a solo homer in the second inning, a three-run shot in the fourth, a solo homer in the sixth, a three-run shot in the seventh, a grand slam in the eighth and a three-run shot in the ninth.
2006 — Tampa Bay prospect Delmon Young was suspended for 50 games without pay by the International League for throwing a bat that hit a replacement umpire in the chest. IL president Randy Mobley said he believed the suspension was the longest in the league’s 123-year history. The suspension is retroactive to April 27, the day after Young tossed his bat in a Triple-A game while playing for Durham.
2010 — Dallas Braden pitched the 19th perfect game in major league history, a dazzling performance for the Oakland Athletics in a 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. He struck out six in the 109-pitch performance, throwing 77 strikes in his 53rd career start.
2011 — Zack Greinke wins his first game for the Milwaukee Brewers, striking out 9 batters in 6 innings in a 4-3 win over San Diego at Miller Park.
2013 — For only the third time ever, the reigning Cy Young Award winners face off. David Price and R.A. Dickey get no-decisions as the Rays top the Blue Jays, 5-4. The other match-ups had been Orel Hershiser vs. Frank Viola in 1989 and Tom Glavine vs. Roger Clemens in 1999.
2015 — Bryce Harper did it again, extending his remarkable homer streak with a two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth inning that sent the Washington Nationals over the Atlanta Braves 8-6. Harper homered for the sixth time in his last three games, one off the major league record set by Shawn Green in 2002.
2019 — With a solo homer in the 3rd inning in a 13-0 win against the Tigers, Albert Pujols of the Angels becomes the fifth player in major league history to collect 2,000 RBIs.
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May 10
1909 — Pitching for Winchester in the Blue Grass League, Fred Toney worked 17 no-hit innings before winning 1-0 over Lexington.
1926 — At Yankee Stadium, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth hit back-to-back homers off Tiger starter Sam Gibson, and the Yankees outscore the Tigers, 13-9.
1934 — Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees played five innings before removing himself from the game because of illness. By that time, he had two homers, two doubles and seven RBIs against the Chicago White Sox.
1944 — Cleveland’s Mel Harder became the 50th player to win 200 games as the Indians beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4.
1946 — The Boston Red Sox take their 15th straight game, a 5-4 win over New York in front of a Friday Ladies’ Day crowd at Yankee Stadium of 64,183. Earl Johnson got the win with four innings of scoreless relief. Joe DiMaggio’s grand slam accounted for the Yankees’ scoring.
1962 — Minnesota’s Lenny Green and Vic Power hit back-to-back home runs off Cleveland’s Jim Perry to start the game. Cleveland came back to win 9-4.
1967 — Braves outfielder Hank Aaron hit an inside-the-park home run. It was the only one of his 755 homers which did not clear the fence.
1970 — Hoyt Wilhelm pitched his 1,000th major league game, but the Atlanta Braves lost 6-5 to the St. Louis Cardinals.
1981 — Charlie Lea became the first French-born pitcher to throw a no-hitter as the Montreal Expos beat the San Francisco Giants 4-0 in the second game of a doubleheader.
1999 — Nomar Garciaparra hit two grand slams and a two-run homer to become the first AL player with 10 RBIs since 1975, leading the Boston Red Sox past the Seattle Mariners 12-4.
2000 — The Pirates defeat the Mets, 13-9, as Wil Cordero goes 5 for 5 with a double, home run, and four RBIs. The Mets’ Rickey Henderson becomes the 21st major-leaguer to garner 10,000 at bats in his career. Henderson finishes the night with 10,002 at-bats and trails only Cal Ripken Jr., among active players.
2005 — Tony Peña, the American League Manager of the Year in 2003, resigns as manager of the Royals.
2008 — Greg Maddux of the San Diego Padres became the ninth pitcher in big league history to win 350 games, allowing an unearned over six innings in a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
2012 — The Orioles became the first AL team to open a game with three straight home runs, and Baltimore added two more long balls against Colby Lewis en route to a 6-5 victory over the Texas Rangers in a doubleheader opener. Ryan Flaherty, J.J. Hardy and Nick Markakis began the bottom of the first inning with homers to give Baltimore a lead it would not relinquish. The previous team to homer in its first three at-bats was the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 9, 2007. Hardy was also the middle man in that assault. Milwaukee was the third major league team to accomplish the feat, all from the NL.
2013 — Two one-hitters with no other baserunners were pitched. Shelby Miller and Jon Lester each accomplished the feat. St. Louis Cardinals rookie Miller and Boston Red Sox left-hander Lester allowed just one hit and faced only 28 batters — no walks, hit batsmen or errors — in complete-game shutouts.
2015 — Felix Hernandez records his 2,000th career strikeout in leading the Mariners to a 4-3 win over the Athletics; at 29, he is the fourth-youngest to the mark.
2022 — Coming into his 11th career start with an ERA of 6.33, Reid Detmers of the Angels pitches the first complete game no-hitter of the season in a 12-0 win over the Rays. He allows just one walk and strikes out 2 as Mike Trout homers twince and Chad Wallach and Anthony Rendon once each in a one-sided game.
2023 — Kenley Jansen becomes the seventh pitcher to record 400 career saves in preserving the Red Sox’s 5-2 win over the Braves.
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May 11
1904 — Cy Young’s 23-inning no-hit string ended. The streak included two innings on April 25, six on April 30, a perfect game against the Philadelphia A’s on May 5, and six innings today.
1919 — Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators pitched 12 scoreless innings in a duel with Jack Quinn of the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds. The Big Train allowed only two hits and retired 28 batters in a row. Future football star George Halas, batting leadoff for the Yankees, went 0-for-5, striking out twice.
1919 — Hod Eller of the Cincinnati Reds pitched a no-hitter to beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-0. Eller struck out eight and walked three.
1923 — Setting several Pacific Coast League records, Pete Schneider of Vernon hit five homers and a double to knock in 14 runs in a 35-11 romp over Salt Lake City.
1955 — Ernie Banks’ grand slam — the first of five on the year — led the Chicago Cubs to a 10-8 victory that snapped the Brooklyn Dodgers’ 11-game winning streak.
1963 — Sandy Koufax pitched the second of four career no-hitters to help Los Angeles beat San Francisco 8-0.
1971 — Cleveland pitcher Steve Dunning became the last American League pitcher to hit a grand slam before the inception of the designated hitter rule in 1973. Dunning’s homer off Diego Segui of the Oakland A’s gave the Indians a 5-0 lead, but Phil Hennigan got the victory as the Indians won 7-5.
1972 — Tom Seaver wins his 100th game in a 2-1 New York Mets victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Mets also acquire veteran outfielder Willie Mays from the San Francisco Giants for pitcher Charlie Williams and $50,000.
1977 — Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner decides to take the managerial reins of his team, which has lost 16 straight games. The Braves lose their 17th in a row in Turner’s debut, as coach Vern Benson makes most of the strategic decisions. After the game, the National League removes Turner from the dugout, citing a rule that prevents an owner from doubling as manager. Dave Bristol, who was given a “sabbatical” to allow Turner to step into the dugout, will be brought back to finish the year at the helm of the team.
1980 — 39-year-old Pete Rose steals second base, third, and home in one inning for the Phillies. The last National League player to pull this feat had been Jackie Robinson in 1954.
1996 — Al Leiter, the wildest pitcher in the American League the previous season, pitched the first no-hitter in Florida’s brief history as the Marlins beat the Colorado Rockies 11-0.
1998 — Kerry Wood of the Chicago Cubs set the major league record for strikeouts in consecutive games (33) by fanning 13 Arizona Diamondbacks in a 4-2 victory. The record for strikeouts in two starts had been 32, set by Luis Tiant in 1968 and matched by Nolan Ryan (1974), Dwight Gooden (1984) and Randy Johnson (1997).
2000 — The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 14-8 in the longest nine-inning game in National League history — 4 hours, 22 minutes. The teams tied the major league record set by Baltimore and the Yankees on Sept. 5, 1997.
2003 — Rafael Palmeiro of Texas became the 19th player to join the 500-homer club. In a 17-10 win, Palmeiro hit a full-count fastball into the right field stands off Cleveland right-hander David Elder.
2009 — In the tallest pitching matchup in baseball history, 6-foot-10 Randy Johnson beat 6-9 Daniel Cabrera. The Big Unit and the towering Cabrera measure a combined 163 inches — one more than the combined heights of Cabrera and Mark Hendrickson on Sept. 1, 2004, in the previous record-holding matchup. Johnson struck out nine for his 298th career victory as San Francisco topped Washington 11-7.
2011 — Tim Wakefield takes the mound for the Red Sox at age 44 years and 282 days. He breaks Deacon McGuire’s record as the oldest performer in Boston Red Sox history - McGuire was 44 years and 280 days old on August 24, 1908, his last game for the franchise.
2016 — Max Scherzer ties the major league record by striking out 20 batters in a nine-inning game against his former team as the Nationals defeat the Tigers, 3-2. He now shares the mark with Roger Clemens, Kerry Wood and Randy Johnson. Scherzer does not issue a single walk in the game.
2020 — Major League Baseball owners agree on a tentative plan to resume the season that has been put on hold since spring training was shut down in early March by the coronavirus pandemic. Training would resume in June and an 82-game season would start around July 1-4, with games played in home ballparks, but without spectators. Teams would play games only against divisional opponents, or teams from the corresponding division in the other league, and the postseason would be expanded to 14 teams from the current 10. Rosters would be expanded to 30 players, with an additional 22-man taxi squad available as replacements in the absence of minor league games. Owners insist that the Players Association will need to accept that salaries will be based on total revenues for the plan to go ahead, something that is unlikely to be acceptable, however. This exact plan will be rejected, but the two sides will agree on a 60-game season starting in late July along the same general parameters.
2021 — The Oakland Athletics receive permission from MLB to start exploring relocation options, as their most recent attempt to come to an agreement with local authorities on replacing the outdated Oakland Coliseum, has gone nowhere.
2022 — Christian Yelich becomes the 5th player to hit for the cycle for the third time when he does so in a 14-11 Brewers loss to the Reds. His previous two cycles had also come against the Reds, within a three-week span in 2018.
2024 — Paul Skenes, the first overall pick of the 2023 amateur draft and considered the best pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg, makes his much-anticipated major league debut for the Pirates against the Cubs. He allows only one run through the first four innings, on a solo homer by Nico Hoerner in the 4th, and strikes out seven, but allows the first two batters in the 5th to reach base before giving way to reliever Kyle Nicolas, who allows both inherited runners to score. The Cubs, who were trailing 6 - 1 at one point, eventually tie the score but Pittsburgh comes out on top, 10 - 9, after a two-hour rain delay.
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May 12
1910 — Chief Bender of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched a 4-0 no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians.
1926 — Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators records his 400th career win when he defeats the St. Louis Browns, 7-4.
1937 — St. Louis’ Joe Medwick hit two home runs and two doubles to lead the Cardinals to a 15-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
1955 — Sam “Toothpick” Jones of the Cubs got a no-hitter the hard way. In the ninth inning against Pittsburgh, he walked the bases full and then struck out the next three batters for a 4-0 victory.
1956 — Carl Erskine of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitched a 3-0 no-hitter against the New York Giants.
1958 — Willie Mays hits the first grand slam in the history of the San Francisco Giants.
1966 — Lou Brock’s RBI single in the 12th inning gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 4-3 victory over Atlanta in the opening of Busch Memorial Stadium. Felipe Alou hit two home runs for the Braves.
1969 — Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals becomes the seventh pitcher in National League history to strike out the side on nine pitches.
1970 — Ernie Banks hit his 500th home run off Pat Jarvis in Chicago’s 4-3 victory over Atlanta at Wrigley Field.
1989 — Rick Reuschel of the San Francisco Giants records his 200th major league win, beating Montreal, 2-1.
1999 — Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez strikes out 15 batters for the second consecutive game in a 9-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
2000 — Boston’s Pedro Martinez, who had 17 strikeouts in his last start May 6 against Tampa Bay, struck out 15 in a 9-0 win over Baltimore, to tie an AL record set in 1968 by Cleveland’s Luis Tiant for most strikeouts over two games.
2001 — A.J. Burnett pitched an unlikely no-hitter — overcoming a record nine walks — to lead Florida over San Diego 3-0.
2004 — In one of the most remarkable at-bats in major league history, Alex Cora fouls off 14 consecutive pitches and then hits the 18th pitch over the right field fence for a two-run home run off Cubs pitcher Matt Clement.
2008 — Indians second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera turned the 14th unassisted triple play in major league history, accomplishing the feat in the second game of a doubleheader against Toronto. Cabrera made a diving catch on a line drive by Lyle Overbay, touched second base and then tagged out Marco Scutaro to quickly end the fifth inning of Cleveland’s 3-0 loss in 10 innings.
2009 — Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 30 games, getting a first-inning single in the Washington Nationals’ 9-7 loss to San Francisco.
2010 — Homer Bailey became the latest Cincinnati Reds starter to pitch a gem against the Pittsburgh Pirates, tossing his first career complete game in a 5-0 win. The Reds became the first team in the majors in nearly 10 years to pitch back-to-back, complete-game shutouts without a walk — Oakland’s Tim Hudson and Barry Zito did it on Sept. 9-10, 2000, against Tampa Bay.
2015 — The Mariners tie a team record by hitting six homers in an 11-4 win over the Padres at Safeco Field. Nelson Cruz hits his major league-leading 15th home run, while Mike Zunino hits two, and Kyle Seager, Justin Ruggiano and Logan Morrison complete the barrage.
2017 — Buster Posey homers in the 17th inning to send the Giants to a 3-2 win over the Reds, in a game that takes 5 hours and 28 minutes.
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