HOOTON LOSES NO-HITTER, GAME IN 9TH ON CARDENAL'S BLAST
Burris Fires 2-Hit CG Shutout
LOS ANGELES, Apr. 23 (AP) - Burt Hooton took a no-hitter into the ninth inning
but lost it, and the game, when Jose Cardenal hit a one-out home run leading the
Chicago Cubs to a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger
Stadium. Cubs starter Ray Burris didn't wilt, allowing only two hits and
pitching out of a jam in the bottom of the eighth to secure the victory.
Both starting pitchers were outstanding. Burris retired the first 10
batters he faced in the game before yielding a harmless one-out single to Ted
Sizemore in the fourth inning. Hooton set down the first 13 Cubs of the
game before issuing back-to-back walks to Andre Thornton and Manny Trillo with
one out in the fifth. Hooton then retired Steve Swisher on a fly to right
and Dave Rosello on a fielder's choice to end the inning.
After Sizemore's single, Burris retired the next 11 batters he faced. Ron
Cey led off the bottom of the eighth inning by tripling to right. With the
game on the line the Cubs brought the infield in and Burris induced Joe Ferguson
to roll to Bill Madlock at third. Cey held while Madlock retired Ferguson
for the first out of the inning. Burris then struck out John Hale for the
second out and intentionally walked Bill Russell as the Cubs knew the Dodgers
wouldn't replace Hooton with a pinch hitter with a no-hitter intact. The
strategy worked perfectly as Hooton rolled weakly into an inning-ending
fielder's choice and the game's best scoring opportunity went by the boards.
Hooton issued a meaningless one-out walk to Rick Monday in the sixth, but easily
retired Cardenal and Madlock to end the inning. After the free pass to
Monday, Hooton set down the next nine batters in order, including Monday to open
the ninth. That brought Cardenal to the plate and he cracked a 2-1
offering into the pavilion in left-center field, ending the no-hitter and the
shutout in one blow, taking the air out of Dodger Stadium in the process.
The home run seemed to cause Hooton to lose focus and he immediately yielded a
double to right to Madlock. Then, on an 0-2 pitch, catcher Ferguson
botched a knuckle-curve for a passed ball, allowing Madlock to take third.
Jerry Morales worked the count full and then hit a swinging bunt to the left of
the mound. Hooton fielded it but had no play. The infield hit
allowed Madlock to score, giving the Cubs a 2-0 lead, and Los Angeles manager
Walter Alston replaced Hooton with Mike Marshall, who ended the inning by
striking out Thornton and Steve Swisher.
Burris returned to the mound in the ninth and continued his brilliant work,
retiring Bill Buckner on a fly to right, getting pinch hitter Ed Goodson on a
grounder to second and ending the game on Dusty Baker's routine fly ball to
right field. Burris is the first National League hurler this season to
throw a complete game and allow fewer than three hits.
4/23/1976, ChN76-LA 76, Dodger Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1976 Cubs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 0 4 0 1976 Dodgers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 Cubs AB R H BI AVG Dodgers AB R H BI AVG Monday cf 3 0 0 0 .298 Buckner lf 4 0 0 0 .370 Cardenal lf 4 1 1 1 .275 Sizemore 2b 3 0 1 0 .143 Madlock 3b 4 1 1 0 .408 Goodson ph 1 0 0 0 .250 Morales,Je rf 4 0 1 1 .360 Baker,D cf 4 0 0 0 .188 Thornton 1b 3 0 0 0 .233 Garvey 1b 3 0 0 0 .244 Trillo 2b 3 0 0 0 .217 Cey 3b 3 0 1 0 .333 Swisher c 3 0 0 0 .325 Ferguson c 3 0 0 0 .222 Hundley c 0 0 0 0 .143 Hale rf 3 0 0 0 .192 Rosello ss 3 0 0 0 .129 Russell ss 2 0 0 0 .350 Burris p 3 0 0 0 .273 Hooton p 3 0 0 0 .000 30 2 3 2 Marshall p 0 0 0 0 .000 29 0 2 0 Cubs INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Burris W 3-1 9.0 2 0 0 1 4 121 81 2.30 9.0 2 0 0 1 4 121 81 Dodgers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Hooton L 1-2 8.1 3 2 1 3 5 119 76 0.74 Marshall 0.2 0 0 0 0 2 10 6 9.45 9.0 3 2 1 3 7 129 82 ChN: Hundley inserted at c in the 9th LA : Goodson batted for Sizemore in the 9th 2B-Madlock(2). 3B-Cey(1). HR-Cardenal(2). RBI-Cardenal(7), Morales,Je(11). K-Madlock, Thornton 3, Trillo 2, Burris, Garvey, Ferguson, Hale, Hooton. BB-Monday, Thornton, Trillo, Russell. PB-Ferguson. GWRBI: Cardenal Temperature: 66, Sky: clear, Wind: none. Attendance: 29,292 Game Time: 2:09