THIS DATE IN BASEBALL

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.

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.

May 13

1911: Detroit’s Ty Cobb hit his first grand slam. After six innings, the Tigers led the Red Sox, 10-1. Boston came back to win the game 13-11 in 10 innings.

1911: The New York Giants scored a major league record 10 runs before the St. Louis Cardinals retired the first batter in the first inning. Fred Merkle drove in six of the Giants’ 13 runs in the first en route to a 19-5 rout.

1923: Joe Sewell of the Cleveland Indians struck out twice in one game for the first time in his career. Washington Senator rookie Wally Warmoth was the pitcher. In a 14-year career, Sewell had only one other multiple strikeout game.

1942: Boston’s Jim Tobin became the only pitcher in modern history to hit three home runs in one game. Tobin led the Braves to a 6-5 win over the Chicago Cubs. His fourth at-bat was a fly ball caught against the fence in left field.

1955: At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle hits home runs from both sides of the plate for the first time in his major league career.

1958: Teammates Willie Mays and Darryl Spencer each had four long hits as San Francisco beat the Dodgers in Los Angeles 16-9. Mays had two homers, two triples, a single and four RBIs, and Spencer had two homers, a triple, a double and six RBIs for a combined 28 total bases.

1958: Stan Musial got his 3,000th hit with a pinch-double off Chicago’s Moe Drabowsky at Wrigley Field. The Cardinals won 5-3.

1969: Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs reaches the 1,500 runs batted in milestone with seven RBI in a 19-0 shellacking of the expansion San Diego Padres.

1976: For the sixth consecutive game, George Brett of the Kansas City Royals collects at least three hits.

1980: Ray Knight of Cincinnati hit two home runs in the fifth inning: including a grand slam: to lead the Reds to a 15-4 rout of the New York Mets. 7.

1982: The Chicago Cubs won game No. 8,000 in their history with a 5-0 victory over Houston at the Astrodome.

1989: Kirby Puckett of the Minnesota Twins tied a major league record with four doubles against the Blue Jays. He became the 35th player to hit four doubles in a game, the first since Toronto’s Damaso Garcia in 1986.

1993: George Brett of the Kansas City Royals hits his 300th career home run in the 6th inning of a 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians. Brett is only the 6th major league player with at least 3,000 hits and 300 home runs.

1994: Tim Salmon of the California Angels went 5-for-5 against the Seattle Mariners to give him 13 hits over three consecutive games.

2000: Todd Stottlemyre of Arizona earned his seventh victory of the season as the Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres 6-2. It was Todd’s 136th career win. He and father Mel Stottlemyre became the first father-son combination to record 300 wins.

2001: Alex Rodriguez becomes the fifth-youngest big leaguer to hit his 200th career home run, at 25 years and 289 days. Mel Ott accomplished the feat in 1934 at the youngest age (25 years, 144 days).

2002: 38 home runs shy of the exclusive 500 home run club, Jose Canseco retires at 37 age due to injuries sustained in recent years.

2007: San Francisco rookie Fred Lewis hit for the cycle in a 15-2 win over Colorado, just four days after being called up from Triple-A Fresno.

2009: Soon after Adam LaRoche became the first player to have a home run taken away following a video replay review, Ross Gload lost one the same way when umpires reversed their call. LaRoche wound up with a double for Pittsburgh at PNC Park. Gload’s pinch-hit drive was finally called foul at Milwaukee and he eventually struck out. Both players had already rounded the bases when umps changed the original call.

2009: Ryan Zimmerman’s 30-game hitting streak ended when he went 0 for 3 with two walks in Washington’s 6-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

2012: Joey Votto hit a grand slam in the ninth inning for his third home run of the game, rallying the Cincinnati Reds to a rain-delayed 9-6 victory over the Washington Nationals.

2014: Pinch-hitter Greg Garcia was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and one out in the 12th inning, sending the St. Louis Cardinals to 4-3 win over the Chicago Cubs.

2023: By striking outBrice Turang and Joey Wiemer of the Brewers in the 5th inning, Zack Greinke becomes only the fifth pitcher in major league history to have struck out 1,000 different batters in his career. The veteran Royals hurler, who is in his 20th season, joins Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens in the exclusive club.

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.

1966: Roberto Clemente’s sixth and final career home run off Sandy Koufax is another no-doubter. It comes during Koufax’s final season, the net result being one less shutout for Sandy and one more moon shot for Clemente

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.

1986: California Angels slugger Reggie Jackson hits his 537th career home run to move past Mickey Mantle on the all-time list. Jackson delivers the milestone blast against Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox.

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.

2000: Although Sammy Sosa collects five hits, Henry Rodriguez has seven RBI and Eric Young steals five bases, the Chicago Cubs still manage to lose to Montreal, 16-15. Young’s five stolen bases are the most by a Cubs player since 1881 when George Gore stole seven.

2010: After Twins manager Ron Gardenhire orders an intentional walk to Mark Teixeira and brings in righty Matt Guerrier to face Alex Rodriguez in the 7th, the Yankee third baseman blasts his 19th career grand slam to pass Frank Robinson for 7th on the all-time career home run list and give New York an 8-4 win.

2012: Major League Baseball fires arbitrator Shyam Das after 13 years on the job. The Commissioner’s office was incensed at Das for overturning Ryan Braun’s suspension for PED use on a technicality on February 23rd, and the last straw comes when the same ruling is used today to justify ending Eliezer Alfonzo’s 100-game suspension early.

2016: In his final season, David Ortiz is still a master of the clutch hit. Today, he hits a two-out 9th-inning triple off Luke Gregerson to drive in Xander Bogaerts and tie the game for the Red Sox against the Astros, then hits a two-out double in the 11th off Michael Feliz that again drives in Bogaerts and gives the Sox a 6-5 win. The double is the 600th of his career, making him only the third player after Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds to hit 500 homers and 600 doubles; he had hit homer #513 in the 3rd inning.

2017: The Yankees officially retire uniform number 2 in honor of Derek Jeter and unveil a plaque in his name in Monument Park at New Yankee Stadium between games of a doubleheader against the Astros.

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.

1933: The major leagues advance the cut-down date a month, limiting rosters to 23 players today instead of June 15th.

1935: Lou Gehrig steals home in a 4-0 Yankee win over the Tigers. It is his 15th and last steal of home, all of which were double steals.

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.

1951: At Fenway Park, the Red Sox celebrate the 50th anniversary of their first American League game in Boston.

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.

1978: His 7th-inning, two-run homer moves Willie Stargell past the late Roberto Clemente into sole possession of second place on Pittsburgh’s all-time RBI list, his total of 1,307 now trailing only Honus Wagner’s 1,475.

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.

2018: Two days after being sidelined by a broken bone in his hand, 2B Robinson Cano of the Mariners is suspended for 80 days for testing positive for a banned substance in violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

2019: Pitcher Edwin Jackson makes history by playing for his 14th team when he starts today’s game for the Blue Jays against the Giants.

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.

1978: The White Sox trade OF Bobby Bonds to the Rangers for OF Claudell Washington and OF Rusty Torres.

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

1996: Sammy Sosa becomes the first Cub ever to hit two homers in one inning, hitting them in the eight-run 7th inning at Wrigley Field.

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.

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).

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.

2012: Is there anything the old man cannot do? 49-year-old Jamie Moyer picks up his second win of the year for Colorado by throwing 6 1/3 innings, during which he allows a single run, and helps his own cause with a two-run single in the 4th.

2015: Miguel Cabrera hits the 400th home run of his career.

2020: The owners release figures showing that on average, teams will lose $640,000 per game played without fans. This is done in the hope of convincing players to accept a form of revenue sharing in conjunction with their plan to play a truncated season starting around July 4th, with no spectators present - at least at the outset - due to the coronavirus pandemic. They also provide the Players Association with a detailed protocol on how such games would be played in order to minimize contact between persons present at the ballpark and maintain social distancing. All of these proposals still require the players’ approval before they can be implemented.