BOUTON LOSES NO-HITTER IN 9TH, PRESERVES WIN FOR YANKS
Nats Shutout for 3rd Straight Game
NEW YORK, May 2 (AP) - Jim Bouton took a no-hitter two outs into the ninth
inning, but settled for a two-hit complete game shutout as the New York Yankees
beat the Washington Senators, 3-0. Bouton retired the first two batters in
the top of the ninth before yielding a line drive double off the base of the low
wall in the left field corner on a 2-2 pitch to Washington third baseman Don
Zimmer. He then yielded a soft single to Don Blasingame before retiring
Chuck Hinton on a fly to center to end the game. Bouton's effort was the
deepest anyone had managed to get into a game with without allowing a hit in the
major leagues thus far this season. The next longest was 6 1/3 innings.
The Yankees had taken much of the pressure off by getting to Senators starter
Claude Osteen in the bottom of the first. Tony Kubek was hit with a pitch
to lead off the frame and Bobby Richardson followed with a single through the
box, putting runners at first and second. Hector Lopez popped to short for
the first out, but Elston Howard drew a free pass to fill the bases. Tom
Tresh then doubled down the left field line to score Kubek and Richardson, with
Howard stopping at third. Joe Pepitone then lifted a sacrifice fly to
right, scoring Howard with the third and final run of the inning.
Though his effort was mostly overlooked given Bouton's brush with immortality,
Osteen was almost untouchable after the first inning. He allowed only two
more isolated hits the rest of the way and retired 13 of the final 14 batters he
faced.
But Bouton was the story. After issuing a harmless walk to Ken Hunt with
two outs in the second, he retired the next 21 batters he faced. He was
remarkably pitch efficient in a game that seemed to fly along; game time was
recorded at just one hour and 36 minutes and the two starters combined to throw
only 182 pitches in the contest.
In the top of the ninth, with the Yankee Stadium crowd of 21,424 on its feet,
Bouton retired pinch hitter Fred Valentine on a phenomenal play by Clete Boyer,
who went into foul ground to rob Valentine of extra bases and threw the batter
out at first base. Pinch hitter Moose Skowron flied to Lopez in deep left
field for the second out, bringing up Zimmer who spoiled the party with just one
strike to go.
The Senators were shut out for the third straight game and haven't scored a run
since the eighth inning of their 7-4 April 28 win against the Angels--a span of
four days, 28 innings and counting. It's the longest such streak in the
major leagues thus far this season.
5/2/1964, Was64-NYA64, Yankee Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1964 Senators 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3 1 1964 Yankees 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 x 3 4 0 3 0 Senators AB R H BI AVG Yankees AB R H BI AVG Zimmer 3b 4 0 1 0 .340 Kubek ss 3 1 0 0 .429 Blasingame,D 2b 4 0 1 0 .250 Richardson,B 2b 4 1 1 0 .190 Hinton lf 4 0 0 0 .189 Lopez lf 4 0 1 0 .133 King rf 3 0 0 0 .167 Howard,E c 2 1 0 0 .364 Phillips,D 1b 3 0 0 0 .083 Tresh cf 3 0 1 2 .270 Hunt,K cf 2 0 0 0 .125 Pepitone 1b 2 0 0 1 .300 Brumley c 3 0 0 0 .091 Gonzalez,P rf 3 0 1 0 .417 Brinkman ss 2 0 0 0 .255 Boyer,C 3b 3 0 0 0 .056 Valentine ph 1 0 0 0 .200 Bouton p 3 0 0 0 .111 Osteen p 2 0 0 0 .167 27 3 4 3 Skowron ph 1 0 0 0 .203 29 0 2 0 Senators INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Osteen L 2-2 8.0 4 3 3 1 4 92 57 2.25 8.0 4 3 3 1 4 92 57 Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Bouton W 1-1 9.0 2 0 0 1 2 90 59 2.08 9.0 2 0 0 1 2 90 59 Was: Valentine batted for Brinkman in the 9th Skowron batted for Osteen in the 9th E-Zimmer. 2B-Zimmer(7), Lopez(1), Tresh(3). RBI-Tresh 2(6), Pepitone(6). K-Zimmer, Hunt,K, Kubek 2, Gonzalez,P, Bouton. BB-Hunt,K, Howard,E. SF-Pepitone. HBP-Kubek. HB-Osteen. GWRBI: Tresh Temperature: 47, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 8 MPH. Attendance: 21,424 Game Time: 1:36