On July 4, 1989 — Tom Browning just misses becoming the first hurler in big league history to throw two perfect games when Dickie Thon’s leadoff double in the ninth breaks up the Cincinnati southpaw’s bid for perfection. After the Philadelphia shortstop scores on a Steve Jeltz single, John Franco replaces the disappointed pitcher and induces Lenny Dykstra to hit into a game-ending double play, giving the Reds a 2-1 victory at Veterans Stadium.

Before the game someone said to Browning, looks like rain. He responded,  “I’ll try to get it in as quick as possible,”  The one-hour, 44-minute game was the fastest in the NL this season. The previous was 1:48, last Thursday between Atlanta and Cincinnati. Browning started that game, too.

“I didn’t think I had good stuff before the game. I told Bo (Diaz),” Browning said. “I concentrated on every pitch.”
He said of Thon’s hit, “It was a fastball away. He tried to pull the first pitch. Then he hit it in the alley.”
Browning, 29, pitched a perfect game last Sept. 16 when he retired 27 Los Angeles Dodgers. It was the 14th perfect game in major-league history.
He also had a hitless game going last June 6 against the San Diego Padres for 8 1/3 innings, but Tony Gwynn broke it up with a single.

On May 2 last season, the Reds’ Ron Robinson was one out away from a perfect game against Montre-al when Wallace Johnson got a pinch single.
There never has been a no-hitter in the 19-year history of Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium. Four pitchers have gone into the ninth inning without allowing a hit.
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