When a no-hitter wasn’t good enough

On this night in 1964, Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt .45s did something that had never been done before: pitch a complete nine-inning no-hit game while taking the loss. A Nellie Fox error allowed Pete Rose to score the winning run in the ninth as the Reds won 1-0, getting a nice outing from Joe Nuxhall. There aren’t many nine-inning games in baseball history where the starting pitchers combined for a Game Score of 174, but Nuxhall (82) and Johnson (92) did just that.

Here’s Johnson, celebrated in tattoo form by Topps from the year of this singular accomplishment.