This day in sports: Ervin Santana throws no-hitter for Angels
Santana #Santana
Ervin Santana pitched the first solo no-hitter for the Angels in nearly 27 years on this date in 2011 when he beat the Indians 3-1 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
The Indians scored a first-inning run on an error, a stolen base and a wild pitch. Santana also walked a batter in the eighth inning, but five of the last seven outs were strikeouts. He finished with 10 Ks.
It was the first complete-game no-hitter for an Angels pitcher since Mike Witt’s perfect game in 1984.
After the game, Santana said, “Lots of guys get to five, six innings, but that’s when things get a little complicated. I’ll just have to enjoy this.”
In April 1990, Mark Langston and Witt combined for a no-hitter against Seattle in Langston’s first start for the Angels.
Other memorable moments, games and outstanding sports performances on this date:
1930 — Ken Ash, a journeyman right-hander for the Cincinnati Reds, gets three outs on one pitch in a 6-5 win against the Chicago Cubs at Redland Field. Ash relieved Larry Benton in the fifth inning and induced Charlie Grimm of the Cubs to hit into a triple play. Ash got credit for working a full inning and was removed for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the fifth as the Reds took the lead for good.
1986 — Defending champion Pat Bradley sinks a 12-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole in sudden death to defeat hard-charging veteran Ayako Okamoto of Japan in the Canadian Women’s du Maurier Classic at the Board of Trade Country Club in Toronto. Bradley and Okamoto finished 72 holes of regulation play tied at 12-under-par 276. Bradley had started the final round tied with Betsy King, one stroke behind leader Chris Johnson.
1986 — Bobby Hillin Jr., 22, is the youngest driver to win a NASCAR stock car race when he takes the checkered flag in the Talladega 500 at Alabama International Motor Speedway. Hillin took the lead from Tim Richmond with eight laps to go in the 188-lap race and managed to hold off Richmond, who had won two straight races and three of the last four in the Winston Cup series.
1986 — In a matchup of 300-game winners, Don Sutton pitches six strong innings against Boston’s Tom Seaver to lead the Angels to a 3-0 victory at Anaheim Stadium. Seaver, who had been traded by the Chicago White Sox earlier in the year, also pitched six innings, giving up two runs and eight hits. He retired the following year with 311 wins. Sutton won 324 games in 23 seasons.
1993 — Reggie Lewis, 27, of the Boston Celtics, who collapsed during the team’s playoff opener against Charlotte on April 29 from an irregular heartbeat, dies after an offseason workout at the team’s practice facility at Brandeis University. Lewis was pronounced dead at Waltham Weston Hospital and an autopsy showed that death was attributed to a thickening of the heart.
1996 — Donovan Bailey of Canada sets the world record in the 100-meter dash in gold-medal time of 9.84 seconds at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. After a slow start, Bailey caught Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago and Dennis Mitchell of the U.S. at 50 meters and beat Frankie Fredericks of Namibia by five-hundredths of a second at the tape.
2013 — Hunter Mahan withdraws from the RBC Canadian Open and returns to his home in Dallas after his wife Kandi goes into labor with their first child, a baby girl. Mahan, who had taken a two-stroke lead at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Canada, after firing a second-round 64, had yet to tee off in the third round.
2014 — Martina Hingis leads Washington to its fourth straight World TeamTennis championship, and fifth in six years, when she beats Olga Govortsova 5-2 in singles in the Kastles’ 25-13 victory over the Springfield Lasers. Washington tied the record for consecutive WTT titles set by Sacramento in 2000. Hingis, the former top-ranked women’s player from Switzerland, was selected MVP of the finals.
2015 — Jen Welter, 27, is hired by the Arizona Cardinals as an assistant coach to work with the team’s inside linebackers during training camp and the preseason. The Cardinals said Welter was believed to be the first woman to hold a coaching position in the NFL. She had coached linebackers and special teams in the Indoor Football League with the Texas Revolution.
Sources: The Times, Associated Press