Ryan Relieved to Get No. 300 : Milestone: He throws 146 pitches and nearly sees 5-1 lead wasted before Rangers secure his biggest victory, 11-3.
MILWAUKEE — Nolan Ryan, that Old Man River of pitchers, kept rolling along for the better part of eight innings at Milwaukee County Stadium Tuesday night.
Overcoming his own slow start and some minor league fielding by his teammates in the late innings, Ryan and the Texas Rangers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 11-3, as the 43-year-old right-hander became the 20th pitcher to win 300 games.
Characteristic of his 24-year career, Ryan gave more than he got. With a 5-1 lead in the eighth, he pitched well enough to get six outs, but Julio Franco botched two double play balls around second base, forcing the indefatigable Texan from the game.
After the Brewers scored twice, cutting their deficit to 5-3, Brad Arnsberg came out of the bullpen to get the last four outs and give Ryan the victory that eluded him last week at home against the Yankees.
Seldom has a home crowd rooted so hard for a rival. When Ryan gave the ball to Arnsberg and walked off the mound, the more than 55,000 who crammed into this creaky old hunk of concrete gave him a standing, roaring ovation. There were so many flash bulbs flashing from the crowd that it looked like the Fourth Of July.
Ryan went into the game with a record of 10-4 and career totals of 299-267. He pitched 7 2/3 innings, giving up three runs--one earned. He struck out eight and walked two.
“I’m relieved that it’s over,†Ryan said. “The last 15 days have been emotionally tough as any I’ve ever gone through. I didn’t want this (the quest for No. 300) to be an ongoing deal. For me, 300 means relief.â€
Franco was relieved, too, in the ninth, when he hit the third grand slam of his career.
After Franco’s first error, on a grounder hit near the bag by Robin Yount, the Brewers had runners at first and second and nobody out. Ryan got Gary Sheffield, a .380 hitter in July, to pop up. Dave Parker’s grounder to Franco’s left went off his glove, into right field, scoring a run. Greg Vaughn fouled out, but after Jim Gantner singled to left, scoring another run and leaving runners at first and second, Manager Bobby Valentine called for Arnsberg, who needed only two pitches to retire Mike Felder.
Ryan threw 146 pitches. “This game was tough on me physically,†he said. “I knew that the eighth inning was going to be my last no matter what happened.â€
Ryan has pitched six no-hitters, but for four innings Tuesday night the no-hit pitcher was Chris Bosio, the Milwaukee starter.
Bosio lost the no-hitter and a 1-0 lead in the fifth. Singles by Ruben Sierra and Harold Raines and a walk to Pete Incaviglia loaded the bases with none out. Geno Petralli hit a sacrifice fly, Steve Buechele singled to score a run and Jeff Huson’s shot past a diving Felder in right field went for a two-run triple, giving the Rangers a 4-1 lead.
Ryan was trying to keep from throwing too many pitches, but the first four innings didn’t work out that way. The only damage, however, came in the third, when Paul Molitor’s single and Yount’s triple gave the Brewers a 1-0 lead.
“The middle innings were the key to the game,†Ryan said. “At the start, I didn’t have command of my fastball, and Milwaukee is a fastball-hitting team. They were fouling off a lot of my pitches. In the middle innings, I had a better fastball and that let me get ahead on the counts.â€
After Buechele made a throwing error to give Charlie O’Brien a life at first base to start the Milwaukee fifth, Ryan retired seven consecutive hitters before walking Felder in the seventh.
The Texas ninth came at the expense of relief pitchers Paul Mirabella, Mark Knudson and Tony Fossas.
Incaviglia started the inning with his 17th homer. A walk, a bunt single and an error loaded the bases, with Huson’s single driving in one run. Then Franco hit Fossas’ first pitch into the left field seats. As Franco circled the bases, it was a toss-up whether the second baseman or Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr., sitting in the dugout, was the most relieved.
“I didn’t relax until we got the grand slam,†Ryan said.
300-GAME WINNERS
1 Cy Young 511 2 Walter Johnson 416 3t Christy Mathewson 373 3t Grover Alexander 373 5 Warren Spahn 363 6 Pud Galvin 361 7 Kid Nichols 360 8 Tim Keefe 344 9 Steve Carlton 329 10 Eddie Plank 327 11 John Clarkson 326 12 Don Sutton 321 13 Phil Niekro 318 14 Gaylord Perry 314 15t Mickey Welch 311 15t Tom Seaver 311 17 Old Hoss Radbourn 308 18t Lefty Grove 300 18t Early Wynn 300 18t Nolan Ryan 300
NOLAN RYAN’S STATISTICS
YEAR BY YEAR
REGULAR SEASON
Year Team W-L SO ERA 1966 Mets 0-1 6 15.00 1968 Mets 6-9 133 3.09 1969 Mets 6-3 92 3.54 1970 Mets 7-11 125 3.41 1971 Mets 10-14 137 3.97 1972 Angels 19-16 329 2.28 1973 Angels 21-16 383 2.87 1974 Angels 22-16 367 2.89 1975 Angels 14-12 186 3.45 1976 Angels 17-18 327 3.36 1977 Angels 19-16 341 2.77 1978 Angels 10-13 260 3.71 1979 Angels 16-14 223 3.59 1980 Astros 11-10 200 3.35 1981 Astros 11-5 140 1.69 1982 Astros 16-12 245 3.16 1983 Astros 14-9 183 2.98 1984 Astros 12-11 197 3.05 1985 Astros 10-12 209 3.80 1986 Astros 12-8 194 3.34 1987 Astros 8-16 270 2.76 1988 Astros 12-11 228 3.52 1989 Rangers 16-10 301 3.20 1990 Rangers 11-4 143 3.83 Tot. 24 Years 300-267 5219 3.16 NL 14 Years 135-132 2359 3.23 AL 10 Years 165-135 2860 3.09
YEAR BY YEAR
DIVISION PLAYOFF
Year Opp. W-L SO ERA 1981 Dodgers 1-1 14 1.80
YEAR BY YEAR
LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Year Opp. W-L SO ERA 1969 Braves 1-0 7 2.57 1979 Orioles 0-0 8 1.29 1980 Phillies 1-0 14 5.40 1986 Mets 0-1 3 3.86 Tot. 2-1 32 3.73
YEAR BY YEAR
WORLD SERIES
Year Opp. W-L SO ERA 1969 Orioles 0-0 3 0.00
YEAR BY YEAR
ALL-STAR GAME
Year Site W-L SO ERA 1973 K.C. 0-0 2 9.00 1979 Seattle 0-0 2 13.50 1981 Cleveland 0-0 1 0.00 1985 Minnesota 0-0 2 0.00 1989 Anaheim 1-0 2 0.00 Tot. 1-0 9 4.50
NO-HITTERS
Date Team and Opp. Score May 15, 1973 Angels at Kansas City 3-0 July 15, 1973 Angels at Detroit 6-0 Sept.28,1974 Angels vs. Minnesota 4-0 June 1, 1975 Angels vs. Baltimore 1-0 Sept.26,1981 Houston vs. Dodgers 5-0 June11,1990 Texas at Oakland 5-0
MILESTONE VICTORIES 1. April 14, 1968--Mets 4, Astros 0
Ryan pitches 6 2/3 innings, allows three hits, no runs, two walks and strikes out eight. 50. April 11, 1973--Angels 4, Twins 1
Ryan pitches a complete game, allows five hits, one run, walks five and strikes out 11. 100. June 1, 1975--Angels 1, Orioles 0
Ryan pitches a no-hitter (his fourth), walks four and strikes out nine. 150. Sept. 24, 1978--Angels 7, White Sox 3
Ryan pitches seven innings, allows five hits, three runs, walks five walks and strikes out six. 200. July 27, 1982--Astros 3, Reds 2
Ryan pitches a complete game, allows five hits, walks two and strikes out 13. 250. Aug. 27, 1988--Astros 7, White Sox 1
Ryan pitches six innings, allows one hit, no runs, walks two and strikes out five. 300. July 31, 1990--Rangers 11, Brewers 3
Ryan pitches 7 2/3 innings, allows six hits, one earned run, walks two and strikes outeight. MILESTONE STRIKEOUTS
1 Sept11,1966 Pat Jarvis (Cardinals) 500 April18,1972 Charlie Manuel (Twins) 1,000 July 3, 1973 Sal Bando (A’s) 1,500 Aug.25,1974 SandyAlomar(Yankees) 2,000 Aug.31,1976 Ron LeFlore (Tigers) 2,500 Aug.12,1978 Buddy Bell (Indians) 3,000 July 4, 1980 Cesar Geronimo (Reds) 3,500 April17,1983 Andre Dawson (Expos) 4,000 July 11, 1985 Danny Heep (Mets) 4,500 Sept.9,1987 Mike Aldrete (Giants) 5,000 Aug.22,1989 Rickey Henderson (A’s)
VICTORIES BY MONTH April...........48 May.............56 June............50 July............43 August..........46 September.......52 October..........5 VICTORIES BY DAY Sunday........47 Monday........28 Tuesday.......49 Wednesday.....52 Thursday......31 Friday........45 Saturday......48 MISCELLANEOUS * Has beaten three 300-game winners: Steve Carlton, Gaylord Perry and Phil Niekro. * Most frequent opposing loser is Paul Splittorff (seven times). VICTORIES BY BALLPARKS AMERICAN LEAGUE Anaheim Stadium: 84 Arlington Stadium: 19 Royals Stadium: 10 Metropolitan Stadium: 8 Tiger Stadium: 7 Comiskey Park: 6 Kingdome: 6 Oakland Coliseum: 5 Cleveland Stadium: 4 County Stadium: 4 Memorial Stadium: 3 Exhibition Stadium: 3 Fenway Park: 2 Yankee Stadium: 2 Metrodome: 1 Shea Stadium (Yankees in 1974-75): 1 NATIONAL LEAGUE Astrodome: 58 Shea Stadium: 19 Fulton County Stadium: 9 Jack Murphy Stadium: 8 Wrigley Field: 7 Candlestick Park: 7 Riverfront Stadium: 5 Dodger Stadium: 5 Busch Stadium: 5 Olympic Stadium: 4 Three Rivers Stadium: 3 Jarry Park: 2 Crosley Field: 1 Connie Mack Stadium: 1 Veterans Stadium: 1 VICTORIES BY OPPONENT Kansas City Royals: 23 Chicago White Sox: 20 Minnesota Twins: 19 Chicago Cubs: 16 San Diego Padres: 15 Detroit Tigers: 15 Atlanta Braves: 13 Cincinnati Reds: 13 San Francisco Giants: 13 Los Angeles Dodgers: 12 Montreal Expos: 12 Pittsburgh Pirates: 12 Milwaukee Brewers: 12 New York Yankees: 12 Cleveland Indians: 11 Oakland Athletics: 11 Texas Rangers: 11 St. Louis Cardinals: 10 Philadelphia Phillies: 9 Seattle Mariners: 9 Boston Red Sox: 8 New York Mets: 7 Toronto Blue Jays: 6 Baltimore Orioles: 5 California Angels: 3 Houston Astros: 3
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