We’ve reached Part 3 of our look at baseball’s six “other” back-to-back starts in recognition of Cincinnati Reds pitcher Johnny Vander Meer’s amazing accomplishment 82 years ago.
On Saturday, June 11, 1938, Vander Meer no-hit the Boston Bees at home at Crosley Field. Four days later, he threw another no-hitter against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field to become the only major-league pitcher to throw back-to-back no-nos.
Mike Moore, Frank MacCormack, Gary Gentry, Les Cain, Sandy Koufax and Rex Barney all threw back-to-back no-hit starts, though none of their outings went nine innings. The details of those starts generated using http://www.baseball-reference.com‘s superb Play Index are below, and we’ve been taking a closer look each of the pairings each day. Today’s day post (we’re having a day-night doubleheader) features the Atlanta Braves’ Gary Gentry.
No. 3: Gary Gentry
Gary Gentry,
a New York Mets starter traded to the Atlanta Braves following the 1972 season, took the mound on June 5, 1973 for a start at Parc Jarry against the Montreal Expos despite dealing with a sore shoulder. He retired a couple of Rons — Hunt and Woods — before walking another — Fairley.
Gentry retired Ken Singleton to get out of the inning but never returned to the mound, as Manager Eddie Mathews sent up Chuck Goggin to pinch hit in the second. The Expos wound up winning 7-6 in 11 innings.
Five days later, while still fighting shoulder soreness, Gentry started the opener of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals by walking Lou Brock and Ted Sizemore. The walks led to a run, as Brock advanced to third on a Joe Torre ground out and scored on a Ted Simmons sacrifice, but Gentry minimized the damage to one run. He mixed one walk into an otherwise quiet second inning but was done for the day after just 2 innings.
The Cardinals won that game 4-3, and the Braves’ Roric Harrison flirted with a no-hitter in the nightcap, holding a zero in the H column until Ken Reitz led off the sixth inning with a triple.
Gentry’s back-to-back starts in June 1973 were hardly memorable, but he held opponents hitless in each.
| Name | Game 1 | Game 2 | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | HBP | WP | TM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Moore | 1985-05-30 | 1985-06-04 | 2.1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7.71 | 0 | 0 | SEA |
| Frank MacCormack | 1976-07-26 | 1977-04-24 | 3.1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 8.10 | 2 | 4 | DET-SEA |
| Gary Gentry | 1973-06-05 | 1973-06-10 | 3.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3.00 | 0 | 0 | ATL |
| Les Cain | 1972-05-24 | 1972-05-28 | 5.1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 6.75 | 0 | 0 | DET |
| Sandy Koufax | 1958-07-05 | 1958-07-18 | 2.1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3.86 | 0 | 0 | LAD |
| Rex Barney | 1943-09-25 | 1943-09-28 | 2.1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 7.71 | 0 | 0 | BRO |
