Gaylord Perry No-Hits the Cardinals and Outduels Bob Gibson

On September 17, 1968, Gaylord Perry of the San Francisco Giants no-hit the St. Louis Cardinals 1-0 at Candlestick Park. The only run of the game came on Ron Hunt's solo home run in the first inning. Perry struck out nine and walked two. On the other side, Bob Gibson struck out 10 and allowed just four hits in eight innings. Gibson later called it one of the best games he ever pitched, and he still lost.

Willie McCovey saved the no-hitter with a diving stop on Bob Tolan's hard grounder up the middle. Perry credited McCovey's play as the defensive moment that preserved the gem.

The game took place during the most extreme pitching season in modern baseball history. The 1968 season earned its nickname, the Year of the Pitcher, through numbers that looked like misprints. Gibson finished with a 1.12 ERA, the lowest in the live-ball era. Denny McLain won 31 games in Detroit. Carl Yastrzemski led the American League in batting at .301, the lowest mark for a batting champion in history. After the season, baseball lowered the mound from 15 inches to 10 and shrank the strike zone to restore offensive balance.

The day after Perry's no-hitter, Cardinals pitcher Ray Washburn threw a no-hitter against the Giants at the same ballpark. It was the first time in major league history that no-hitters had been pitched in consecutive games at the same venue.