This Day in Red Wings History: Boone tosses no-hitter as Wings sweep Chiefs

By TOM GARIGEN

July 23, 1990

At 5-foot-8 and 140 pounds, Dan Boone didn’t exactly cut an imposing presence on the mound. But when the left-hander’s knuckleball was dancing, he might as well have been Randy Johnson atop the hill.

That’s exactly what happened on this day 30 years ago, as Boone stood tall and capped a tremendous Rochester pitching display by no-hitting the Chiefs in a 2-0 Red Wing victory in the nightcap of an International League doubleheader.

Boone’s no-walk, five-strikeout masterpiece came on the heels of Mike Smith’s gem in the opener. Smith didn’t allow a hit until the fifth, surrendered just two on the game, and struck out six as Rochester won the first game, 1-0.

“The thought that entered my mind was I would try to better what he did,” Boone said of following Smith’s sparkling performance. “I tried to throw a no-hitter. At the beginning of the game, that’s not a realistic goal. I got through the fourth inning, my adrenaline started to flow.” 

Boone himself made two of the toughest plays of the game. He fielded a difficult chopper by Jose Escobar in the third and fired to first for the out. He then snared a ball to his right off the bat of Paul Runge for the first out of the seventh.

“It was such an overwhelming feeling,” Boone added. “I felt I had to take control of the situation. When I was sitting on the bench, I said to myself if any balls are hit back to me, I have to lay out my whole body and go all out.

“After each pitch I was set to receive the ball.”

Fittingly, Boone did just that for the final out of the game. He fell behind 3-1 to Pedro Munoz before inducing a come-backer to end it. The only Chief to reach base on the game was Carlos Diaz, who got to first via a third-inning throwing error by Leo Gomez.

Chris Hoiles provided all the offense Boone would need with a second-inning homer. Tim Dulin added an RBI base hit in the fourth.

The battery of Smith and Hoiles took care of business in game one. Smith retired the first 13 batters before Stu Pederson hit a clean single to left. 

“He had four pitches,” Hoiles said of Smith. “When a pitcher is getting four pitches over for strikes, it will be a long night for opposing hitters.

The Wings only had three hits themselves, but one was a solo homer from Hoiles. That was all Smith would need on a night when Wings pitchers allowed two hits, walked none, and struck out 11 over 14 innings.

Game 1 Red Wings 1, Chiefs 0
Syracuse	AB	R	H	BI		Rochester	AB	R	H	BI
Eppard 1b	3	0	0	0		Nixon cf	2	0	0	0
Runge ss	3	0	0	0		Contreras rf	3	0	1	0
Bell cf	3	0	1	0		Segui 1b	3	0	0	0
Munoz lf	3	0	0	0		Gomez 2b	2	0	0	0
Pederson dh	2	0	1	0		Holies c	2	1	1	1
Sprague 3b	2	0	0	0		McKnght ss	2	0	0	0
Ducey rf	2	0	0	0		Chance lf	2	0	0	0
Szekley c	2	0	0	0		Brown dh	2	0	0	0
Escobar 2b	2	0	0	0		Dulin 2b	2	0	1	0
Totals	22	0	2	0		Totals	20	1	3	1
Syracuse			0 0 0    0 0 0   0  – 0
Rochester			0 1 0    0 0 0   x – 1
DP – Rochester 1. LOB – Syracuse 1, Rochester 2. HR – Hoiles (14). SB – Pederson.
Syracuse	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Kilgues L, 4-5	6	3	1	1	1	6
Rochester	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Smith W, 7-3	7	2	0	0	0	6
T – 1:40.

Game 2 Red Wings 2, Chiefs 0
Syracuse	AB	R	H	BI		Rochester	AB	R	H	BI
Eppard 1b	3	0	0	0		Nixon cf	3	0	0	0
Runge ss	3	0	0	0		Contreras rf	3	0	1	0
Bell cf	3	0	0	0		Segui 1b	3	0	1	0
Munoz lf	3	0	0	0		Gomez 3b	2	0	0	0
Sprague 3b	2	0	0	0		Holies dh	3	1	1	1
Delacruz rf	2	0	0	0		McKnght ss	2	1	1	0
Virgil dh	2	0	0	0		Dulin 2b	2	0	1	1
Escobar 2b	2	0	0	0		Tackett c	2	0	0	0
Diaz c	2	0	0	0		Hithe lf	2	0	1	0
Totals	22	0	0	0		Totals	22	2	6	2
Syracuse			0 0 0    0 0 0   0  – 0
Rochester			0 1 0    1 0 0   x – 2
E – Gomes. DP – Syracuse 1. LOB – Syracuse 1, Rochester 4. 2B – Hithe, McKnight. HR – Hoiles (15).
Syracuse	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Bchnn L, 2-1	5	5	2	2	0	1
Gozzo	1	1	0	0	2	0
Rochester	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Boone W, 7-3	7	0	0	0	0	5
T – 1:34. Att, – 4,214.