Andy Benes lost a no-hitter in the ninth inning but Greg Maddux pitched eight shutout innings and the Braves won anyways. Baseball!
Braves Franchise History
1929: In Boston, Mel Ott hits for the cycle in New York’s 5-4, 10-inning loss to the Braves in a doubleheader nightcap. Ott’s home run in the 7th lands half-way up in the right field bleachers, the longest home run to that section since 1915. Joe Dugan matches Ott’s four hits and scores the winner. The Braves also win the opener, 4-3.
1945: Mort Cooper goes AWOL from the Cardinals, returning to St. Louis. A 20-game winner for three previous seasons, Cooper, along with his brother Walker Cooper, has had his salary frozen at $12,000 for three years, and is in a salary dispute with owner Sam Breadon. Without Cooper, the Cards drop a pair to the Braves, losing 5-4 in 14 innings and 4-1.
1946: Pinch-runner Jeff Cross steals home in the 10th inning to give St. Louis a 9-8 win over Boston. A week ago the Braves won on an extra-inning steal of home. The Cards win their ninth of ten road games but will lose tomorrow.
1953: After the Braves’ Billy Bruton’s leadoff single in the 1st, Phillies P Curt Simmons retires the next 27 batters to win, 3-0, at Milwaukee. The loss snaps the Braves six-game win streak.
1970: The Reds’ Jim McGlothlin shuts out the Atlanta Braves, 2-0, stopping Rico Carty’s 31-game hitting streak in the process. Carty batted .451 (51 for 113) during the streak, which started April 8th.
1997: Michael Tucker’s two-out double in the 9th breaks up Alan Benes’ no-hitter. Benes, unfortunately, is matched against Greg Maddux, who holds the Cards scoreless for eight innings. The Atlanta Braves finally push across a run in the 13th on Andruw Jones’ infield dribbler to beat Cardinals reliever John Frascatore, 1 – 0. The teams combine for 33 strikeouts, three shy of matching the National League record for an extra-inning game set by the Giants and Mets in a 23-inning contest in 1964.
MLB History
1909: National League President John Heydler calls a meeting with the league’s umpires to discuss ways that the new two-umpire system can prevent fighting by the players. A serious incident occurred several days earlier in Boston when Reds catcher Frank Roth attacked umpire Steve Cusack after a play at home. Several other Reds players threatened the umpire with baseball bats.
2001: Rickey Henderson leads off with a home run, extending his major-league record for leadoff home runs to 79. This is more than the combined total for the #2 and #3 players on the list: Brady Anderson (44), and Bobby Bonds (35).
2001: Connecting off Astros P Shane Reynolds, Cub outfielder Sammy Sosa hits his 14th home run of the year to become the 33rd major leaguer to reach 400 career homers. Sosa has hit 371 homers as a Cub, putting him third on the all-time Cub list behind Ernie Banks (512) and Billy Williams (392)
2015: Miguel Cabrera hits the 400th home run of his career off Tyler Lyons in the 1st inning of a game against the Cardinals. With the blast, he passes both Andres Galarraga, who held the record for most homers by a player from Venezuela, and Detroit Tigers legend Al Kaline, who both finished with 399 homers. The homer comes one night after Adrian Beltre also reached the 400 mark. The Tigers win, 4-3, in 10 innings.
2024: For a rare time, the rule limiting the number of mound visits affects a game. Tampa Bay has a 7-5 lead over Boston with two outs in the bottom of the 9th when closer Jason Adam puts a couple of men on base. Pitching coach Kyle Snyder comes out of the dugout to speak to his pitcher before he faces Romy Gonzalez, but home plate umpire Alex Tosi stops him, pointing out that the Rays are out of mound visits. Red Sox manager Alex Cora now comes out to argue that Tampa should be forced to replace its pitcher due to the illegal visit. The matter is discussed for a time and referred to MLB headquarters for a ruling, and when it is confirmed that Cora is right and that Adam must go, the Rays have had enough time to warm up another reliever, Erasmo Ramirez, who takes over and forces Gonzalez to hit a tapper back to him to end the game. Left unsaid is why it took the umpires so long to enforce a rule that is absolutely clear-cut, thus letting the Rays get away with its violation.
Information for this article was found via Baseball Reference, NationalPastime.com and Today in Baseball History.