May 12, 1985: David Palmer and Jeff Reardon toss Expos’ fourth consecutive shutout

The Atlanta Braves’ offense wasn’t exactly feeble in the first month of the 1985 season. When they began a three-game series against the Montreal Expos on May 10, they had scored the third-most runs in the National League.1 Braves center fielder Dale Murphy, a two-time league MVP and baseball’s hottest hitter, boasted a .365 batting average and a major-league-leading 10 homers and 32 RBIs.2

But the Braves were no match for Montreal’s hurlers. After blanking Atlanta in the first two games, the Expos sent David Palmer to the hill looking for the series sweep on a warm Sunday afternoon at Stade Olympique. Palmer and closer Jeff Reardon combined to toss a six-hit shutout in a 4-0 Montreal victory, setting a new team record with 39 consecutive scoreless innings pitched – and counting. The shutout moved the Expos to within three innings of the NL record in the divisional era, which had been set by the New York Mets in their magical 1969 season.3

The Expos’ streak had started when relievers Ed Glynn and Bert Roberge kept the Houston Astros off the scoresheet for the final three innings of Montreal’s 3-1 loss on May 7.4 The next day, rookie Joe Hesketh and Reardon tossed a four-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory over the Astros, handing Nolan Ryan a hard-luck loss in the series finale. After the Expos enjoyed an offday in Montreal, Bryn Smith and Bill Gullickson hurled back-to-back complete-game shutouts against the Braves, pushing the scoreless streak to 30 innings.5

The surprising Expos, led by first-year manager Buck Rodgers,6 came into the third game of the Atlanta series in second place in the NL East Division with an 18-10 record, just one game behind the red-hot Mets.7 Montreal was not expected to be a pennant contender after it fell to 78-83 in 1984 and then traded future Hall of Famer Gary Carter to the Mets in December in return for four lesser players.8

The 27-year-old Palmer had a record of 2-3 and a 4.00 ERA. The Glens Falls, New York, native had debuted with the Expos in September 1978 and he had shown great promise early in his career. In his first three seasons with Montreal, Palmer compiled an 18-9 record and a stellar 2.82 ERA. But he ran into arm problems and missed the entire 1981 and 1983 seasons because of elbow surgeries.

The Braves had won the NL West Division in 1982 and finished a close second in 1983. They were coming off a disappointing 80-82 season that had cost manager Joe Torre his job. Eddie Haas, who had managed in the Braves’ minor-league system since 1966, took over as Atlanta’s skipper in 1985. A four-game losing streak had knocked the Braves to fifth place with an 11-16 record, 4½ games behind the first-place San Diego Padres.

The Braves’ 25-year-old righty Craig McMurtry got his first start of season in place of the injured Pascual Pérez.9 McMurtry had struggled since finishing second in NL Rookie of the Year Award voting in 1983 behind the Mets’ Darryl Strawberry. He had a 6.30 ERA in six relief outings in 1985.

Tim Raines led off the bottom of the first with a double off the left-field wall and he moved to third when McMurtry uncorked a wild pitch. Raines scored on Vance Law’s sacrifice fly.

Montreal put runners on first and second with nobody out in the second on a single by Tim Wallach and Herm Winningham’s walk. After backup catcher Sal Butera drove in Wallach with a single, McMurtry picked Butera off first base and struck out Palmer to bring Raines to the plate with two out.10 Raines tripled to the wall in right-center, scoring Winningham and giving the Expos a 3-0 lead.11 Haas gave McMurtry the quick hook and righty Jeff Dedmon ended the inning without allowing any further damage.

Palmer retired the first six batters he faced, including a strikeout of Murphy to end the first inning.

Braves shortstop Rafael Ramírez opened the third with a single and two outs later he moved into scoring position on Butera’s passed ball. Palmer ended the threat by striking out two-time All-Star outfielder Claudell Washington,12 tying the team record of 33 consecutive scoreless innings, which had been set during the tight 1980 division race.13

The Expos took a 4-0 lead when first baseman Dan Driessen hit his fifth homer of the year, a solo shot off Dedmon in the third.

Murphy extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a one-out single in the fourth.14 After Terry Harper singled with two out, Palmer loaded the bases on a wild pitch and a walk to Gerald Perry. Palmer stranded all three baserunners by striking out Ramírez, and the Expos had a new team record of 34 consecutive scoreless innings pitched.

Palmer limited the Braves to a walk by catcher Bruce Benedict in the fifth and a single by Bob Horner in the sixth.

Atlanta put runners on the corners with nobody out in the seventh on a walk to Perry and Ramírez’s single. Once again Palmer escaped unscathed – this time by retiring Benedict, pinch-hitter Chris Chambliss, and Washington in succession.

After Palmer recorded a one-two-three eighth inning, Rodgers brought in Reardon in a nonsave situation. Reardon held the Braves to a leadoff double by Harper in the ninth and the Expos hung on for a 4-0 win, their 13th victory in 17 games. The loss dropped the Braves behind the San Francisco Giants and into last place by percentage points.15

Rodgers was amazed at what his pitchers had accomplished. “To shut out a team like Atlanta, with Dale Murphy in the lineup for a whole series is amazing, never mind having four shutouts in a row,” he raved.16 Montreal’s defense was also airtight during the shutout streak. In the series finale, shortstop Hubie Brooks, Raines, and Driessen all made fine defensive plays.17

As of the start of the 2024 season, it was the only time in franchise history that the team threw four consecutive shutouts. Expos pitchers threw three shutouts in a row four times: May 29-31, 1979; September 4-6, 1980; August 26-28, 1981; and May 24-26, 1989.18

Since the Braves had also been blanked by the Mets’ Ed Lynch on May 8, their streak of consecutive innings without scoring a run had been extended to 36 by Palmer and Reardon. Not surprisingly, Atlanta hitters were grumbling after the game. “What can you say?” said Benedict. “If you don’t score in four games, you’re bad.”19

The Braves finally snapped their scoreless streak the next day when they scored a second-inning run at home against the Mets on an RBI single by second baseman Glenn Hubbard, who was playing in his first game in over a week.20 The 37-inning streak by Atlanta still fell 11 frames short of the AL/NL record shared by the 1906 Philadelphia Athletics and the 1968 Chicago Cubs in the Year of the Pitcher.

On May 13 Montreal traveled to Houston for a rematch between Hesketh and Ryan. Hesketh kept the Astros off the scoresheet in the first two innings, but Bill Doran hit a solo homer with two outs in the third to end Montreal’s streak at 41 innings. Had Hesketh been able to retire Doran, the Expos would have tied the 1969 Mets’ 42 consecutive scoreless innings pitched.

The plucky Expos moved into first place for nine days in June before costly back-to-back losses at home against the Phillies on June 29-30 brought them crashing back to earth. The June 30 contest was particularly demoralizing, as Reardon – pitching with a sore elbow − blew the save in the ninth inning and was saddled with the loss.21 (Reardon returned to action on July 8 and finished the season with a major-league-leading 41 saves.)

Despite the loss of Carter, career years from Raines (.320 average, 70 steals), Wallach (Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards), Law (122 OPS+), and Hesketh (10-5, 2.49 ERA) allowed Montreal to remain competitive.22 The Expos managed to stay in the pennant race until the middle of August, and they finished in third place with a creditable 84-77 record.23

As of the end of the 2023 season, the 1969 Mets and 1985 Expos still had the NL’s two longest streaks of consecutive scoreless innings pitched in the divisional era. The league’s all-time record of 56 consecutive scoreless innings pitched was set in the Deadball Era by the 1903 Pittsburgh Pirates,24 and the American League record was 54 innings by the 1974 Baltimore Orioles.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Victoria Monte and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, Stathead.com, and the SABR biographies of David Palmer and Joe Torre. Unless otherwise noted, all detailed play-by-play information for this game was taken from the article “Two More Innings Will Give Expos Scoreless Mark” in the May 13, 1985, edition of the Montreal Gazette.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MON/MON198505120.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1985/B05120MON1985.htm

Photo credit

Photo of David Palmer courtesy the Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 The 1985 Braves finished 10th in the league with 3.9 runs scored per game. NL teams averaged 4.1 runs per game.

2 Murphy won the NL MVP Award in 1982 and 1983. He finished the 1985 season with a .300 batting average, 37 homers, 111 RBIs, and 118 runs scored. Murphy led the NL in home runs and runs scored.

3 The streak began when starter Jim McAndrew pitched scoreless frames in the sixth and seventh innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on September 23, 1969; Tug McGraw followed with four more scoreless innings of relief. Gary Gentry clinched the NL East Division title on September 24 with a four-hit shutout against the Cardinals. After an offday, Jerry Koosman and Tom Seaver tossed complete-game shutouts against the Philadelphia Phillies. Gentry (5 innings), Nolan Ryan (3 innings), and Ron Taylor (1 inning) combined to shut out the Phillies on September 28. The streak was broken when Ron Santo of the Chicago Cubs hit a sacrifice fly against Koosman in the first inning on October 1.

4 This was the first of only three appearances that Glynn made with the Expos. They were the final three appearances of his big-league career. Roberge went 3-3 with a 3.44 ERA in 42 relief appearances with the Expos in 1985.

5 Smith tossed a six-hit shutout on May 10 against Atlanta and the next day Gullickson threw a five-hitter. Smith went 18-5 with a 2.91 ERA in 1985. Gullickson went 14-12 with a 3.52 ERA.

6 Rodgers had managed the Milwaukee Brewers from 1980 to June 1982 before piloting the Expos from 1985 to June 1991. He also managed the California Angels from August 1991 to May 1994.

7 The Mets had a record of 18-8 (.692), tops in the majors.

8 The Mets sent shortstop Hubie Brooks, catcher Mike Fitzgerald, outfielder Herm Winningham, and minor-league pitcher Floyd Youmans to Montreal in return for Carter.

9 Pérez went on the disabled list on May 5 with a shoulder injury. He returned on May 25, but was ineffective (1-9, 6.01 ERA) for the remainder of the season. He was released by the Braves in April 1986. Pérez enjoyed a career renaissance with the Expos from 1987 to 1989, going a combined 28-21 with a 2.80 ERA. Bud Shaw, “Mahler Remains Braves’ Pitcher of Perfection,” Atlanta Constitution, May 6, 1985: D1.

10 Butera was catching to give Mike Fitzgerald a much-needed day off. Fitgerald had appeared in all 28 Expos games so far in the season.

11 Raines went 3-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in four plate appearances in the game. He finished a home run short of hitting for the cycle.

12 Washington made his first All-Star team in 1975 as a 20-year-old outfielder with the Oakland Athletics. He also made the All-Star team in 1984 with the Braves.

13 Expos pitchers tossed 33 scoreless innings September 3-7, 1980. The scoreless frames were thrown by Bill Gullickson (9 innings), Steve Rogers (9 innings), Scott Sanderson (7 innings), Charlie Lea (3 innings), Stan Bahnsen (2 innings), Bill Lee (2 innings), and Elías Sosa (1 inning). Montreal’s third consecutive shutout on September 6, thrown by Sanderson and Lee, moved the Expos into first place. Philadelphia clinched the division title and eliminated Montreal on the next to last day of the season on Mike Schmidt’s dramatic 11th-inning home run. The Phillies finished one game ahead of the Expos.

14 Murphy went 1-for-4 in each game of the Montreal series. All three hits were singles. He also struck out once and grounded into a double play. The Mets snapped Murphy’s hitting streak at 15 games on May 14.

15 Atlanta finished in fifth place in the NL West Division with a 66-96 record.

16 Bob Elliott, “Expos Stay Red Hot With 39 Shutout Innings,” Ottawa Citizen, May 13, 1985: B1.

17 Elliott, “Expos Stay Red Hot With 39 Shutout Innings.”

18 As of the start of the 2024 season, the Washington Nationals had never thrown three consecutive shutouts.

19 Gerry Fraley, “Braves Tie Major-League Record for Shutout Losses,” Atlanta Constitution, May 13, 1985: D1.

20 It was the only run scored in the game. Len Barker and Bruce Sutter combined for a six-hit shutout of the Mets. The Braves got a measure of revenge against Ed Lynch, the game’s losing pitcher. Hubbard had not been injured; he was inserted into the lineup in place of Ken Oberkfell, who had been 0-for-11 with two strikeouts in the Montreal series. Tony Barnhart, “Barker and Sutter ‘Zero’ In on Mets,” Atlanta Journal, May 14, 1985: D1.

21 Peter Hadekel, “Expos Punchless Against Phils,” Montreal Gazette, July 2, 1985: C2.

22 In 1985 the four players recorded the highest Baseball-Reference Wins Above Replacement (bWAR) of their respective careers.

23 The St. Louis Cardinals won the NL East Division with a record of 101-61. They finished three games ahead of the second-place Mets. Gary Carter helped the Mets win the World Series in 1986.

24 The Pirates’ scoreless streak of pitching lasted from June 1 to June 9. The pitchers involved were Sam Leever (18 innings), Deacon Phillippe (15 innings), Irvin “Kaiser” Wilhelm (12 innings), and Ed Doheny (11 innings).