RetroSimba

The similarities between Lance Lynn and Alan Benes are striking.

Lynn, a Cardinals right-hander and Indiana native who turned 25 in 2012, struck out at least 11 batters in consecutive games that year.

Benes, a Cardinals right-hander and Indiana native who turned 25 in 1997, struck out at least 11 batters in consecutive games that year.

Lynn became the first Cardinals pitcher since Benes to strike out at least 11 in consecutive games.

One area where they differed, though, was in the results of those back-to-back high-strikeout games.

Lynn got wins in both _ he struck out 11 in six innings in the Cardinals’ 14-2 victory over the Astros at Houston on June 7, 2012, Boxscore and followed that with a 12-strikeout performance in 7.1 innings in the Cardinals’ 1-0 victory over the White Sox at St. Louis on June 13. Boxscore

Benes got the win when he struck out 11 in six innings in the Cardinals’ 8-3 victory over the Padres at San Diego on June 11, 1997. Benes was even better in his next start, June 16 against the Brewers. Like Lynn, it involved a 1-0 game, but Benes wasn’t as fortunate.

In a duel of power pitchers, Benes was matched against Ben McDonald in the first interleague game at Milwaukee’s County Stadium. (The Brewers, now with the Cardinals in the National League Central Division, then were members of the American League.)

Both starters were sharp. McDonald struck out 12 in eight innings before being lifted for Bob Wickman. When Brewers second baseman Mark Loretta struck out leading off the bottom of the ninth, it was the 11th strikeout recorded by Benes. (Among his other strikeout victims that night was Brewers catcher Mike Matheny.)

At that point, Benes had yielded three hits, all singles, in the scoreless game.

Jeromy Burnitz, the Brewers’ strapping left-handed batter, then stepped to the plate. Benes got ahead of the count with a fastball on the outside corner. Benes’ next pitch was similar to the first _ but this time Burnitz was ready. He crushed the thigh-high fastball 410 feet to straightaway center field for a walkoff home run and 1-0 Brewers victory. Boxscore

“It wasn’t a bad pitch to a lot of guys, but to Burnitz in that situation, it wasn’t a great pitch,” Benes told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “He’s a guy who likes to take the fastball away from you, and I had done a good job of changing speeds against him all day.”

Said Burnitz: “I knew it had a chance because I smoked it. I was excited. I’d never hit a game-winning home run before.”

The ninth-inning setback in a scoreless game was the second Benes experienced within a month. On May 16, Benes held the Braves hitless for 8.2 innings in Atlanta until Michael Tucker doubled. The Braves won, 1-0, in the 13th against reliever John Frascatore. Boxscore

Asked how his effort against the Brewers rated with his performance against the Braves, Benes replied, “Comparable stuff, or at least close.”

A week earlier, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa had told Rick Hummel for The Sporting News that Benes was as good as any young pitcher in baseball. The Brewers were believers.

“That guy has got great stuff,” Burnitz said of Benes.

Said Milwaukee manager Phil Garner: “We were duly impressed by him. It’s OK if we don’t see him again until next year.”

Previously: Near no-hitter by Alan Benes became crushing loss

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Early in the 1943 season, a report circulated that Mort Cooper, ace of the Cardinals’ rotation, had a sore arm. A few weeks later, The Sporting News claimed “warm weather brought the (arm) around.”

Whatever the explanation, Cooper recovered and became the only Cardinal to pitch one-hitters in consecutive complete-game starts.

Cooper’s back-to-back one-hitters occurred five years after the Reds’ Johnny Vander Meer became the only big-league pitcher to toss consecutive no-hitters.

On Memorial Day, May 31, 1943, Cooper held the Dodgers to one hit in the Cardinals’ 7-0 victory in the opener of a doubleheader at St. Louis.

Billy Herman got the lone Dodgers hit. Herman’s double to start the fifth inning was “a high, twisting two-bagger just inside the foul line,” United Press reported, and it fell beyond the reach of right fielder Stan Musial.

Herman, who also walked, and Augie Galan, who walked twice, were the only Dodgers baserunners. Cooper struck out two and improved his record to 5-3. His brother, catcher Walker Cooper, and Musial drove in two runs apiece. Boxscore

“If Cooper still has a sore arm,” wrote Hugh Fullerton Jr. of the Associated Press, “manager Billy Southworth probably wishes that all his other pitchers would go out and get one just like it.”

Four nights later, June 4, 1943, at St. Louis, Cooper held the Phillies hitless for seven innings and settled for a one-hitter in the Cardinals’ 5-0 victory.

Jimmy Wasdell of the Phillies opened the eighth by lining a single to left. Pinky May, who reached on an error by Cooper and was erased on a double play, was the only other Phillies baserunner. Cooper struck out five in a game that took 1:42 to complete. Boxscore

Jack Cuddy of United Press described why Cooper was so effective:

“Mort can provide the pitch that’s needed at a proper time _ fastball, screwball, forkball or curve. His fastball is the most effective pitch. This is blurred lightning, with a hop at the end. But to southpaw batsmen, he feeds screwballs, keeping them on the outside so that they can’t be pulled to right field.

“Right-handed hitters get the fastball and the forkball. The latter approaches the plate in drunken fashion, like a knuckler’s butterfly pitch. It’s almost impossible to smack the ‘fork’ solidly. In addition, Mort has unusual control. With a 3-and-2 count on the batsman, he can produce a feint or an actual in the strike zone that forces (1) a waiting called strike or (2) a whiff.”

In his start after the second one-hitter, Cooper pitched another complete game and earned the win in the Cardinals’ 4-3 victory over the Pirates on June 9, 1943, at St. Louis. The Pirates got seven hits, two apiece by Vince DiMaggio and pitcher Rip Sewell. Boxscore

Helping the Cardinals win their second consecutive pennant, Cooper, 30, finished 1943 with a 21-8 record and 2.30 ERA. He had six shutouts and 24 complete games among his 32 starts.

His back-to-back gems in 1943 were the only one-hitters of his major-league career.

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