Sterling Hitchcock, a New York Yankee and Seattle Mariner before joining the Padres for the 1997 season, was impressive in his first start for San Diego.
On April 5, 1997, 17 years ago today, Hitchcock held the Philadelphia Phillies hitless for four innings before yielding a Rico Brogna 5th-inning line-drive double to right, marking the Padres’ 4,416th game without a no-hitter.
Hitchcock maintained the “1” in the “H” column, but Padres’ skipper Bruce Bochy brought Trevor Hoffman in for the ninth, and the closer completed the franchise’s 18th one-hitter.
Doubles by Brogna have been a particular pain for Padres pitchers. On July 3, 1994, while wearing a New York Mets uniform, Brogna ruined Andy Benes’ no-no in progress by leading off the eighth inning with a double.
