Reds' Queen nearly no-hits Mets, 2-0.

 

New York - Cincinnati pitcher Mel Queen was one strike away from pitching immortality but finished with a one-hit shutout as the Reds defeated the New York Mets, 2-0, before a crowd of 26,260 at Shea Stadium. Tony Perez singled home the Reds' first run in the first inning, and Pete Rose gave Queen an insurance run in the eighth with a sacrifice fly. Queen was never in need of cashing in that insurance as he entered the ninth as the second Reds pitcher in three years to toss eight innings of no-hit ball at Shea Stadium. In 1965, Jim O'Toole flirted with a no-hitter until pinch-hitter Chris Cannizzaro singled with one out in the ninth. This evening, the Mets almost seemed obliged to give Queen his no-hitter. In the ninth, Queen needed only two pitches to retire Jerry Grote and pinch-hitter John Sullivan with easy groundouts. But the Mets' scrappy shortstop and leadoff hitter Bud Harrelson, as it turned out, had no intentions of going quietly into the good night. Harrelson bounced a 1-1 fastball down the first base line. Lee May reached out and fielded the ball down the line, and beat Harrelson to the bag. May leapt in the air in celebration, but noticed that Queen was not doing the same. Queen staring at first base umpire Mel Steiner who was frantically waving the play off, ruling the ball was foul. Queen returned to the mound to regain his composure as his teammates argued futilely with Steiner. When order was restored, Harrelson battled Queen to a full count. The crowd grew louder with each pitch. Some cheered to witness baseball history, others cheered for the home team to snap the no-hitter, but all were all their feet with the din rising to a fever pitch. With the count full, Harrelson fouled off two Queen offerings before breaking Mel's heart. Harrelson lifted the next pitch over second baseman Tommy Helms. The ball dropped in front of Tommy Harper despite the right fielder's valiant attempt to snare the ball. The Texas Leaguer ended the no-hit bid. With Harrelson on first, Queen struck out Kevin Collins on four pitches to complete the one-hit shutout victory in the opening game of the double header. Cincinnati needed twelve frames to win the second game, 4-2, and sweep the twinbill. Queen's teammates celebrated and joked with the 25-year-old righthander whose father was a pitcher for the Pirates in the 1940's. "You should have seen him when he warmed up," said a grinning Jimmie Coker, the Cincinnati catcher. "You would have sworn that every pitch he made was going to be his last one." Queen retorted, "If I ever felt real good warming up before a game, I think I'd be scared to death." It will be a long time before anyone is concerned about Queen's aches and pains. "I'm not going to worry about Queen until the day he tells me he doesn't have any aches or pains," said Reds manager Dave Bristol. See Reds-Mets box score