HOOTON 1-HITS BRAVES
Loses No-Hitter in 7th

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 13 (AP) - Burt Hooton carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, settling for a one-hit shutout, to lead the Los Angles Dodgers past the Atlanta Braves 2-0 in the first game of a doubleheader at Dodger Stadium.  It was the fifth one-hit complete game effort by a major league starting pitcher this season and the first by a National Leaguer.  The only hit for the Braves was a double off the bat of Jimmy Wynn with one out in the seventh inning.  It was the second time this year that Hooton carried a no-hitter deep into game only to lose it.  On April 23 Hooton held the Chicago Cubs without a hit into the ninth inning before wilting and losing the game.

The Dodgers eked out a pair of runs off Atlanta starter Frank LaCorte.  The first tally came in the bottom of the first inning.  Bill Buckner led off with a single and advanced to second when LaCorte uncorked a wild pitch.  Ted Sizemore's grounder to the right side moved Buckner to third and Jim Lyttle's ground out to third scored the first run of the contest.

The Dodgers doubled their lead in the top of the third inning.  LaCorte hit Kevin Pasley with on an 0-2 pitch to open the frame and Hooton sacrificed the runner to second.  Buckner struck out but Sizemore lined a single through the box, scoring Pasley to put Los Angeles on top 2-0.

The Dodgers had a chance for some insurance in the seventh when John Hale drew a lead-off walk and moved to second when Ivan DeJesus dropped down a bunt single.  The runners advanced to second and third on Pasley's infield out but Hooton flied to shallow right for the second out and LaCorte fanned Buckner for the second time in the game to end the inning.

The Braves never had much of a scoring threat in the game as only three isolated batters reached base.  Wynn drew a two-out first inning walk from Hooton--the only free pass the Dodgers right-hander issued in the game.  The next 17 batters were retired in order prior to Wynn's no-hitter breaking two-bagger.  With one out in the top of the eighth, Rod Gilbreath reached when DeJesus kicked his ground ball for an error, but he was immediately erased when Vic Correll rolled into a 4-3 double play.  Hooton then retired Atlanta in order in the ninth.

9/13/1976, Atl76-LA 76, game 1, Dodger Stadium
 
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
1976 Braves            0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0     0  1  0     2  1
1976 Dodgers           1  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  x     2  5  1     7  1
 
Braves               AB  R  H BI   AVG    Dodgers              AB  R  H BI   AVG
Royster           3b  4  0  0  0  .277    Buckner           lf  4  1  1  0  .320
Chaney            ss  4  0  0  0  .268    Sizemore          2b  3  0  1  1  .196
Wynn              cf  2  0  1  0  .197    Lyttle            cf  4  0  1  1  .229
Montanez          1b  3  0  0  0  .309    Garvey            1b  4  0  1  0  .315
Henderson,K       rf  3  0  0  0  .265    Cey               3b  4  0  0  0  .261
Paciorek          lf  3  0  0  0  .297    Hale              rf  2  0  0  0  .164
Gilbreath         2b  3  0  0  0  .240    DeJesus           ss  2  0  1  0  .238
Correll           c   3  0  0  0  .210    Pasley            c   1  1  0  0  .400
LaCorte           p   2  0  0  0  .115    Hooton            p   2  0  0  0  .080
 Hanna            p   0  0  0  0  .000                         26  2  5  2
 Asselstine       ph  1  0  0  0  .000
                     28  0  1  0
 
Braves                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
LaCorte          L 5-8           7.0  5  2  2  3  6 118  71  4.94
Hanna                            1.0  0  0  0  0  3  20  14  0.00
                                 8.0  5  2  2  3  9 138  85
 
Dodgers                          INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Hooton           W 10-13         9.0  1  0  0  1  5  87  54  2.36
                                 9.0  1  0  0  1  5  87  54
 
Atl: Asselstine batted for Hanna in the 9th
 
E-DeJesus. 2B-Wynn(21). RBI-Sizemore(16), Lyttle(22). K-Royster 2, Paciorek,
Gilbreath, Correll, Buckner 2, Lyttle, Garvey, Cey 2, Hale 2, Pasley.
BB-Wynn, Sizemore, Hale 2. SH-Pasley, Hooton. HBP-DeJesus, Pasley.
HB-LaCorte 2. WP-LaCorte.
GWRBI: Lyttle
Temperature: 64, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: none.
Attendance: N/A
Game Time: 2:11