The year of the pitcher continued and Matt Garza became the fifth pitcher to throw a no-hitter this year in the Tampa
Matt Garza no-no
Bay Rays 5-0 win over the Detroit Tigers. It was actually the sixth no-no if you count the Jim Joyce debacle.
Although the final score was 5-0, the majority of the game was a pitchers’ duel. Garza’s opponent, Max Scherzer threw 5-plus innings of no-hit ball before the wheels came off in the sixth.
After Kelly Shoppach struck out to begin the 6th inning, the Rays loaded the bases on two walks and a catcher’s interference call. Scherzer then struck out Carlos Pena, and looked like he might be able to escape the jam and continue to pursue his no-hitter.
That vision was erased when ex-Tiger Matt Joyce drilled a 3-2 pitch over the right field wall to give the Rays a 4-0 lead. One hit and four runs. After Joyce emptied the bases and broke up Scherzer’s no-no, all the attention turned to Garza, who had allowed just one base runner, a walk to Boesch in the second inning.
After retiring the side in both the seventh and eighth innings, Garza returned for the ninth already having thrown 107 pitches. It took Garza six pitches to retire Don Kelly for the first out of the inning. He then struck out Gerald Laird on four pitches, putting him in position to make history and pitch the first no-hitter in Tampa Rays history.
Pinch hitter Ramon Santiago made contact on a 1-1 pitch from Garza, but it was a harmless fly ball to right field, which Ben Zobrist put away to seal the game.
Garza was mobbed by teammates on the mound, and now will have his name forever etched in baseball history. His final pitching line was 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 120 pitches.
The no-hitter comes at a great time for Garza and the Rays, who had both cooled after a tremendous start to the year.
The Rays were in first place early in the year, and looked like the best team in baseball for a while. They currently trail the Yankees by three games, and could use this to build momentum in the near future.
Garza also started off the year well, holding down a 3.08 ERA through the month of May. Since the start of June however, Garza had a 5-1 record which hid his terrible 6.60 ERA.
Here are some interesting tidbits on Garza’s no-hitter:
This was the first no-hitter in Rays history, leaving the San Diego Padres and New York Mets as the only teams left without a no-hitter . . .
The five no-hitters thrown so far this year are the most since 1991 . . .
Garza previously threw a one-hitter in 2008 . . .
The Rays have been involved in three of the no-hitters this year, as they were previously no-hit by Dallas Braden (OAK) and Edwin Jackson (ARZ) . . .
Garza faced the minimum 27 batters . . .
Used with permission of the author.
Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.
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