This Day In Baseball May 9

Debuts, Milestones, No Hitters, Rule Changes, Events, Birthdays, Deaths, and more on This Day In Baseball.  

Events for May 9

The first Hispanic player in major league baseball is Esteban Enrique Bellan. The 21-year old Cuban infielder plays for the Troy Haymakers of the National Association.

on May 9, 1878, Sam Weaver of the Milwaukee Cream Citys threw a no-hit game according to one scorer. The scorer from the Indianapolis Blues awarded a hit to John Clapp and more debate began.

With a twelve-run lead, Louisville Colonels right-handed pitcher Icebox Chamberlain holds the Kansas City Cowboys scoreless pitching left-handed for the last two innings.

Washington defeats Pittsburgh, 14 – 9, in a beanball battle. Senators pitcher Win Mercer hits three Pittsburgh batters while Pirate Pink Hawley plunks three Washington batters in a disastrous 11-run 7th inning, tying a mark he set on July 4, 1894. Hawley retires in 1900 after only nine seasons with a still-standing National League record of 195 hit batters. All told, eight batters are plunked in the contest, a National League-record five by Hawley. The five Washington batters hit by pitches ties the NL mark and won’t be matched till July 2, 1969.

Baltimore’s Hughie Jennings knocks down Reds 3B Charlie Irwin before he can catch Bid McPhee’s throw. Jennings scores afterward to give the Orioles a controversial 6 – 5, 10-inning win over Cincinnati. Umpire Bob Emslie is escorted out of the ballpark by Cincinnati police.

The Pirates beat Chicago, 8 – 1, as Deacon Phillippe tops Jock Menefee. It is the 8th game in nine days between the two teams, half in Pittsburgh and the last four in Chicago.

In Cleveland, rookie P Earl Moore, purchased from Dayton for $1,000, allows two unearned runs but no White Sox hits through nine innings. Cleveland matches the White Sox with two runs of their own in the 3rd inning. In the 10th, with rain coming down, the Sox use singles by Sam Mertes and Dutch Hartman off Moore, “The Steam Engine in Boots”, to score two runs and win, 4 – 2. The threatening weather keeps the crowd to 400 at League Park.

The Boston Americans top the visiting New York Highlanders, 12 – 5, with a little help from umpire Bob Caruthers, who tosses out New York P Jesse Tannehill and 2B Jimmy Williams for a ball call at home.

Chicago’s Jake Weimer allows just two hits in beating the Boston Beaneaters, 6 – 0.

New York’s Joe McGinnity wins his second game in three days against the Cardinals, beating St. Louis, 5 – 1. Iron Joe is now 7-0 on the year.

Art Devlin cracks a 1st-inning double with the bases loaded and the New York Giants score seven runs off Irv Young in the first two innings. Christy Mathewson scatters 10 Doves hits in coasting to a 7 – 3 win.

The St. Louis Cardinals take out a $50,000 life insurance policy on manager Roger Bresnahan for reasons having to do more with publicity than concerns about his health.

At Hilltop Park, Christy Mathewson and Three Finger Brown renew their rivalry, Matty emerges the winner, 5 – 2, over the Cubs’ ace.

Roy Akin of Houston, who hit the ball that led to Walter Carlisle’s remarkable unassisted triple play at Los Angeles the year before, turns the tables. Playing 3B against Waco(Texas League), he catches a hit-and-run bunt, steps on third base, and then tags the runner coming down from second base.

The Giants top the host Cardinals, 8 – 3, with Christy Mathewson easily winning over Gene Woodburn.

Before 18,000, Christy Mathewson scatters 10 hits in shutting down the Braves, 2 – 0. A Chief Meyers double off Lefty Tyler accounts for both New York runs. Boston is now 3-11, 10 games behind the Pirates.

It is Nap Lajoie Day as the long-time hero returns to Cleveland in a Philadelphia A’s uniform. But Nap is hitless as Guy Morton tosses a 6 – 0 shutout against Philadelphia.

Thirty walks are allowed at Philadelphia as Detroit overwhelms the A’s, 16 – 2. Tiger rookie George Cunningham is lifted with one out in the 3rd inning after walking six batters. He is given the win, but leaves with a no-hitter and leading 9 – 0. Eighteen of the walks are issued by the A’s – 12 by reliever Carl Ray – on their way to a season total of 715. Not until 1938 will a team (the St. Louis Browns with 737) top that. Detroit will add another 11 walks against the A’s tomorrow for a two-game major-league record of 29.

The Red Sox and Dutch Leonard stop the Cleveland Indians, 5 – 1, ending the first-place Tribe’s 8-game win streak. The game marks Tris Speaker’s return to Boston, and 15,000 cheer his every move. After one inning Speaker inadvertently heads into the Sox dugout, much to the crowd’s delight.

The Giants, 2-13 and in last place, open their western swing with a 13 – 5 win at Pittsburgh. New York uses three pitchers, and pounds three Buc hurlers for 16 hits. New York will win their next 16 games.

In New York, Cyclone Joe Williams, pitching for the Lincoln Giants, no-hits the Brooklyn Royal Giants, 1 – 0, defeating one of his fiercest rivals, Cannonball Dick Redding

At St. Louis, A’s pitcher Walt Kinney relieves in the 3rd with his team down 3 – 0, and helps tie the score in the 6th by reaching Urban Shocker for a solo home run. The Browns rock Kinney for four runs in the 7th and he is lifted, and St. Louis goes on to win, 10 – 5. For Kinney, his home run comes in his last major league at-bat.

Behind Jesse Barnes, the Braves beat the visiting Cubs, 2 – 1, in 11 innings. Dave Harris’s game-ending homer in the 11th wins it.

Pounding five Boston pitchers for 22 hits, the 2nd-place Tigers outlast the Red Sox, 17 – 11. Harry Heilmann leads the cat attack with two homers and two singles.

The Yankees’ and the Tigers’ outfielders make only two putouts for an American League record which has never been equaled. The National League record for outfield idleness is one chance (Pittsburgh versus Brooklyn on August 26, 1910). Detroit’s George Uhle strikes out 8 in winning, 5 – 4, and dropping the Yanks to 7th place. Hank Johnson (7 innings) and George Pipgras are the New York hurlers.

The Red Sox sell Earl Webb to the White Sox.

The Braves’ Rabbit Maranville sets a new record for National League service by appearing in his 23rd season. It is his first appearance since breaking his ankle in last year’s spring training. The Rabbit has a single but Tex Carleton is too much for the Braves and the Cubs win, 8 – 1.

At Philadelphia, Charlie Gelbert of the Cardinals plays his first game since a 1932 hunting accident almost severed his leg. Gelbert’s error in the 7th paves the way for the Phils’first run as they win, 2 – 1. The victory goes to Bucky Walters, the infielder whom manager Jimmy Wilson has been endeavoring to convert to a pitcher all spring. Bucky allows four hits and scores the winning run in the 9th to win his first major league game.

At the Polo Grounds, Carl Hubbell wins his 4th straight and his 20th in a row, subduing the Cubs, 4 – 1. The game is scoreless for six innings. Hubbell matches the mark of Rube Marquard, who won one game in 1911 and 19 straight more in 1912.

Ernie Lombardi goes 6-for-6 and Alex Kampouris drives in eight runs in 21-10 blowout

Ernie Lombardi goes 6-for-6 and Alex Kampouris drives in eight runs in 21-10 blowout

At Boston, Jimmie Foxx drives in five runs on a pair of homers to pace the Red Sox to a 15 – 3 drubbing of Cleveland. Jim Bagby is the winner.

The press reports the impending sale of the New York Yankees by the Ruppert estate to political bigwigs Jim Farley and Jesse Jones. The Sporting News declares the sale will be for $4 million. The imminent sale will resurface on the front page several times during the next year, but it will never happen.

After the previous day’s rainout at Wrigley Field, the Brooklyn Dodgers score three in the 10th to beat Larry French, 4 – 1. Newt Kimball is the winner.

Due to the poor grade of rubber cement used to make baseballs because of wartime rubber shortages, a different type of baseball is put into play today with dramatic results. In eight games, six home runs are hit compared to a total of nine homers tallied in the season’s first 72 games.

oe McCarthy returns to manage the New York Yankees after missing most of spring training and the early season due to illness

oe McCarthy returns to manage the New York Yankees after missing most of spring training and the early season due to illness

At Chicago, Braves first sacker Johnny Hopp swipes home in the 12th to break a 2 – 2 tie with the Cubs. Boston scores twice more to win, 5 – 2, with Lefty Wallace taking the decision over Ray Prim.

At Fenway Park, Boston (20-3) runs its win streak to 14 by edging Chicago, 7 – 5. Bobby Doerr’s two-run homer in the 4th inning is the big blow. Mickey Harris, in relief, wins his second game in two days.

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. After the game, the Dodgers give their young first baseman a vote of confidence by selling Howie Schultz, Robby’s back-up, to the Phils for $50,000. The next day, Branch Rickey announces he’s giving up his attempts to pry Johnny Mize away from the Giants.

Heralded Giant rookie Clint Hartung makes his first pitching appearance and throws six shutout innings of relief against the Braves. He will start 20 games and compile his best record at 9-7. He will also play seven games in the outfield and bat .309 for the year. But the Braves win today, 6 – 2, behind Warren Spahn.

In the second game of a Sunday doubleheader between the Pirates and the Dodgers, the umpire continues the game through a 7:00 P.M. curfew because he believes Pittsburgh to be stalling with a 5 – 4 lead. The Dodgers pass the Pirates for a 7 – 5 score, but Ralph Kiner hits a three-run home run to carry Pittsburgh to a 10 – 8 victory. The Pirates are fined $100 for violating the curfew and Kiner will end up tying Johnny Mize with 40 home runs.

The Indians sweep a pair at Fenway Park, beating the Red Sox, 4 – 1, in 10 innings, and 9 – 5. A Ted Williams homer in the opener is the only Sox score, while Ken Keltner belts a pair of homers. They both add another in the nitecap, but Larry Doby clouts a monstrous two-run shot to dead center for the Tribe.

At Detroit, the Tigers set back the first-place Yankees, 4 – 1, behind the five-hit pitching of Ted Gray. Vic Raschi also allows just five hits, including a homer by Dick Wakefield, in taking the loss.

The first-place Giants win their 7th in a row as Sheldon “Available” Jones stops the Cubs, 7 – 2. Aided by ten walks and homers by Sid Gordon and Willard Marshall, the Giants pin the loss on starter Ralph Hamner, who allows one hit in three innings.

Ralph Kiner of the Pirates hits his second grand slam in three days – and the eighth of his career – and adds a three-run homer to drives in seven runs as the Pirates beat Brooklyn, 10 – 5.

At Boston, the first-place Yanks beat the Red Sox, 6 – 4. Mickey Mantle hits one homer off Bill Werle and is robbed of another when Jimmy Piersall makes a sensational catch at the Sox bullpen in right-center field.

Athletics C Wilmer (Billy) Shantz, brother of P Bobby Shantz, hits a grand slam, the first homer of his professional career. It comes off former A’s pitcher Harry Byrd, now with the Yanks. Shantz will hit just one more major league home run. Wilmer’s slam is all the offense for the A’s as the Yankees win, 7 – 4. The nitecap ends 1 – 1 after nine innings.

Tom Poholsky allows four hits and the Cardinals beat the Phils and Herm Wehmeier, 3 – 0. It is a club-record 14th win in a row for the Cardinals over Wehmeier stretching back to July 3, 1949. It is also a National Leaguerecord for consecutive losses from the start of a career.

The Tigers pick up P Herm Wehmeier from the Cards for cash.

Roberto Clemente’s defensive gem and Ted Kluszewski’s leadoff, walk-off, 12th-inning blast over Forbes Field’s right field screen give Pittsburgh’s Ron Kline a complete-game, 1 – 0 victory over Philly ace, and future Hall of Famer, Robin Roberts. Neither Kline’s nor Klu’s heroics, however, could have come to pass without Clemente’s 4th-inning-ending eye-popper which turns what appears to be a sacrifice fly off the bat of Chico Fernandez into a double play. Clemente catches the ball and fires a perfect on-the-fly strike to the plate to nail a sliding Granny Hamner.

After six straight home rainouts, the Yanks play their first home night game of the year, against Washington. Mickey Mantle breaks a 2 – 2 tie in the 3rd with an inside-the-park solo homer off Pedro Ramos. New York rolls to a 9 – 5 win.

Mrs. Dorothy Rigney, her husband Johnny Rigney, and Hank Greenberg all resign their posts with the Chicago White Sox.

Pittsburgh blows out Philly, 9 – 1, with the aid of Bob Skinner’s two home runs and four RBIs. Roberto Clemente also chips in with two triples, one of them a tape-measure job that touches off the game-breaking rally.

Future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn is born in Los Angeles

Future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn is born in Los Angeles

The Indians tie a major-league record with just 23 official at-bats as Chicago’s Herb Score pitches a two-hit, 4 – 2 win.

The Pirates’ most dangerous hitter, Roberto Clemente, leads his team to a 9 – 6 decision over San Francisco, going 3 for 4 with a home run and 4 RBI, but his scariest shot comes before the game and travels about 60 feet. Les Biederman of The Sporting News reports: “Gino Cimoli can attest that Roberto Clemente hits the ball as hard as any batter in the league. Cimoli was pitching the final turn in batting practice before the night game with the Giants at Forbes Field when Clemente hit the last pitch before the Giants stepped into the cage. It was a liner that caught Cimoli on the left side below the heart and he went down in a heap. The Pirates outfielder walked off under his own steam. X-rays failed to reveal a fracture although Cimoli had a badly bruised side from the terrific impact of the ball.”

Jim Gentile autographed Baseball Card (Houston Astros) 1966 Topps #45

Baltimore Orioles slugger Jim Gentile becomes the first major leaguer to hit grand slams in consecutive innings

The Orioles ship Marvelous Marv Throneberry to the Mets for C Hobie Landrith and cash.

Signed Brooks Robinson Photo - 8x10 140858 - JSA Certified

Brooks Robinson becomes one of five players to hit grandslams in consecutive games

Ernie Banks becomes the first National League first baseman to register 22 putouts (and 23 chances) in a game, as the Cubs beat Pittsburgh, 3 – 1, on Dick Ellsworth’s two-hitter. Singles in the 2nd and 9th are the only Buc safeties, as they pound Ellsworth’s slider into the ground.

At Cleveland, Pedro Ramos gives up four home runs to New York – Tony Kubek, Mickey Mantle, Joe Pepitone, and Hector Lopez – as the Yankees win, 6 – 2.

In the second game of a doubleheader, Cleveland and Boston combine for nine double plays, tying an American League record.

At Minneapolis, the Yankees (6-20) edge the Twins, 3 – 2. Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, and Joe Pepitone, with the game-winner in the 9th inning, hit homers for New York.

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.

At San Francisco, the Braves and Giants split a pair. After the Giants win the opener, 5 – 2, the Braves take the nitecap, 6 – 5, in 11 innings. Orlando Cepeda connects for a grand slam and solo homer for Atlanta, while Willie McCovey has a three-run home run for San Francisco. The Braves win it in the 10th when Ralph Garr scores after collecting his fourth hit.

Career triple No. 160 for Roberto Clemente puts Pittsburgh up, 1 – 0, on Atlanta and the Bucs never look back. Clemente comes home on Richie Hebner’s single and solo home runs from Willie Stargell and Dave Cashprovide Pittsburgh’s next two runs. Cash’s 8th-inning RBI double supplies additional insurance and reliever Bruce Kison responds with a perfect 8th and 9th to nail down the 5 – 2 win for starter Dock Ellis.

Baltimore’s Al Bumbry and Rich Coggins hit their first major league homers, slugging them back-to-back off the Athletics’ Catfish Hunter. The A’s still win, 4 – 3.

Johnny Bench hits 3 homeruns of Carlton for the second time

Johnny Bench hits 3 homeruns of Carlton for the second time

The Reds score another 14 runs to beat the Cubs, 14 – 2. Ken Griffey hits a grand slam, one of six homers hit by the Reds. Tony Perez has a pair with George Foster, Dan Driessen, and Pete Rose leaving the park as well.

White Sox P Wilbur Wood suffers a fractured kneecap in a 4 – 2 win over the Tigers. Wood will miss the rest of the season.

The Blue Jays beat the Mariners, 12 – 4, when the American League’s two new teams meet for the first time.

The Yanks release Paul Blair, who signs with the Reds.

At the Astrodome, substitute umpire Dave Pallone ejects the entire Cardinal bench after the players throw helmets and bats onto the field to protest a call. The minor league arbitrator was pressed into duty due to the major league umpire strike.

Gary Roenicke spoils Mike Norris’s no-hit bid by hitting a double in the 7th inning. It’s the only hit Norris allows as Oakland tops the Orioles, 4 – 2.

Four bench-clearing brawls and two grand slams, by Gary Matthews and John Milner, highlight the Pirates’ wild 17 – 9 victory over the Braves. Substitute umpires eject five players, four managers, and a coach.

Tom Paciorek hits his second game-winning, bottom-of-the-9th home run in as many games, a three-run blow giving the Mariners a 6 – 5 win over the Yankees. The previous night, Paciorek led off the 9th with a solo homer to give Seattle a 3 – 2 win over the Yankees.

Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers complete the longest game - by time - in major league history

Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers complete the longest game – by time – in major league history

Umpire Joe West ejects two television cameramen from Shea Stadium when they allow the Mets to view replays of a controversial play at the plate in which Hubie Brooks is called out. The Mets beat Atlanta, 3 – 1, with Ron Darling getting the win.

The Giants end a 24-inning scoring drought by scoring a run with two out in the 12th to beat Chicago, 1 – 0. Scott Garrelts is the winner over Warren Brusstar with four innings of relief.

Eddie Murray of the Baltimore Orioles becomes the first player in major league history to switch-hit home runs in two consecutive games

Eddie Murray of the Baltimore Orioles becomes the first player in major league history to switch-hit home runs in two consecutive games

After going 15 years without one, Chris Speier hits his second grand slam in a week to lead San Francisco to a 9 – 4 win over Pittsburgh. Speier also connected for a grand slam against the Cardinals on May 5th.

Oakland beats Detroit, 3 – 1, to extend its club-record winning streak to 14 consecutive games, the longest in the majors since 1977. The A’s will finally lose tomorrow, 8 – 2 to the Tigers, after starting the skein on April 23rd. Oakland leads by eight games in the American League West.

Jerry Reuss picks up his 200th career victory with 7 1/3 shutout innings in Chicago’s 3 – 0 win over Baltimore.

Kevin Elster errorless streak ends at 88

Kevin Elster errorless streak ends at 88

A’s slugger Jose Canseco undergoes an operation to repair a stress fracture in his left hand and will miss the first half of the season. The injury occurred after just nine at-bats in the Cactus League.

For the first time since April 10th, no major league games are shutouts, ending a streak of 29 consecutive days with at least one shutout.

At New York, the A’s edge the Yankees, 2 – 1 in 11 innings. Rickey Henderson plates the first run, scoring from second base on a 6 – 3 ground out. Rick Honeycutt is the winning pitcher.

Louisville OF Bernard Gilkey sets an American Association record by collecting three hits – two singles and a home run – in the Redbirds’ 16-run 3rd inning against the Nashville Sounds. 21 players collect 14 hits in the frame. The Redbirds win, 18 – 4, after losing to the Sounds the previous day, 17 – 5.

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.

The Rockies reach the 1,000,000 mark for attendance in their meeting with Atlanta. It is the fastest any team has gotten to the magic number (17 home dates). The Braves win the game, however, 12 – 7.

1994 – Central Valley Rockies (California League) SS Neifi Perez pulls off an unassisted triple play on a line drive.

The Cleveland Indians tie a major league record by scoring eight runs in the 1st inning before making an out. Seven of the runs score as the results of home runs, including Kenny Lofton’s leadoff round-tripper, Paul Sorrento’s grand slam and Carlos Baerga’s two-run blast. Cleveland goes on to a 10 – 0 victory behind Orel Hershiser and Paul Assenmacher.

High school star Shawn Gallagher is intentionally walked his last time up and goes hitless. Entering the game, Gallagher, from Wilmington, North Carolina, had hit safely in 51 straight games, tying the prep mark set by Stan Brown of Noblesville, Indiana.

California DH Chili Davis leads the Angels to an 11 – 2 win over Texas by notching five hits and driving home five runs. Davis’s safeties include a double and home run.

The Cardinals use an 11-run 8th inning to beat the Giants, 16 – 8. Willie McGee’s grand slam is the highlight of the inning, and Luis Alicea also adds four RBI in the game. Barry Bonds hits his league-high 15th homer to pace the Giants.

Seattle tops Baltimore, 8 – 2, with the help of five hits, including a double and homer by 2B Joey Cora.

Prior to the team’s game with Atlanta, Pirates players stand inside the stadium gates to shake hands and pose for pictures. They then proceed to beat the Braves, 9 – 0.

Against the Royals in the 6th inning, the Yankees catch Jay Bell in a rundown when Bell is suddenly called out by umpire Dale Ford, who thinks he passed the preceding baserunner, Jose Offerman. Offerman, however, had been forced out at third base. Royals’ manager Bob Boone argues until the umps agree and put runners back at second and third and call for a resumption of play. Chili Davis then lines a two-run single off Kenny Rogers to tie the score. The Royals win, 7 – 5, in 12 innings, with the victory going to Randy Veres. The Yanks protest that the rundown play should not have been reversed. Gene Budig will dismiss the protest, stating that with the rundown there were several scenarios where Bell could have escaped a tag.

The Yankees defeat the Mariners, 6 – 1. Relief pitcher Mike Stanton makes his first major league start for New York, ending his record streak of 552 consecutive relief appearances prior to his first start. The previous record of 443 was set by Gary Lavelle of the San Francisco Giants.

After starting with a single, Marshall McDougall hits six consecutive home runs and drives in 16 runs in a 26 – 2 rout of Maryland. The Florida State junior second baseman, who will briefly play in the majors with the Texas Rangers, breaks existing NCAA records for runs batted in and homers in a single game. His mark breaks the home run record set by Henry Rochelle of Campbell University, who hit five homers in a game in 1985. The RBI mark was held by Jim LaFountain of Louisville who drove in 14 against Western Kentucky University in 1976.

The Pirates defeat the Cardinals, 12 – 9, as SS Pat Meares gets five hits, including a double. Brant Brown adds a three-run inside-the-park homer.

The Cardinals score eight runs in the 2nd inning on their way to a 13 – 6 win over the Giants.

Red Sox 2B Chris Stynes, who had three hits in the previous day’s win, suffers two fractures in his left cheekbone when he is hit by an Aaron Sele pitch in the 2nd inning. He will miss six weeks. Seattle breaks a 5 – 5 tie in the 8th on John Olerud’s double to win, 10 – 5. David Bell has four RBI for the M’s, while Trot Nixon homers and Manny Ramirez and Troy O’Leary go back-to-back in the 4th.

Delmon Young is suspended for 50 games by the International League for throwing a bat which hits a replacement umpire in the chest. The Devil Rays’ top prospect, the brother of Tiger star Dmitri Young, was selected as the Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America in 2005.

The LG Twins top the Samsung Lions, 5 – 1. Samsung veteran Joon-hyuk Yang hits a solo homer off Taek-hyun Ryu for his 341st career homer, breaking Jong-hoon Jang’s all-time Korea Baseball Organization record. Yang has never led the KBO in home runs in a season, though he has finished second three times. This gives him the all-time KBO records for hits, homers, walks, runs, RBI, doubles and total bases.

Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals hits a home run in the 8th inning to beat Arizona, 2 – 1, extending his hitting streak to 27 games. A.J. Hinch is still winless since taking over as D-Backs manager.

The Mets defeat Pittsburgh, 10 – 1, for their 6th consecutive win. Sandy Alomar is at the helm in place of Jerry Manuel, who was suspended for bumping umpire Bill Welke in an argument on May 7th. Jose Reyes collects 3 hits and 3 RBI for New York.

Joe Saunders pitches a five-hit shutout for the Angels to beat Kansas City’s ace Zack Greinke, 1 – 0. Greinke suffers his first loss of the season after six wins and sees his ERA rise to 0.51 in the complete-game defeat.

Dallas Braden pitches the 19th perfect game in major league history as the Oakland A’s defeat the Tampa Bay Rays, owners of the best record and best offense in the majors coming into the game, 4 – 0. Braden’s is the second perfect game in franchise history, following that of Catfish Hunter on May 8, 1968; it also comes less than ten months after Mark Buehrle pitched the last perfecto, also against the Rays, on July 23, 2009.

With their offense out of gas, the Mariners fire hitting coach Alan Cockrell and replace him with AAA hitting instructor Alonzo Powell. Seattle is hitting only .225 and has been outhomered as a team by Paul Konerko of the White Sox. The M’s respond to the change with an 8 – 1 win over the Angels as Michael Saunders hits his first major league homer and Josh Wilson also goes deep. Jason Vargas is the beneficiary of the offensive outburst.

The Pirates beat the Dodgers, 4 – 1, at PNC Park, to move their record to 18-17, the first time they have had a winning record this late in the season since 2004. The game turns in the 8th inning; with the score tied, 1 – 1, Pirates LF Jose Tabata dives to catch a line drive off the bat of Jose Uribe, and then doubles Matt Kemp off first base. Uribe and manager Don Mattingly both argue that the ball was trapped, not caught, as television replays confirm, but are ejected by umpire Mike DiMuro for pressing their case too vehemently. In the bottom of the frame, Neil Walker drives in pinch-runner Xavier Paul with a double off Chad Billingsley to break the tie, then Lyle Overbay and Ryan Doumit follow with doubles of their own to put the game away.

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. Losing pitcher Mat Latos is now 0-5 and has lost his last 10 decisions.

The Mariners clean house in the outfield, designating for assignment veterans Milton Bradley and Ryan Langerhans.

The Yankees find out what it’s like not to have the greatest closer in history available to pitch for them, as David Robertson blows a 1 – 0, 9th-inning lead against the Rays. He loads the bases quickly, then gives up a game-tying sacrifice fly to B.J. Upton and a three-run homer to Matt Joyce as Tampa Bay wins, 4 – 1. These are the first runs given up by Robertson this year; he had been successful in his first opportunity to close in place of the injured Mariano Rivera on May 8th.

In his third game since returning from shoulder surgery, C Brian McCann homers and drives in three runs to lead the Braves to a 6 – 3 win over the Giants. Craig Kimbrel picks up his 100th career save in the contest.

The Angels defeat the Astros, 6 – 5, in a game played under protest. Angels manager Mike Scioscia objects when home plate umpire Fieldin Culbreth allows Houston manager Bo Porter to replace reliever Wesley Wrightwith Hector Ambriz before Wright has faced a single batter in the top of the 7th. This is in apparent contradiction to rule 3.05 (b), that explicitly states that “the substitute pitcher shall pitch to the batter then at-bat, or any substitute batter, until such batter is put out or reaches first base, or until the offensive team is put out, unless the substitute pitcher sustains injury.” The Angels, who trail 5 – 3 at the time of the controversial call, drop the protest as they win the game on Mark Trumbo’s two-run homer and Alberto Callaspo’s sacrifice fly; for his part, Culbreth refuses to give an explanation for his errant call but the Commissioner’s office will suspend him for two days for his egregious misinterpretation of the rule.

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.

Yu Darvish comes within one out of throwing a no-hitter as the Rangers’ ace allows a single to David Ortiz with two outs in the 9th. Darvish then comes out and Alexi Ogando retires Mike Napoli to end the game with Texas winning, 8 – 0, over the Red Sox. Ortiz had broken up Darvish’s bid for a perfect game two innings earlier when his pop fly to shallow right dropped between 2B Rougned Odor and RF Alex Rios in the 7th; Rios was charged with an error on that play, however, and Darvish allowed a couple of walks before facing Ortiz again. It’s a case of déjà vu for Darvish, as he has previously come within an out of a perfect game on April 2, 2013. On May 14th, Major League Baseball will overturn official scorer Steve Weller’s ruling on Ortiz’s 7th-inning blooper, calling it a hit as well.

Bryce Harper continues his insanely hot streak, as he connects for a two-run walk-off homer against Cody Martin to give the Nationals an 8 – 6 win over the Braves. This comes a day after he became the youngest player ever to hit five homers in two days; he is also the first player in ten years to have hit 6 homers in 3 games, since Hee-Seop Choi in 2005.

The Pirates become the first team in major league history to turn a 4-5-4 triple play in their 7 – 5 win over the Cardinals. With runners on second and third base in the 2nd inning, Yadier Molina lines out to 2B Neil Walker, who throws to 3B Jung Ho Kang to double off Jhonny Peralta; Kang then throws back to Walker who gets to second base ahead of Jason Heyward, who freezes between second and third base.

5/9/2016: In the bottom of the second inning, Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto’s fly to CF just cleared the fence. Marcell Ozuna returned to 1B in case the ball was caught as Realmuto rounded the 1B bag. No call was made on the play and Realmuto continued around the bases behind Ozuna, Crew chief Brian Gorman requested a review, which overturned the call to passing a runner. Realmuto was called out and Ozuna scored. Realmuto was credited with an RBI single.

The Yankees take sole possession of first place in the AL East with a 9 – 6 win over the Red Sox, their 17th win in their last 18 games. Boston has a 6 – 5 lead going into the bottom of the 8th, but relievers Matt Barnesand Craig Kimbrel get tagged for four runs, on a two-run triple by Brett Gardner and a homer by Aaron Judge. Gardner, who was hitting just .198 coming into the game, adds a pair of doubles and scores three runs.

In a game in Cincinnati, the Mets gave a lineup card to the home plate umpire that was not the same as the one they posted in the dugout. The official one had Astrubal Cabrera hitting second and Wilmer Flores third, but the one in the dugout had them in the reverse order. In the top of the first, Brandon Nimmo led off and struck out. Flores came up next, out of order, and also fanned. Naturally, the Reds did not object. Cabrera then hit a ground rule double. When Jay Bruce, the #4 hitter on both lineup cards came up, the Reds pointed out that Bruce should have hit after Flores because an accepted out of turn play resets the position in the lineup, and Bruce followed Flores on the umpire’s card. Bruce, the correct batter was called out, and Cabrera’s double was eliminated effectively meaning that Cabrera did not bat in the first inning. Adrian Gonzalez, the #5 hitter, correctly led off in the top of the second and singled. The Reds asked about it, and the umpire ruled properly that the single stood. For the rest of the game, Cabrera batted in the #2 slot as he should have in the first.

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. Many articles say he is just the third player to reach the milestone, but that is discounting the 224 RBIs collected by Babe Ruth before the statistic became official in 1920, placing him above the threshold, and the entire career of 19th century great Cap Anson.

2007 – Woody Williams, a Houston native signed at age 40 as a free agent, gets his first win as an Astro in eight starts. The righthander gets the gamewinning hit as well, a bloop single to right for a 3-2 victory in Cincinnati. Lance Berkman supplies the other two runs with a homer in the third. Criag Biggio leads off the game with a double, the 646th of his career to tie Carl Yastrzemski for seventh all time. It’s his 2,963rd career hit. 

2000 – Ken Caminiti belts a grand slam and Craig Biggio drives in four to lead Houston past Colorado, 13-8, at Enron Field. The Astros climb out of a 7-1 hole with Caminiti’s slam and a four-run sixth. 

1983 – Phil Garner scores the winning run while ex-Astro Danny Heep argues the call of first base ump Terry Tata in a 6-4 victory over the New York Mets. Tata had ruled that Jose Cruz beat Heep to the bag on a roller to first. Nobody calls for time and Garner alertly speeds home. Garner’s double off the third base bag had scored Omar Moreno and Dickie Thon to set up the go-ahead moment. 

1976 – Houston catchers combine for the cycle during a 10-5 beating of St. Louis. Cliff Johnson pounds four hits (two singles, a double and a homer) before twisting his ankle. Backup Skip Jutze triples in the seventh. 

1963 – Frank Robinson blasts two home runs and drives in seven as the Reds stampede the Colts, 13-3. The last of his mammoth shots comes at the expense of Jim Umbricht, making his first appearance after cancer surgery. Umbricht has over 100 stitches in his leg as he takes the mound.

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