Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 30, 1990 TAG: 9006300358
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A few hours after Stewart no-hit the Toronto Blue Jays 5-0 at the SkyDome, Valenzuela duplicated the feat against the Cardinals. It was the most no-hitters ever in one month and the most ever in one league in one month. It was also the first time in baseball history that no-hitters had been thrown in both leagues on the same day.
Ironically, Valenzuela and Stewart were teammates for three years with the Dodgers in the early 1980s.
Two National no-hitters were thrown on Oct. 15, 1892, by Charles Jones of the Cincinnati Reds against Pittsburgh and John Stivetts of the Boston Braves in five innings against Washington.
On May 2, 1917, James Vaughn of the Chicago Cubs and Fred Toney of the Reds pitched an unprecedented double no-hitter through nine innings. Vaughn gave up his first hit with out in the 10th, eventually losing after giving up two hits in the inning.
Vince Coleman struck out to lead off the ninth and Willie McGee followed with a walk. But former Dodger Pedro Guerrero then grounded into a double play, with Juan Samuel fielding the ball at second and throwing to first.
Amazingly, about 100 or so among the crowd of 38,583 in Dodger Stadium left the park in the late innings despite the no-hit bid. When it ended, Valenzuela pumped his arms and catcher Mike Scioscia hugged his pitcher as the other Dodgers charged to the mound.
It wasn't a surprise that Stewart, baseball's top winning pitcher over the past three years, authored a no-hitter, but Valenzuela certainly didn't figure to follow suit. Valenzuela (6-6) had lost five of his past six starts, hadn't gone nine innings in his past 10 starts and hadn't beaten the Cardinals in more than two years. Over that time, he'd been on and off the disabled list and many thought his once shining career was over.
But the left-hander was masterful, striking out seven and walking three. One error was charged, in the first inning when left fielder Kirk Gibson dropped Guerrero's short fly ball while trying to make a one-handed catch.
Valenzuela nearly lost the no-hitter against the first batter of the game. Coleman grounded deep to short and was barely beaten by Alfredo Griffin's throw. Griffin made a similar play on Willie McGee in the seventh, but retired him by a wider margin than Coleman.
It was also in the seventh when Valenzuela issued consecutive one-out walks to Guerrero and Todd Zeile.
With two out in the eighth, Craig Wilson lined a shot up the alley in left-center which centerfielder Stan Javier flagged down just in front of the 385-foot sign. Gibson originally was penciled into center field, but was switched with Javier before the lineup cards were exchanged.
Stewart, who had lost six of 10 decisions since going 5-0 in April, put the slump behind him with his no-hitter against Toronto.
"The more you think about the guys coming out of their dugout, the more you realize just what this means," Stewart said. "You look at the Bells, the Fernandezes and the Grubers, and you know you've done a job.
"About the fifth inning, I was aware that I had one. I just kept thinking `one hitter at a time, one strike at a time,' " Stewart said.
"I was getting the fastball over, and when I went to the forkball, it worked for me," said the 33-year-old right-hander. He struck out a season-high 12 batters in ending a personal three-game losing streak and five of his past six decisions.
"I felt real good. I had a crisp fastball tonight and my location was really good. If they were going to beat me, they were going to have to beat my number one - my fastball."
Stewart struggled early, walking the first two batters, then was perfect until a two-out walk in the ninth. Tony Fernandez then flied to center to end the game.
Stewart didn't need much help from his fielders. The only ball that threatened to be a hit was Fernandez's grounder to lead off the fourth inning. First baseman Mark McGwire darted to his right and went to his knees to backhand the ball, flipping to Stewart covering for the out.
Fred McGriff hit the longest ball off Stewart, a drive that center fielder Dave Henderson caught at the 400-foot sign.
"My heart stopped for a minute on that one," Stewart said.
by CNB