McLain Fans Seven in a Row as Tigers Top Red Sox

June 15, 1965 - Schoolboy Rowe? Hal Newhouser? Frank Lary? Jim Bunning?

None of these Tiger hurlers ever did what Denny McLain did tonight.

The young righthander, called on to relieve starter Dave Wickersham in the first inning, put on one of the most dazzling displays of pitching ever seen in Detroit by striking out 14 Red Sox batters in a 6⅔-inning stint — seven of them in a row (the first seven he faced) to tie the American League record. Ryne Duren of Los Angeles set the mark in a game against the Red Sox on June 9, 1961.

Willie Horton was slightly dazzling himself, crashing a three-run homer off Dick Radatz in the eighth to pull the Tigers from behind and give them a 6-5 victory over Boston.

It was a night to remember, and the historians will remember it. The Tigers struck out 18 batters in all, with Fred Gladding getting the other four and, while the records are misty on this point, it is believed to be an all-time high for the Detroiters.

McLain set out after the Detroit night game record and tied that, too. When he got his 14th strikeout in the seventh, it tied the record set by Bunning in a game against the Yankees in 1958.

The kid, though, never got a chance to match the all-time Detroit record of 15, set by Paul Foytack in 1956. He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh as the Tigers sought to come from behind.

General manager Jim Campbell was trade before the midnight deadline, but it would have taken Fort Knox, the Taj Mahal, and downtown Manhattan to get McLain from him.

“I had pretty good stuff,” McLain grinned as the mob of reporters jammed around his locker.

The 18 strikeouts tied the American League record for a nine-inning game, but it won’t go in the books as a record.

That’s because Bob Feller set the mark by himself by striking out 18 in a game with the Tigers in 1938. Sandy Koufax twice struck out 18 for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Tigers won’t quibble. They’ll take the victory.

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