In an April 23, 1964, road contest against the Houston Colt .45's, Rose reached first base on an error in the top of the ninth inning of a scoreless game, and scored on another error. The Colt .45s lost the game in the bottom of the ninth inning and Ken Johnson became the first pitcher to lose a complete game no-hitter. Rose slumped late in the season and was benched; he finished with a .269 average. In order to improve his batting, Rose played in the Venezuelan Winter League with Leones del Caracas team during the 1964–1965 offseason. Rose came back in 1965, leading the league in hits (209) and at-bats (670), and finishing sixth in NL MVP balloting. It was the first of his 10 seasons with 200-plus hits, and his .312 batting average was the first of nine consecutive .300 seasons. He hit a career-high 16 home runs in 1966, then switched positions from second base to right field the following year.