June 28, 2008: Dodgers defeat Angels, 1-0, despite getting no hits

“Zero hits and 50,000 cheers.”1 That’s the best way to describe what took place on June 28, 2008, in a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles manager Joe Torre described the game as “about as bizarre as you can get”2 but added, “It was magical.”3 Broadcaster Vin Scully called it “unbelievable.”4 Whatever the descriptions, this game defied the odds, as the Dodgers beat the Angels, 1-0, without getting a single hit.

After playing 72 games against National League opponents to open the 2008 season, the Dodgers had a nine-game homestand against American League teams. They lost two series (to the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox) before welcoming the Angels for a three-game set. Although they held second place in the NL West, the Dodgers (37-41) were struggling to score runs as they prepared to host Anaheim.

The Angels (48-31) were atop the AL West standings as they faced the Dodgers. This was their fifth consecutive series against NL foes, and after losing the first two series (to the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets), they had won five of their past six games (against the Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals).

Chan Ho Park’s strong start led to a four-hit shutout, as the Dodgers took the first game against the Angels, 6-0. Game Two was set for Saturday, June 28.

A crowd of 55,784 turned out for the crosstown rivalry, and a pair of right-handers faced off on the mound. For the Dodgers, it was 23-year-old Chad Billingsley, in his third major-league season. He had split his time in 2007 as both starter and reliever, but in 2008 he had become an integral part of LA’s starting rotation. Billingsley had pitched at least five innings in 14 consecutive starts coming into this contest, and he was in search of his seventh win of the season. Opposing him was Jered Weaver. The younger brother of former Dodgers hurler Jeff Weaver, Jered was also in his third ML season, always a starter. He had won five of his past seven decisions and was trying for season win number eight.

This proved to be a pitchers’ duel from the start. Billingsley faced the minimum through the first two innings, notching two strikeouts. Weaver walked Andre Ethier in the opening inning but stranded him on the bases, and he retired three straight in the second, also recording two strikeouts.

Anaheim’s Howie Kendrick led off the top of the third with a single to center. Jeff Mathis walked, and the Angels suddenly had a mini-rally. Because this was interleague play in a National League ballpark, Weaver had to bat. He struck out, and Billingsley retired both Maicer Izturis and Erick Aybar to end the inning.

Both teams had a baserunner in the fourth, as each pitcher gave up a base on balls. Billingsley was in a groove, though, and he fanned two more Angels in the fifth, giving him six through five innings.

The pivotal play of the game occurred in the bottom of the fifth inning. After taking a ball, Matt Kemp hit a “spinning squibber”5 toward the right of the pitcher’s mound. Weaver charged off the mound and reached down with his glove but could not pick up the ball. Scully described the path of the baseball: “That looked like a runaway gyroscope.”6 Kemp was safe on the play; Weaver was charged with a fielding error. Two pitches later, Kemp stole second base took third on catcher Mathis’s throwing error, and scored the lone run of the game on Blake DeWitt’s sacrifice fly to deep right field (on the very next pitch). Therefore, over the course of just four pitches, none of which turned into a Dodgers hit, Kemp reached first and came around to score. The Angels had made two errors. Angel Berroa flied out after Kemp scored. Weaver walked Billingsley, his third free pass of the game, before Juan Pierre grounded out to end a most unusual half-inning

Don Hartack, the official scorer, ruled that Kemp had indeed reached on an error. Hartack told reporters, “My thinking was, it really wasn’t a bang-bang play. I looked at the replay once. Weaver had plenty of time to make the out.”7 When asked after the game, Kemp agreed with the ruling, saying, “He could have made the play, but he just dropped the ball. It was an error.”8 On air, Scully said, “He’s gotta make that play, and he doesn’t.”9

The Angels threatened in the sixth. With one out, Aybar lined a single to right but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. Billingsley walked Garret Anderson. Vladimir Guerrero reached on an error by second baseman Jeff Kent. Billingsley recovered and again left the runners on base, striking out Torii Hunter. In the home half, Weaver hit Kent with a pitch, but he retired the side, still having not allowed a hit in the game.

Casey Kotchman led off the top of the seventh for the Angels with a single. Kendrick flied out, and then Angels manager Mike Scioscia inserted pinch-hitters for both Mathis and Weaver, the two players who had made the critical errors in the fifth. Billingsley induced two groundball outs, keeping the Angels off the scoreboard.

The Angels had a two-out single in the eighth, but again, the runner was stranded. José Arredondo relieved Weaver to pitch the seventh and eighth, and he retired all six batters he faced. The Dodgers still did not have a hit.

The Angels threatened to tie the game in the top of the ninth. Leading up to this point, the Angels were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. In a double-switch, Takashi Saito came on in relief to close out the game, and Luis Maza replaced Kent at second base. Saito struck out Hunter for the first out. Then second sacker Maza (who had replaced Kent) made a diving stop of Kotchman’s grounder for the second out. The Angels still had some hope when Kendrick lined a pitch down the left-field line for a double. Mike Napoli walked, putting the go-ahead runner on base. If the Angels could tie the game, at least three more Dodgers batters would have to bat in the bottom of the ninth.

Reggie Willits entered as a pinch-hitter for Arredondo, and Saito struck him out swinging. Both Los Angeles batterymates pumped their fists in triumph. The Angels could not believe they had lost. The Dodgers could not believe they had won.

Weaver had nothing to show for his six innings of hitless work – except a loss. Billingsley struck out seven Anaheim batters in his seven innings on the mound. No Angels runners made it past second base. In fact, only four runners made it into scoring position. Billingsley was credited with the win, even though his own team did not get any hits. This marked the first time in 30 games that the Dodgers had won the contest while scoring two or fewer runs.10

The Angels were shut out for the second consecutive game. They did go on to win the series finale, beating the Dodgers 1-0 and holding them to three hits. Anaheim’s run came on Napoli’s RBI single in the second.

Angels hurlers Weaver and Arredondo were not credited with a no-hitter, since they pitched only a combined eight innings, one inning shy of the required nine for an official no-hit game. Weaver and Arredondo’s combined feat resulted in only the fourth time in major-league history that a visiting team’s pitcher(s) did not yield a hit but were not credited with the no-no.11 To make the case more “bizarre” (to quote Torre), the winning run was unearned, meaning that neither team’s pitchers gave up any earned runs.

Sources

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com, Retrosheet.org, and SABR.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN200806280.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2008/B06280LAN2008.htm

A YouTube video of the game (with broadcaster Vin Scully) can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T3thxbd7hY.

Notes

1 Bill Plaschke, “Held hitless, Dodgers Still Win,” Los Angeles Times, June 29, 2008: 61, 72.

2 Associated Press, “A No-Hitter That Wasn’t (Wasn’t Even a Victory),” New York Times, June 30, 2008, found online at https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/sports/baseball/30nohitter.html. Accessed April 2023.

3 Plaschke.

4 “Angels vs Dodgers,” YouTube video of the game. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T3thxbd7hY.

5 “A No-Hitter That Wasn’t (Wasn’t Even a Victory).”

6 “Angels vs Dodgers,” YouTube video of the game. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T3thxbd7hY.

7 ESPN.com news services, “Weaver, Arredondo Hold Dodgers Hitless but Angels Still Lose,” June 28, 2008, found online at https://www.espn.com/mlb/recap/_/gameId/280628119. Accessed April 2023.

8 “Weaver, Arredondo Hold Dodgers Hitless but Angels Still Lose.”

9 “Angels vs Dodgers,” YouTube video of the game. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T3thxbd7hY.

10 Plaschke.

11 The other three instances are: Charles “Silver” King, Chicago Pirates, lost to the Brooklyn Wonders (Players League) on June 21, 1890, by a score of 1-0; Andy Hawkins, New York Yankees, lost to the Chicago White Sox (American League) on July 1, 1990, by a score of 4-0; and Matt Young, Boston Red Sox, lost to the Cleveland Indians (American League) on April 12, 1992, by a score of 2-1.