Atlanta’s hot start in ‘82 continues
Braves Franchise History
1916: Grover Cleveland Alexander of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches his first of 16 shutouts of the season against the Boston Braves.
1950: At the Polo Grounds, Sam Jethroe becomes the first African-American to play for the Boston Braves. A former Cleveland Buckeyes star, he goes 2 for 4, including a home run, to lead the Braves to an 11-4 beating of the New York Giants. Warren Spahn is the winner. Jethroe will go on to become National League Rookie of the Year after leading the majors in stolen bases.
1971: Less than 24 hours after hitting his first two major league home runs, Atlanta rookie Earl Williams becomes the first player ever to reach the upper deck at Veterans Stadium, depositing a 2-and-1 offering from Philly starter Rick Wise “in the first row of the orange seats (middle section) of the upper deck,” tucked just inside the left-field foul pole. The 4th-inning, bases-empty blast ties the game at 2, combining with a red-hot Orlando Cepeda, who goes 5-for-5 with a double, home run and three RBI, to lead Atlanta to a third straight win and a series sweep over the lowly Phils.
1982: At the Astrodome, the Atlanta Braves defeat the Houston Astros, 6-5, to set a National League record as they win their 11th straight game to start the season. Al Hrabosky is the winner and Rick Camp earns the save. Dave Smith is the loser.
Photo by Rich Pilling/MLB Photos via Getty Images
2005: Tim Hudson outpitches Roger Clemens, and rookie Ryan Langerhans pinch-hits an inside-the-park home run in the 12th inning off Dan Wheeler, to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 1-0 victory over the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.
2006: For the first time since their first month of play, the Houston Astros have a .500 franchise record. With a 13 – 12 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Astros became the 13th team in the majors with a record of .500 or better. The victory puts the franchise at .500 for the first time since the Colt .45s, as the team was known, were 6-6 before a 2-1 loss to the Milwaukee Braves on April 27, 1962. The franchise record is 3,507-3,507. Carlos Lee goes 4 for 5 with a pair of two-run home runs for Milwaukee.
2010: Jason Heyward, 20-year-old rookie outfielder for the Braves, continues to be one of baseball’s biggest stories this young season. Today, he knocked in the winning run with a two-out single in the bottom of the 9th in Atlanta’s 4-3 win over Colorado. His 15 RBI put him in a tie for second place in the National League even though he is hitting seventh in the batting order.
2014: Aaron Harang pitches seven no-hit innings for the Braves against the Mets but has to leave the game after having thrown 121 pitches. David Wright hits a two-out single off Luis Avilan in the 8th for the Mets’ only hit as three pitchers combine on a one-hitter in a 6 – 0 win.
MLB History
1955: Roberto Clemente’s first major league home run arrives three games into his big league career, an inside-the-park home run off Giants southpaw Don Liddle.
1956: Ed Rommel becomes the first major league umpire to wear glasses during a game as he arbitrates a contest between the Yankees and Senators.
1997: Roger Pavlik of the Texas Rangers becomes the first pitcher in American League history to walk the first four batters of the game in a 6-5 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
2006: Luis González of the Arizona Diamondbacks doubles to become the 21st major leaguer with 300 home runs and 500 doubles, as the Diamondbacks defeat San Francisco, 7-4. Gonzalez joins a list led by Hank Aaron, who hit 755 homers and 624 doubles. The only other active player in the group is Barry Bonds, who hits his 567th double in the game.
2012: Bartolo Colon displays a rare mastery of the strike zone in shutting out the Angels, 6-0. At one point, Colon throws 38 consecutive strikes, the longest such streak since all pitches were first recorded in 1988.
Information for this article was found via Baseball Reference, NationalPastime.com and Today in Baseball History.