The above headline is NOT a typo.

Four days ago, the AL Los Angeles Angels starter Jered Weaver and reliever Jose Arredondo combined to pitch an 8 inning no-hitter against their city rivals from the NL, the Dodgers, in inter-league play.

But the Angels lost by a 1-0 score when the Dodgers scored a fifth inning run as centerfielder Matt Kemp reached on a slow roller toward the first-base side of the mound which was flubbed for an error by pitcher Weaver.  Weaver’s error led to the Dodger’s only score as Kemp stole 2nd base with 3rd baseman Blake DeWitt at bat facing Weaver. Kemp advanced to 3rd base on catcher Jeff Mathis’ errant throw on the stolen base.  Kemp then scored on DeWitt’s sacrifice fly to rightfield.

Weaver left the game after six innings having tossed 97 pitches while walking 3 and striking out 6.  Arredondo took over in the seventh and set the last 6 Dodgers down in order.

Meanwhile, AP sports writer Ken Peters noted for Yahoo sports;

The Dodgers’ Chad Billingsley (7-7) scattered three hits over seven innings, then Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito shut out the Angels for the next two innings. Blanked for the second game in a row, the Angels finished with five hits, but never got a runner as far as third.

Closer Saito was credited with his 12th save of the season.

AP’s Peters further noted;

The Dodgers became the fifth team in modern major league history to win without getting a hit. Because they didn’t have to bat in the ninth, the game doesn’t qualify as a no-hitter.

It was only the fifth game in the majors since 1900 when the winning team didn’t get a hit, and first since Boston’s Matt Young in 1992, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Baseball Library reported on the Matt Young no-hit loss;

On April 12, 1992 Red Sox pitcher Matt Young does not give up a hit in hurling an 8-inning‚ complete game against the  Indians. He loses‚ however‚ by a score of 2-1‚ in the 1st game of a twinbill.

Here are 3 other games in MLB history where a pitcher tossed a no-hitter and his team lost. 

This blog recorded that in April, 1967, Steve Barber and Stu Miller of the Baltimore Orioles pitched a combined no-hitter, but lost 2-1 to the Detroit Tigers.  

Wikipedia tells that;

On April 23, 1964, Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt .45s became the only pitcher to lose a complete game no-hitter in nine innings when he was beaten 1-0 by Cincinnati. The winning run was scored by Pete Rose in the top of the ninth inning via an error, groundout, and another error.

Joe Nuxhall, who pitched his first MLB game at 1 1/2 months short of his 16th birthday in 1944, was the winning pitcher for the Reds giving up 5 hits, walking 1 and striking out 6.

This blog also wrote two years ago about Harvey Haddix’s 12 inning no-hitter on May 12, 1959 which Pittsburgh lost 1-0 in the 13th inning to Lew Burdette and the Milwaukee Braves on an error and 1st baseman Joe Adcock’s homer which became an awarded double due to bizarre base-running.

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Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame 2nd baseman Ryne Sandberg, whose hitting exploits led the Cubs to NL East Division championships in 1984 and 1989, had many a great game and great season during his storied 16 year career, the last 15 years of which were with the Cubs.

Sandberg hit 30 homers in 1989 while batting .290, 40 homers and 100 RBIs with a .306 BA in 1990 followed by 26 homers and 100 RBIs and a .291 BA in 1991 — at the zenith of his career.  But there is one game which, with a little help from the infamous Wrigley Field wind, will always be fondly remembered by all Cub fans as one of Sandberg’s greatest.

Baseball Library describes the scene 24 years ago to the day, on June 23, 1984;

At Wrigley Field‚ in game that will be known as the Sandberg game‚ the Cubs Ryne Sandberg goes 5-for-6 with game-tying home runs off Cardinals relief ace Bruce Sutter in both the 9th and 10th innings. He drives in 7 runs to lead Chicago to a 12-11 win in 11 innings. It is the first time Sutter has given up two HRs to the same batter in the same game. Dave Owens’ base-loaded single wins it. Willie McGee hits for the cycle and drives in 6 runs in a losing cause.

While the Cubs went on to win the NL East Division crown in 1984 by 6 1/2 games over the 2nd place Mets, St. Louis finished a distant 3rd, 12 1/2 games behind the Cubbies.  

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Lefthanded pitcher Ken Brett, the older brother of Kansas City Royals’ great Hall of Fame 3rd baseman George Brett and who passed away in November, 2003 at 55 after a long battle with brain cancer, never compiled earth-shattering won-loss records (83-85 lifetime) or stats during his 14 year MLB career.  But he did come away from his career with a MLB record and a couple of other notes of distinction including a pretty fair lifetime ERA of 3.93.

Baseball Library writes of Brett;

Although later overshadowed by younger brother George, in 1967 Ken became the youngest pitcher (19 years, one month) to pitch in a World Series game. He went on to tie the modern record for playing with the most teams (10).*  A three- time 13-game winner, the clever lefty was the winning pitcher while representing the Pirates in the 1974 All-Star Game at Pittsburgh.

         *Note: 

Yahoo’s answers notes that Brett does not hold the MLB record for having played on the most teams as journeyman pitcher Mike Morgan played for 12 different teams.

Brett nearly pitched a no-hitter on May 26, 1976 for the Chicago White Sox  against the California Angels which was spoiled by a controversial ninth inning slow roller down the 3rd base line was allowed to roll unplayed and which was scored a hit rather than an error.  Brett went on to pitch the tenth inning and got credited for the win by a 1-0 score when the White Sox pushed home a run in the eleventh inning.  Brett gave up 2 hits for the game.

But Ken Brett was best known for his hitting.  Wikipedia notes;

He was the fourth overall pick in the 1966 baseball draft, selected by the  Boston Red Sox as a pitcher; the 23 other MLB teams coveted him as a sweet-swinging center fielder.

Baseball Library described Ken Brett’s hitting skills this way;

A good hitter (.262), he set a record for pitchers in 1973 by homering in four straight starts with the Phillies.

Baseball Library continues by recording that on June 23, 1973;

Phillies pitcher Ken Brett beats the Expos 7-2 and hits a HR for a ML-record 4th consecutive game‚ three of them leading off innings. He hit HRs on   13th‚ and 18th‚ all solo: he will total 10 homers for his career.

Brett’s 4th homer in 4 starts capped the consecutive homer string as he completed the latter 3 games of the 4 game streak.  Brett hit his 4th homer of the string two years to the day after another Phillies pitcher, Rick Wise no-hit the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 while belting 2 homers in the game.

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Manager Charlie Manuel’s pitching moves have met mostly with success this season.  But on Wednesday, he blew it Big-Time.  With capable relief like Chad Durbin (1.67 ERA in 25 games), Ryan Madson (3.37 ERA in 28 games) and Rudy Seanez (2.49 ERA in 19 games) available to go in the ninth facing the top of the Florida order, Manuel opted for Tom Gordon.  The result; 2 walks, a line single and 2nd baseman Dan Uggla’s walk-off slam and a Phillies 6-2 loss in game 2. 

The loss, combined with Atlanta’s loss and the Mets’ win, leaves the NL East first place Phillies a scant 2 games up on the Marlins and 6 1/2 games up on the both the Braves and Mets.

For 8 innings, this game was about pitching with ace lefthander Cole Hamels providing another Hamels-worthy performance; 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 walk and 13 strikeouts.  But Hamels had thrown 115 pitches through eight, with his lone walk being to leftfielder Luis Gonzalez to lead off the inning.  In between 1st baseman Jorge Cantu’s 2 out first inning solo shot through his 1 out seventh inning repeat shot; from the last out of the first inning through the first out in the seventh, Hamels had faced and put down 17 straight Marlins hitters.

Meanwhile, lefthander Andrew Miller, with his 5.22 ERA, threw nearly as well as Hamels, going  seven innings, throwing 98 pitches and giving up only 1 run on 4 hits while walking 1, striking out 7 and retiring 14 Phillies in a row at one point.

The Phillies offense basically called in sick for this one.  The only offense was centerfielder Shane Victorino’s seventh inning 1 out double to centerfield followed by 2nd baseman Chase Utley’s RBI single.  1st baseman Ryan Howard then grounded out and leftfielder Pat Burrell struck out to end the mini-threat.

The Phils offense looked to be finally coming to life in the ninth inning against winning pitcher Kevin Gregg as Greg Dobbs, pinch hitting for Hamels, opened with an infield single with Eric Bruntlett running for him.   Shortstop Jimmy Rollins walked after which Bruntlett stole 3rd.  The Phillies looked ready to tie and take the lead after which the Marlins ninth would be Brad Lidge time.

AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds describes the Phillies ninth for Yahoo sports;

Gregg entered in the ninth with a 2-1 lead and quickly got into a first-and-third, no-out situation after a single, a walk and a stolen base.

Gregg struck Shane Victorino out on an 82 mph breaking ball, then got Utley to hit a grounder to second that could have ended the game—but shortstop Hanley Ramirez double-clutched the ball before throwing to first, allowing Utley to beat the play and bringing pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett home with the tying run.

The Phils would up leaving the bases loaded…

Ryan Howard was intentionally walked and Burrell was hit by a pitch.  But rightfielder Jayson Werth went out on a swinging bunt to the pitcher to end the inning.

AP’s Reynolds describes the Marlins’ ninth;

Gordon relieved Hamels to start the ninth and gave up a single to Cantu and a pair of walks. Gordon (5-3) fell behind Uggla as well, and the Marlins’ stocky slugger crushed a 3-1 offering high over the left-field scoreboard for his team-leading 19th home run.

“I just left it over the plate,” Gordon said. “And he got it.”

Uggla shed his helmet rounding third, then leaped into the mob that awaited him at the plate.

“We were just looking for a sacrifice fly there,” Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said with a wry smile. “The ball just carried a little bit. Hate when that happens.”

It was the first game-ending home run in Uggla’s career, and the second such slam in Marlins history: Bobby Bonilla did it  Sept. 16, 1997, against the Colorado Rockies.

The loss was Gordon’s 3rd, he has 5 wins.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Wednesday’s games, click here.

The Phillies hope to salvage Thursday’s final in another battle of lefties as veteran 45 year old Jamie Moyer faces youngster Scott Olsen.  The Phils badly need this one to reestablish momentum going into an important 3 game series with the NL Central 2nd place St. Louis Cardinals who have 40 wins.

Kyle Kendrick faces former teammate Kyle Lohse in Friday’s opener.   On Saturday, Adam Eaton is opposed by 30 year old Todd Wellemeyer.

After St. Louis, the schedule gets no easier as the Phils come home to entertain the Boston Red Sox and L. A. Angels in inter-league competition.

For the scores, boxscores and recaps on Thursday’s games, click here.

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Five days ago, on May 29th, this blog did some checking as to the homerun record for a 2nd basemen as it’s been widely reported that Chase Utley is on  a pace to hit 50 or more homeruns this season.

We found that there seemed to be some sort or discrepancy between the Baseball Almanac individual page of former Braves 2nd baseman Davey Johnson showing that Johnson hit 43 homers in 1973 and the Almanac’s recordbook page which showed Johnson tied for the all-time 2nd baseman homer record of 42 with Rogers Hornsby who accomplished the feat in 1922 with the St. Louis Cardinals where he spent the first 13 years of his 23 year career.

Apparently, this blog was not alone in spotting this discrepancy.

The Yahoo Big League Stew blog notes that “the issue that has lately been creating some confusion.”

MLB.com’s individual stats for Johnson also show him with 43 homers in 1973.

But Big League Stew provides a possible explanation for the discrepancy;

…As many have pointed out — and at least one newspaper corrected — Johnson actually hit 43 round trippers in ‘73, which would make him the sole single-season HR champ for 2B.

Why the mixup? Well, if you look at Johnson’s home run log for ‘73, you’ll see that he did hit 43 homers for the Braves that season. However, visiting the box score for the June 17 game against the Cubs shows that Johnson entered the game in the seventh inning as a pinch hitter for Sonny Jackson and responded with a three-run shot that gave Atlanta the lead.

But even though Johnson stayed in the game as a second baseman, the HR apparently counts at a pinch-hit, which is reflected in both the AP and the records at Baseball Almanac.

Take note that Big League Stew doesn’t tell you that Johnson’s pinch hit homer was in game two of a doubleheader on the 17th where Johnson played in game one and sat in game 2.

To further complicate things, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel has been known to shift Utley to first base on an occasion, such as for late game defense purposes or in event of injury to first baseman Ryan Howard.  Therefore, it is remotely possible that Utley could homer as a 1st baseman.

It will be an interesting sidebar to watch this season to see whether or not Utley homers to projections and whether all of his homers would be all considered as hit by a 2nd baseman.  If he does, the 42 or 43 homer record controversy will be rendered academic.  But if or until then, there will be pros and cons as to whether or not Johnson owns the all-time record exclusively or whether he is co-recordholder with Hornsby.

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In recent days, baseball fans have witnessed three horrific injury situations.  Two of these events occurred on line drives striking pitchers and the third occurred when plate umpire Jerry Crawford was in the path of a swing follow-through by Houston’s Carlos Lee on a foul ball in last Monday’s game with the  Phillies.  The YouTube video of the pitch, swing and injury can be viewed here.

The possibility of injury occurring to a homeplate umpire increases as he positions himself to get as close-up a view of pitches as possible in order to make a ball/strike call.  Perhaps MLB should consider a reinforced football helmet protecting the top, back and sides of the head as a possible way of alleviating much of the serious injury danger in such situations, leaving the umpire with a ringing headache or perhaps a mild concussion, but no injury or loss of blood. 

However, the two recent situations of pitchers being hit by batted-ball line drives, starter Chris Young’s broken nose on Albert Pujols’ line drive and closer Jose Valverde’s drilling by a Pedro Feliz liner in the ninth inning of last Saturday’s game with the Phils point up the fact that pitcher’s position is undoubtedly the most vulnerable on the baseball diamond. 

The pitcher is a sitting duck with nowhere to hide.  He’s just completed his follow-through on a 90s plus fastball when a screaming liner comes back in his direction.  There’s very little that a pitcher can do to keep himself out of harm’s way when a rocket screams off of a bat headed directly for his face at dizzying speed.

A pitcher such as former Phillies great Jim Bunning, who won 17 or more games in 6 of 7 seasons at one point in his career,  would nearly fall off of the mound to the side on every follow-through thus taking himself out of the direct line of fire.   Baseball Library describes Bunning’s delivery;

The 6′3″ righthander’s unusual pitching style, a sweeping sidearm delivery that finished with his glove hand touching the ground well in front of the mound…

Of course, Bunning’s style, while bringing him to two no-hitters, including a perfect game on Father’s Day 1964, rendered him not exactly a candidate for a pitching gold glove award.

But one cannot write about baseball’s most dangerous and most vulnerable position without touching on the career of sensational Cleveland Indians’ lefthander Herb Score who went 16-10 in his rookie season in 1955 and 20-9 in 1956, including a hitless appearance in the eighth inning of the 1956 All Star Game, racking up 508 strikeouts in his two seasons before before having his career wrecked by a line drive which hit him in the eye.

Baseball Library writes this of Score;

Score’s debut in 1955 was propitiously timed. He was the first and best of a young crop of Cleveland pitchers that included  Gary Bell, Mudcat Grant, and Jim Perry, and he was expected to lead the new staff in replacing the old.

Score astonished. He won 16 games, fanned a league-leading, rookie-record 245 batters, and was named AL Rookie of the Year. His 1956 seaon was more than an encore. He upped his strikeouts to 263 while taming some of the wildness he had shown in his rookie season. He posted 20 wins, pitched a league-leading five shutouts, and held opposition batters to a minuscule .186 average. Teammate Hal Newhouser, who was at the end of a career that saw him lead the AL in victories four times and in ERA and strikeouts twice, said he would trade his past for Score’s future in a minute.

On May 7, 1957 at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium, [Yankees shortstop] Gil  McDougald hit a line drive that struck Score in the eye and ended his season. Questions were raised in the aftermath of the bloody scene as to whether Score would ever see properly again. He made a partial comeback in 1958, and pitched a full season in 1959. Perhaps it was the layoff or fear or loss of vision; whatever the reason, he was no longer unhittable, despite retaining a fine ratio of strikeouts to innings pitched.

Just as the circumstances of Score’s injury haunted him undoubtedly
causing reflexual fear rendering him loss of effectiveness thus shortening his career, one myst wonder how Chris Young will react upon his return after the broken nose heals.   As for Valverde, miraculously he suffered little ill effect and went on to earn his 15th save against the Phillies and then to pitch a hitless inning of relief 5 days later against the St. Louis Cardinals.

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