You don’t see that everyday! And in the ninth inning, too!
Braves Franchise History
1957: In Pittsburgh, Braves IF Felix Mantilla and OF Billy Bruton collide while chasing a pop fly. Mantilla will miss 19 games while Bruton will suffer knee damage and be out almost a year.
1962: For the first time since 1938, when the Waner brothers pulled the trick, brothers Hank Aaron and Tommie Aaron homer in the same inning. Both homers are hit in the last of the 9th, and Hank’s grand slam provides the winning margin in an 8-6 Braves win over the Cards.
1976: In a pre-game promotion at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, 34 couples are married at home plate. The nuptials are then followed by Championship Wrestling in an evening billed as “Headlocks and Wedlocks.” The Atlanta Braves then pin a 9-8 loss on the Mets.
1976: Hank Aaron’s 10th-inning homer, his ninth of the season, in the second game gives the Brewers a doubleheader sweep over the Texas Rangers and a sweep of the four-game series. Milwaukee wins, 6-3 and 5-4, with the wins going to Jim Slaton and Bill Castro.
1983: With his club in the National League West cellar, 15 1/2 games behind the Braves, Reds president Dick Wagner is fired by the club’s general partners.
2000: The American League wins its fourth consecutive All-Star Game, beating the National League, 6-3. Derek Jeter of the Yankees and Chipper Jones of the Braves each go 3 for 3 in the contest. Jeter takes MVP honors, while Chicago’s James Baldwin gets the victory
Photo credit should read STEVE SCHAEFER/AFP via Getty Images
2013: On the day he is made an All-Star by winning the NL’s “Final Man Vote”, Braves 1B Freddie Freeman drives in four runs to lead his team to a 6-5 win over the Reds. Freeman hits a two-run double in the 1st and later adds a pair of run-scoring singles.
2021: Pablo López of the Marlins sets a new major league record by striking out the first nine batters he faces in a start against the Braves. Before him, three pitchers had opened a game with eight strikeouts.
MLB History
1911: The Federal Express of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad, carrying the St. Louis Cardinals to Boston, plunges down an 18-foot embankment outside Bridgeport, CT, killing 14 passengers. The Pullmans’ team were originally just behind the baggage coaches near the front. When noise prevented the players from sleeping, manager Roger Bresnahan requested the car be changed. The day coach that replaced the players’ car is crushed and splintered. The players help remove bodies and rescue the injured, then board a special train to Boston, where the day’s game is postponed. The railroad pays each player $25 for his rescue work and for lost belongings.
1963: “My first major league game was at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, and Roberto Clemente almost killed me!” The “Toy Cannon” meets a real cannon with near disastrous results. Speaking with Baseball Digest some 40 years after the fact, Jimmy Wynn dredges up this traumatic close encounter: “Not many people know this, but I came up as a shortstop. Clemente hit a screaming line drive, and I got my glove up just as the ball hit the left field wall. I was one heck of a high school shortstop, but the majors were another story. After that, I told the coaches and manager to get me out of the infield.” In fact, this hair-raising encounter took place during Wynn’s second game in the majors. Wynn will have to soldier on in the infield for another ten tension-filled days, but will be firmly ensconced in centerfield after that.
1963: Jim Maloney strikes out 13 in pitching the Reds to a 7-3 win over the visiting Cubs.
1985: Nolan Ryan becomes the first pitcher to record 4,000 strikeouts, fanning Danny Heep in the 6th inning of Houston’s 4-3 win over the Mets. Ryan finishes with 11 strikeouts in seven innings but gets a no-decision. Bill Doran’s fifth hit drives home Dickie Thon in the 12th with the winning run.
1987: Billy Ripken, 22, joins his brother Cal Ripken Jr. in the Orioles’ starting lineup in Baltimore’s 2-1 loss to the Twins. Orioles manager Cal Ripken, Sr. is the first to manage two sons in the majors.
2002: The Marlins send P Ryan Dempster to the Reds for OF Juan Encarnacion, IF Wilton Guerrero, and minor league P Ryan Snare. Florida then sends OF Cliff Floyd, Guerrero, minor league P Claudio Vargas and $1.5 million to the Expos in exchange for Ps Carl Pavano and Graeme Lloyd, IF Mike Mordecai and minor league P Justin Wayne.
2014: Aroldis Chapman of the Reds sets a new record by notching a strikeout in his 40th straight relief appearance, dating back to August 21, 2013. The previous record had been held by Bruce Sutter since 1977. Chapman strikes out the side against the Pirates on the way to his 20th save of the year.
2015: The Marlins set a team record with nine consecutive hits in the 7th inning of a 14-3 win over the Reds. One of the hits is costly, as 2B Dee Gordon dislocates his left thumb in reaching on an infield single, putting him out of the All-Star Game. Reliever Mike Dunn has his first career hit during the string as Miami scores eight runs. J.T. Realmuto hits a three-run homer as rookie Adam Conley records his first victory in a spot start. For Cincinnati, Manny Parra gives up five runs without retiring a batter.
Information for this article was found via Baseball Reference, NationalPastime.com and Today in Baseball History.