DOWNING FIRES SEASON'S FIRST NO-HITTER
Howard 4-4 in Yanks Whitewash of Nats
NEW YORK, May 3 (AP) - Just one game after Jim Bouton lost a no-hitter with two
outs in the ninth inning, a Yankees starter was at it again. This time was
no near-miss. Al Downing tossed the major leagues' first no-hitter,
striking out 10 in a 4-0 New York victory over the Washington Senators in the
first game of a doubleheader. The Senators had very few hard hit balls and
there were only a couple of defensive plays of note by Yankees fielders.
The depth of scoreless innings has reached notable performances on both
sides. The Yankees now have an active 32-inning scoreless streak, dating
back to April 26 when the Orioles crossed home plate in the fourth inning of a
3-1 New York victory. The Senators, meanwhile, have gone 37 consecutive
innings without a run. They last dented home plate in the ninth inning of
a 6-2 win over Kansas City on April 28. The Yankees have shut out the
Senators in all three games of the series, with the finale--the nightcap of the
doubleheader--still to come. Over all, Washington has been shut out in
four straight games.
The contest was scoreless until the bottom of the third inning when the Yankees
got a two-run single off the bat of Hector Lopez and doubled that lead in the
sixth on run-scoring singles from Elston Howard--who had four hits in the
game--and Clete Boyer.
But Downing was the story. He lost any chance at a perfect game early on,
hitting ex-Yankee Moose Skowron to lead off the second inning. That
incident produced a bit of a scuffle, as both benches emptied, but Downing and
Skowron laughed it off and no one was ejected. Downing ultimately walked
three batters, the last of which came to Chuck Hinton with two outs in the
sixth. None of the Washington baserunners ever advanced past first.
Downing had the Senators guessing all day, striking out 10 and retiring everyone
he faced after the Hinton walk.
The defensive plays of note came late. Don Zimmer led off the ninth with a
little foul pop to the left side that Clete Boyer grabbed with a dive for the
first out. Hinton was the next batter and he squibbed a ground ball to the
right side that looked like it might dribble into right field but second baseman
Bobby Richardson went far to his left to nab it and throw Hinton out.
Skowron was the final man between Downing and a no-hit, no-run game and he
bounced the first pitch right to Boyer who handled it with ease and threw the
batter out at first base.
Downing was mobbed on the mound by his teammates, who had come oh-so-close to
having this experience on consecutive days.
The Senators have managed just six hits in 85 at bats (.071) on the series so
far and during the entire four-game shutout streak are nine for 114 (.079).
5/3/1964, Was64-NYA64, game 1, 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 0 1 4 1 1964 Yankees 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 x 4 13 0 8 0 Senators AB R H BI AVG Yankees AB R H BI AVG Cottier 2b 4 0 0 0 .056 Kubek ss 4 1 2 0 .455 Zimmer 3b 4 0 0 0 .314 Richardson,B 2b 3 0 1 0 .200 Hinton lf 3 0 0 0 .179 Lopez lf 4 0 2 2 .211 Skowron 1b 2 0 0 0 .197 Blanchard rf 4 0 1 0 .250 Hunt,K cf 3 0 0 0 .105 Gonzalez,P rf 0 0 0 0 .417 Lock rf 2 0 0 0 .250 Tresh cf 3 1 0 0 .250 Leppert c 3 0 0 0 .100 Pepitone 1b 4 1 1 0 .295 Brinkman ss 2 0 0 0 .246 Howard,E c 4 0 4 1 .432 Kennedy ph 1 0 0 0 .226 Boyer,C 3b 4 0 1 1 .075 Stenhouse p 2 0 0 0 .000 Downing p 4 1 1 0 .167 Valentine ph 1 0 0 0 .188 34 4 13 4 Kline p 0 0 0 0 .000 27 0 0 0 Senators INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Stenhouse L 0-2 7.0 12 4 4 0 2 107 69 5.27 Kline 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 15 10 8.22 8.0 13 4 4 1 2 122 79 Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Downing W 2-0 9.0 0 0 0 3 10 127 77 1.08 9.0 0 0 0 3 10 127 77 Was: Kennedy batted for Brinkman in the 8th Valentine batted for Stenhouse in the 8th Kennedy moved to ss in the 8th NYA: Gonzalez,P inserted at rf in the 8th E-Hinton. RBI-Lopez 2(2), Howard,E(6), Boyer,C(2). CS-Richardson,B. K-Cottier, Zimmer 2, Skowron, Hunt,K, Lock 2, Leppert, Stenhouse, Valentine, Lopez, Boyer,C. BB-Hinton, Skowron, Lock, Tresh. SH-Richardson,B. HBP-Skowron. HB-Downing. GWRBI: Lopez Temperature: 47, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 8 MPH. Attendance: N/A Game Time: 2:09