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by Merle Heryford -- Southpaw Paul Doyle, making his first start of the season after 26 relief appearances, pitched a no-hit, no-run game at Turnpike Stadium Saturday night as Dallas-Fort Worth blanked El Paso, 4 - 0, to even their series at two games each. It was the first no-hitter for Doyle in 10 professional seasons, and the first one notched in this area (Dallas, Fort Worth, and/or Arlington) in 21 seasons. It was, however, the fifth no-hitter (three nine innings and two seven innings) recoreded in the Texas League this season and the third by a Spur pitcher. The Spurs were no-hit in the fourth, and a former Spur, Dean Burke, accounted for the other. Doyle threw 111 pitches--64 fastballs and 47 curves, and he registered his eight strikeouts with both. In his biggest test, however, it was his fastball which bailed him out. He faced only 28 men, one over the minimum, walking two but picking one of them off base. In the eighth, when he walked Jim DeNeff with one away, his control deserted him momentarily. The first three pitches to the next batter, Marty Perez, were balls and Manager Hub Kittle rushed to the mound to offer words of encouragement. Doyle nodded and responded by whipping across three fastball strikes to leave Perez standing, and Kittle, on the dugout steps, tossed his cap into the air, bowed and waved both arms in salute. Doyle had to weather two more tests, however, and it was Kittle's earlier decision to beef up his middle infield defense which played a big role. In the eighth, Kittle moved Gene Etter to right field and sent Jim Monin, one of the more dependable glove men on the team, to third. Just after Perez fanned, Bill Bethea slammed a hot one directly at Monin, who came up with the ball and easily forced DeNeff for the final out of the inning. Still one big play left! In the ninth, as everyone in the park scented the no-hitter, Doyle got John Olerud [that's John E Olerud, father of the two-time AL All-Star] on a tap to the mound. Two to go. Dennis Paepke batted for pitcher Vern Geishert and slapped a hard hopper toward the hole in short. A hush gripped the crowd and then a mighty roar [!] rose as Monin raced into the gap, gloved the ball, and fired to first in plenty of time. Gordon Avery's game-ending pop to Rafe Batista at first was anti-climax, but Doyle didn't think so. "My heart was in my mouth on that last play," he admitted. Why that one, someone asked, why not the one before? Paepke's grounder looked like a sure hit. "I knew he'd get it," said Doyle with a grin at Monin. "He's been making big plays behind me all year. I guess it was just the fact that it was the last out that got me." Monin, who has been used sparingly in the current homestand, shrugged off the play. "Lucky I guess," he said. "Golly,[!!] I'm just glad to be a part of it." While the firsts were being passed out, Turnpike Stadium and catcher Glen Clark got in on the act too. It was, of course, the first game of its type in the four-year history of the Arlington park, and said Clark, "It's the first no-hitter I've ever caught. I've been in four of them this year, but Larry Howard caught Bob Watkins and Fred Walters caught Penalver and that night Dick Armstrong whipped us at Albuquerque [May 2, 1968, a 10-0 Spur loss] I'd just as soon forget. Doyle's stuff was great and his control was almost letter perfect," said Clark. "He had 'em striking out or popping up or hitting on the ground --mostly on the ground--all night." In one stretch, Doyle retired four straight on grounders to second--just before he fanned four straight. And he set some sort of record by never permitting a ball to be hit out of the infield. |
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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| El Paso SunKings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | x | 4 | 8 | 0 |