April 8th is a monumental date in Atlanta Braves history. Not only was it the day in 1974 that Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record but it is the date of the last no-hitter thrown by an Atlanta Braves pitcher when Kent Mercker no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1994.
In the early 1990s, with the Atlanta Braves thrust into the upper echelon of the National League – appearing in the 1991 and 1992 World Series and losing in the National League Championship Series in 1993 – it was the team’s starting pitcher that led the charge to division title after division title.
Before signing free agent Greg Maddux prior to the 1993 season, the Braves starting pitching staff was led by left handers Tom Glavine and Steve Avery and right hander John Smoltz.
In 1991, the team largely went with a four-man starting rotation, with veteran right-hander Charlie Leibrandt joining Glavine, Smoltz and Avery making 35 or more starts that season. The team used four other starting pitchers in 1991 with righty Pete Smith making 10 starts while fellow 25-year-old right-hander Armando Reynoso making five starts. Other than Summer two starts by former 1980’s rotation stalwart Rick Mahler, it was lefty Kent Mercker who made four starts as part of his 50 appearances with Atlanta that season.
On September 11, 1991, the 23-year-old Mercker was the starting pitcher when the Braves took on the San Diego Padres in Atlanta. Mercker pitched six innings before making way for relievers Mark Wohlers and Alejandro Pena as the team combined to no-hit the Padres in Mercker’s third career start.
The following season, Mercker would pitcher exclusively out of the bullpen, appearing in 53 games for the Braves. In 1993, he’d make 43 appearances for Atlanta, making the only six starts in the rotation outside of Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine, Avery and Smith.
The Braves moved on from Smith before the 1994 season, and in his place, Mercker would slot in as the team’s fifth starter. In the strike-shortened season, Mercker would make 17 starts posting a 9-4 record while tossing 112.1 innings with the rotation’s second-best ERA and ERA+ while striking out 8.9 batters per nine innings – the best mark of any of the starters and second best on the team only behind hard-throwing set-up man Mark Wohlers.
Atlanta opened the 1994 season on the road with a four-game series in San Deigo. On Friday, April 8, the team trekked north to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers in the first game of the three-game series.
Mercker made his first start of the season against a Dodgers line-up that included notable major leaguers including Delino DeShields, former Brave Brett Butler, future Hall of Famer Mike Piazza, Eric Karros, Raul Mondesi and Tim Wallach.
The game stared in an inauspicious manner when Mercker walked the lead-off batter, DeShields, who stole second base after a Butler strikeout. After fanning Piazza, Mercker walked Karros, bringing up Wallach with two on and two out. Mercker would coax a fly-out to right, to end the inning.
The Braves bats would come alive in the top of the second inning after going in order in the top of the first. Atlanta’s clean-up man, Fred McGriff, would homer on the first pitch of his at bat – and after a flyout by David Justice – Terry Pendleton would hit a solo home run of his own to give the Braves and Mercker a 2-0 lead.
Two innings later, Justice would homer to lead off the fourth inning, increasing the Braves cushion to 3-0.
Mercker would set the Dodgers down in order in the bottom of the second and only allow a baserunner via a walk to Brett Butler in the third inning and again in the sixth.
Pendleton tripled leading off the top of the seventh inning and would score on a sacrifice fly from Javy Lopez. Mercker had 1-2-3 innings in both the seventh and the eighth innings, leaving him three outs away from history.
The Braves would add some insurance runs in the top of the ninth after back-to-back walks to McGriff and Justice set-the-stage for a two-run double off the bat of Pendleton, giving Mercker and the Braves a 6-0 lead heading into to the bottom of the ninth.
Leading off the top of the ninth for the Dodgers was Butler, who struck out looking on a 2-2 pitch. Piazza would follow suit, also taking a called third strike on a 2-2 pitch. That would bring up Karros, the Dodgers’ last chance at breaking up Mercker’s no-hit bid.
After a first-pitch strike, Karros would hit a come backer to Mercker who caught the ball, and while running toward first, tossed the ball to McGriff, concluding the team’s first complete game no-hitter since Phil Niekro threw the first no-hitter in Atlanta Braves history against the Padres on August 5, 1973.
Mercker’s line on the evening included 10 strike out and four walk while throwing 131 pitches – 85 of which were strikes. The offense was led by Pendleton who scored twice and had three RBI while collecting three of the team’s six hits – finishing only a single shy of hitting for the cycle.
Thirty years later, Atlanta has yet to have a pitcher repeat Mercker’s performance, although the team came close in 2018 when starting pitcher Sean Newcomb lost a no-hitter against Dodgers when Chris Taylor singled with two out in the ninth.
Mercker would go-on to start 26 games for Atlanta in 1995 before being traded to the Baltimore Orioles in the following off-season. Mercker would become a journeyman after leaving Atlanta, pitching primarily as a starter for five different team from 1996 through 1999.
He signed with the Angels for the 2000 season, one that was shortened by a brain hemorrhage. He’d return the big leagues in 2002 with the Rockies, pitching exclusively as a reliever, but struggled in 58 games with Colorado.
Mercker returned to the Reds, with whom he played in 1997, in 2003 pitching effectively out of the bullpen until the Cincinatti trade the lefty to Atlanta. Mercker was outstanding in 18 games for the Braves down the stretch, with a miniscule 1.07 ERA across 17 innings but did so while only striking out 3.7 batters per nine innings.
After spending the 2004 season with the Chicago Cubs, he’d return for a third time to the Reds with whom he’d pitch through the 2008 season when he was 40 years old.
For his career, he appeared in 692 games, making 150 starts and collecting 25 saves. He had a career 74-67 record with a 4.16 ERA, 104 ERA+ and 1.444 WHIP.
With Atlanta, he went 31-25 in 251 games including 54 starts. He saved 20 games for the Braves while putting up a 3.41 ERA with a 120 ERA+. Most notably, he started two no-hitters as a Brave, including the one on this date in 1994.
