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Within a span of less than a day, Gaylord Perry and Ray Washburn do what no two pitchers ever accomplish together up to that point in major league history as they throw back-to-back no-hitters in consecutive games.

After Perry and the Giants no-hit St. Louis in a Tuesday night game at Candlestick Park, Washburn comes back with the Cardinals the next afternoon and no-hits the Giants 56 years ago today at the Stick.

Perry wins his game 1-0 with the only run coming on Ron Hunt’s first-inning home run off the Cardinals’ Bob Gibson, who allows only three other hits while striking out 10 in eight innings.

Gaylord Perry

Perry ends up with nine strikeouts while allowing just two walks in no-hitting St. Louis.

Undeterred, Washburn comes back the next afternoon on this day in 1968 and holds the Giants hitless in a 2-0 victory in which he strikes out eight and walks five.

San Francisco starter Bobby Bolin has a solid afternoon, too, as he gives up only seven hits over eight innings.

Two of those hits account for the Cardinals’ two runs.

Both of those runs come with two outs as Mike Shannon’s RBI double to right in the seventh inning gives St. Louis a 1-0 lead before Curt Flood pushes that lead to 2-0 in the eighth with a run-scoring infield single.

The back-to-back feats of Perry and Washburn are duplicated less than a year later by the Reds’ Jim Maloney no-hitting the Astros 10-0 on April 30, 1969 in Riverfront Stadium and Houston’s Don Wilson coming back the next day to no-hit Cincinnati 4-0.