All seven scheduled games played to completion on July 1, 1920. The Yankees continued the month long pounding of the Athletics with a 9-5 victory in Philadelphia for the high scoring game of the day. Two contests finished 1-0. The Cubs beat the World Champion Reds by that score in Cincinnati. In Boston, a very special 1-0 game took place, won by the Senators.
Walter Johnson of Washington beat the Red Sox in the first no-hitter of The Big Train’s career. It easily leads as the best pitched game of the day. Johnson pitched masterfully. He did not walk a batter while striking out ten for a game score of 97! Harry Hooper of the Red Sox reached base on an error by second baseman Bucky Harris in the seventh inning. The news story, in describing the result of the error, was not familiar with the phrase “perfect game”:
This spoiled a no-man reach first base game for Johnson.
New York Tribune
Years later, Don Larsen would say he did not know he threw a perfect game until after the fact. He knew it was a no-hitter, but due to there being no perfectos thrown in the majors since the 1920s, the term wasn’t used often.
Johnson takes over the league lead in shutouts and strikeouts with his no-hit performance. He also leads the AL in saves.
On the batting side, the best offensive game of the day belonged to Ed Konetchy of the Dodgers. He collected four singles in five plate appearances, driving in two runs in the 8-1 defeat of the Giants. The veteran first baseman, in the penultimate season of his career, still showed speed. He legged out a dozen triples that season, his tenth and final year reaching double digits in three baggers. He finished his career with 182 triples, which is tied for fifteenth all time.
The Yankees take advantage of an off-day by the Indians to move into first place by 1/2 game. The White Sox split a double header with the Browns on the day Chicago hoists their 1919 AL Pennant. Chicago wins the first game 3-2 and the Browns win the second 4-1, putting Chicago five back in the AL race.
The Cubs and Dodgers win, gaining on the Reds and moving past St. Louis. The Reds find themselves up two games, the Cardinals back three games. Pittsburgh and Boston are tied for fifth place, both five games out.