This day in sports: Phillies’ Mike Schmidt hits four home runs in one game

Third baseman Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies started a game against the Chicago Cubs on this date in 1976 batting a miserable .167, with just one home run and two runs batted in.

But after getting advice from teammates Dick Allen and Tony Taylor, Schmidt proceeded to hit four consecutive home runs and drive in eight runs to lead his team from a 13-2 deficit to an 18-16 win in 10 innings at Wrigley Field.

Schmidt connected twice against Cubs starter Rick Reuschel and once each against relievers Mike Garman and Paul Reuschel. He was the 10th player in baseball history to hit four home runs in a game.

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The Dodgers would have continued their nine-game home stand Friday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the second NL Central Division team to visit Dodger Stadium in April.

The Angels were scheduled to play the Astros in the first of three games at Houston.

Both series were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Here is a look at memorable games and outstanding sports performances on this date:

1939 — Joe Louis uses a power-packed left-right combination to knock out challenger Jack Roper at 2:20 of the first round and retain the world heavyweight title before a crowd of 30,000 at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. “He just got the bad end of the bargain,” Louis says after the fight.

1982 — The Denver Nuggets’ Alex English, Dan Issel and Kiki Vandeweghe finish the regular season each with an average of more than 20 points a game, the first front court to do so since Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan and Clyde Lovellette for the St. Louis Hawks in 1961.

1987 — In the third quarter of his last career regular-season game, Julius Erving hits a turnaround jumper that makes him the third player to score 30,000 points in his career. Dr. J has 38 in the Philadelphia 76ers game against Indiana to join Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

1994 — Carl Lewis and his Santa Monica Track Club teammates upgrade their world record in the 800-meter relay at the Mt. SAC Relays. Lewis, Mike Marsh, Leroy Burrell and Floyd Heard are timed at 1:18.68 at the Hilmer Lodge Stadium meet, improving the mark of 1:19.11 they had set April 25, 1992.

1999 — Quarterback Tim Couch of Kentucky is the No. 1 choice in the NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns. He is followed by two more quarterbacks — Syracuse’s Donovan McNabb by the Philadelphia Eagles and Oregon’s Akili Smith by the Cincinnati Bengals. It is the draft’s first quarterback trifecta since 1971.

2001 — Barry Bonds becomes the 17th Major League player to hit 500 home runs. Bonds’ two-run, eighth-inning drive off Terry Adams leads the Giants to a 3-2 win over the Dodgers at Pac-Bell Park in San Francisco.

2006 — Sidney Crosby’s three assists in Pittsburgh’s 6-1 win over the N.Y. Islanders make him the youngest player in NHL history to score 100 points in a season. Crosby, 18, is the seventh rookie to reach the century mark.

2010 — Ubaldo Jimenez pitches the first no-hitter in the Colorado Rockies’ 18-year history, stifling the Braves in Atlanta 4-0. Jimenez strikes out seven and walks six, and helps his own cause with an RBI single.

2011 — Jimmie Johnson wins the Aaron’s 499, edging Clint Bowyer by about a foot at Talladega Superspeedway. The official margin of 0.002 seconds at the Alabama track ties Ricky Craven’s 2003 victory over Kurt Busch at Darlington Raceway for the closest finish in NASCAR’s Cup series history.

2018 — Brayden McNabb scores against his former team in the second period to lift Las Vegas to a 1-0 win over the Kings, making the Golden Knights the first expansion team in NHL history to sweep its first playoff series.

Sources: The Times, Associated Press