May 6
1915 — As a pitcher for Boston, Babe Ruth had three hits, including his first major league home run when he connected off Jack Warhop of the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds.
1917 — Bob Groom of the Browns duplicated teammate Ernie Koob’s feat of the previous day by pitching a 3-0 no-hit victory against the Chicago White Sox in the second game of a doubleheader in St. Louis.
1934 — Carl Reynolds, Moose Solters, Rick Ferrell and Bucky Walters hit four consecutive triples in a 12-run fourth inning for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, en route to a 14-4 win over the Detroit Tigers.
1941 — In his last game before entering the U.S. military, Detroit’s Hank Greenberg hit two home runs with three RBIs to help the Tigers to a 7-4 victory over the New York Yankees.
1951 — Cliff Chambers of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched a 3-0 no-hitter in the second game of a doubleheader against the Braves in Boston.
1953 — Bobo Holloman of the St. Louis Browns pitched a 6-0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Athletics in his first major league start. He never pitched another complete game in the majors.
1955 — Roberto Clemente crashes Willie Mays’s birthday party in his second visit to the Polo Grounds, by banging a 430-foot triple over the birthday boy’s head in the midst of a decisive rally in a 3-2 Pirate win over the Giants.
1968 — San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Lindy McDaniel sets a National League record playing his 225th consecutive game without committing an error. The streak includes 108 chances handled successfully since June 16, 1964.
1974 — Oakland Athletics pitcher Paul Lindblad’s major league streak of 385 consecutive games without committing an error comes to an end when he makes an errant throw in a 6 – 3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
1982 — Gaylord Perry of the Seattle Mariners became the 15th major league pitcher with 300 victories when he defeated the New York Yankees 7-3 at the Kingdome.
1984 — Cal Ripken of the Baltimore Orioles hit for the cycle in a 6-1 win over the Texas Rangers. Ripken completed the cycle with a solo homer in the ninth.
1994 — Anthony Young won as a starter for the first time in more than two years as the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-1. The win ended Young’s 29-game losing streak as a starter. Young’s previous win as a starter came on April 9, 1992 with the New York Mets.
1998 — Rookie Kerry Wood tied the major league record with 20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game, pitching a one-hitter to lead the Chicago Cubs over the Houston Astros 2-0.
2005 — San Diego’s Trevor Hoffman became the third pitcher in major league history to reach 400 saves in the Padres’ 6-5 victory over St. Louis. Hoffman joined Lee Smith (478) and John Franco (424) in the 400-save club.
2007 — Hideki Matsui doubles to left in an at-bat against Jarrod Washburn. It is his 2,000th hit between Major League Baseball and Nippon Pro Baseball.
2012 — The Baltimore Orioles completed a three-game sweep at Boston with a 9-6 win in 17 innings. In the first major league game since 1925 in which both teams put a position player on the mound, Baltimore designated hitter Chris Davis overcame an awful 0-for-8 day at the plate by pitching two scoreless innings and getting the win over Darnell McDonald, an outfielder Boston called upon once the Red Sox bullpen was also depleted. Adam Jones hit a three-run homer in the top of the 17th off McDonald.
2012 — Albert Pujols finally hits his first American League homer, breaking the longest homerless drought of his career, when he connects off the Blue Jays’ Drew Hutchison with a runner on in the 5th inning of the Angels’ 4-3 win.
2015 — OF Bryce Harper has the first three-homer game of his career in leading the Nationals to a 7 – 5 win over the Marlins.
2021 — The Angels designate for assignment veteran slugger Albert Pujols, for the purpose of giving him his unconditional release. Pujols is in the last season of a ten-year, $253 million contract, but his production has declined significantly in recent years and he has become a bench player of late. The 41-year-old Pujols is the active leader in games played, hits, home runs and RBIs. He states that he hopes to find another team that will give him a shot at a starting job. The Dodgers will take him on board in a few days.
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