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 6^th 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.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

How do I best describe the atmosphere inside Wrigley Field last night? Electrified. Ted Lilly, in his post game interview said he couldn’t believe the energy inside the park, saying the closest comparison he could make was during the 2001 World Series.

The evening started with a buzz because the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks were going to be at Wrigley for a pre-game ceremony with hockey’s Holy Grail. Security was tight as I watched 10 mounted police go by my bleacher seats on Waveland.

As time grew close to seeing the team and the Cup, anticipation levels rose – even brief rain shower couldn’t dampen the excitement building inside Wrigley Field. And then the Blackhawks appeared in right field to the cheers of more than 40,000 fans.

Acknowledging the crowd, the Hawks paraded the Cup around the ballpark, and where possible, shook hands with fans. The Cup was placed on the pitcher’s mound and John McDonough, once in marketing with the Cubs, threw out the first pitch. Both the Cubs and White Sox posed with the Hawks and the Cup for photos, and some even got to hold the Cup. This in itself was worth going out to Wrigley last night. Seeing a championship anything inside Wrigley was an extremely rare occurrence.

Cheers turned to boos as Ozzie Guillen was handed the Stanley Cup. Earlier in the day, Guillen said that the White Sox parade after they won the 2005 World Series was bigger than the estimated 2 million that showed up for the Blackhawks parade. Cubs fans commented that when the Cubs win the World Series, our parade would dwarf both.

The place was still buzzing about the Cup when fans realized there was another story breaking. Both White Sox pitcher Gavin Floyd and Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly were throwing no hitters, and it was into the fifth inning.

Fans started turning their attention to the baseball game, but not fully until after the Hawks sang the Seventh Inning Stretch. At the time, both Floyd and Lilly were still throwing no hitters. Then Alfonso Soriano came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh and hit a double with two outs. The Cubs scored their only run soon after, but that was enough.

Lilly, however, took his no hitter into the ninth, as rain began to fall. Fans that would normally have run for shelter, stayed in their seats, transfixed on the game. However, a no hitter was not to happen at Wrigley last night. Juan Pierre came to the plate to pinch hit for Floyd and hit a clean single to break Lilly’s no-no.

Carlos Marmol came in to shut down the side and the Cubs beat the White Sox 1-0 on a one hitter, avoiding the first White Sox sweep at Wrigley since 1999, in what most were saying was the best game they’ve seen at Wrigley this year and maybe in a very long time.

There were some in the crowd who, while happy the Cubs finally won, bemoaned the fact that Lilly was denied his no-no. One fan lamented he would never see a no hitter. Our group placed the blame on one friend who dared to utter the words “no hitter,” while columnist George Castle shouldered the blame, calling himself the no-no jinx.

I know I’m not the jinx. I refused to even try to jinx it for Floyd, thinking perhaps it would work against Lilly and just watched, transfixed. Some of us were lucky enough to see Carlos Zambrano pitch a no hitter in Milwaukee against the Astros after the game was moved from Houston because of Hurricane Ike. That was a pinnacle moment in my personal sports history, but seeing a no-no at Wrigley would top everything except seeng the Cubs win the World Series at home.

The Cubs do need to be careful when they travel to U.S. Cellular Field in a couple of weeks. In two days Cubs pitchers hit five Sox batters. While some expected some retaliation last night, it could come at the hands of the Sox in their own ballpark.

Re-printed with permission of the author.

In addition to contributing to Sports Climax, Miriam Romain maintains a Chicago Cubs column for Examiner.com. The Chicago native has also been published in several Cubs annuals by Maple Street Press and is writing a book with the working title “Summers at Wrigley with my Dad.”

Copyright © 2010 Sports Climax, LLC

The Houston Astros were forced to travel to Milwaukee to play a “home” series against the Chicago Cubs after Hurricane Ike slammed the Texas coast and damaged their stadium. In Milwaukee, they ran into another force named Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly.

Zambrano (14-5) was on the mound for the first time since September 2 and hurled a no-hitter against the jet-lagged Astros while striking out 10 and walking only one in a 5-0 victory on Sunday.

Zambrano, one of the best hitting pitchers in MLB who is batting .354 with 9 extra-base hits and 14 RBI, outhit the entire Astros line-up after going 1 for 3 and crossing the plate once in that game.

Things didn’t get much better for the Astros on Monday when they ran into a similar scenario with Cubs left-hander Ted Lilly on the bump. Lilly (15-9) mowed through the hapless Astros line-up taking a no-hit bid into the 7th inning. Fifteen innings into the series and the Astros had been held hitless. Lilly gave up a hit to the lead-off hitter in the 7th and was later pulled but not before racking up 9K’s and walking only one in the 6-1 win.

Overall the Astros were 1 for 48 for a .020 batting average and .062 OBP against the duo from the Windy City. The Astros hitters looked horribly out of synch both days and Lilly and Zambrano took advantage of it.

Zambrano’s no-hitter was the first by a Cub since 1972.

Copyright © 2008 – Sports Climax