Kirby’s second straight no-hit bid and two offensive breakouts top today’s great games
Fourteen months after Clay Kirby was removed after pitching eight no-hit innings, “The Kid” was bidding for a perfect game on Sept. 18, 1971, when the Giants’ Willie McCovey homered leading off the eighth.
Not only was the one-hitter against the Giants Kirby’s second straight one-hitter, it was the middle game of the greatest three-start run in Padres history. Kirby had pitched 7 1/3 no-hit innings on Sept. 13. And on Sept. 24, he pitched a franchise, single-game-record 15 innings.
Kirby’s Sept. 18, 1971 bid for perfection is one of three games remembered today in my Padres 50 Greatest Games series.
№35 — Padres 17, Cardinals 4 (Aug. 24, 1993) — The Padres scored a franchise-record 13 runs in the bottom of the first inning against St. Louis at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. Shortstop Ricky Gutierez drew a walk to open the game and second baseman Tim Teufel followed with a two-run homer to right off St. Louis starter Allen Watson. Tony Gwynn then drew a walk and moved to third on center fielder Derek Bell’s double to left-center. Gwynn and Bell scored on a double to right by first baseman Phil Clark. After left fielder Phil Plantier flew out, third baseman Archi Cianfrocco drew a walk. Catcher Brad Ausmus doubled, scoring Clark and sending Cianfrocco to third. Padres starter Andy Ashby then grounded into a fielder’s choice with Cianfrocco out at the plate. After Gutierrez walked, Watson was replaced by Todd Burns. Teufel followed with a RBI single. Gwynn hit a two-run single. Bell and Clark followed with RBI singles and Plantier capped the scoring with a three-run homer to right-center field. The Padres would score three runs in the sixth on solo homers by Clark, Cianfrocco and Ausmus (the last two-coming back-to-back).
№34 — Padres 12, Mets 5 (April 1, 1997) — Shortstop Chris Gomez, left fielder Rickey Henderson and second baseman Quilvio Veras open an 11-run, sixth-inning at Qualcomm Stadium with back-to-back-to-back homers on Opening Day of the 1997 season. The Mets were leading 4–0 going into the bottom of the sixth and Mets’ Opening Day starter Pete Harnisch was working on a two-hit shutout. Gomez homered to left-center to open the inning. Henderson homered to left as a pinch-hitter for Padres’ starter Joey Hamilton. Veras then homered down the right field line. Harnisch departed immediately after allowing the three straight homers. The Padres would score eight more runs against three Mets relievers. Gomez, Henderson and Veras would all get a second RBI in the inning without touching the ball. Gomez drew a bases-loaded walk, Henderson was hit by a pitch with the bases still loaded and Veras drew a bases-loaded walk. Tony Gwynn and Steve Finley would each drive in two runs in the inning.
№33 — Padres 2, Giants 1 (Sept. 18, 1971) — Kirby, 23, retired the first 21 Giants he faced when Willy McCovey led off the bottom of the eighth with a homer at Candlestick Park. Kirby would later issue a walk in the eighth but would finish with a complete-game, one-hitter. Kirby had 10 strikeouts. Five days earlier, Kirby pitched a no-hitter for 7 1/3 innings when Houston catcher Johnny Edwards ended the bid with a double at the Astrodome. Kirby ended giving up three runs (two earned) on three hits in 8 2/3 innings in a 3–2 Padres’ walk-off loss. Then, six days later, on Sept. 24, 1971, at San Diego Stadium, Kirby pitched what many consider to be the greatest game in Padres history against the Astros — allowing one run on eight hits and three walks while striking out 15 while pitching 15 innings. In a span of three starts, Kirby had allowed five runs (four earned) on 12 hits and seven walks with 30 strikeouts in 32 2/3 innings.
