Around the Ballparks
Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that Matt Garza from the Tampa Bay Rays threw a No-hitter in last night’s game against the Tigers.
Not only was it his first career no-no, it was also the first No-Hitter in Rays franchise history.
“It’s the first no-hitter I’ve ever had,” Garza said. “It’s great I was the first one to do it [in Rays history]. It’s a young franchise and I have a feeling they’re going to have many more to come. But I can’t put enough emphasis on it how big the win was. We are trying to win the [American League] East, we’re not just trying to win a couple games — we’re trying to win the East and make it known. It was a great way to start the homestand.”
Since 1998, the Rays have been on the other end of four no-hitters. Derek Lowe (2002), Mark Buehrle (2009), Dallas Braden and Edwin Jackson (both in 2010) all had no-no’s, with Buehrle and Braden pitching perfect games; Braden and Jackson no-hit the Rays this season.
“It’s nice to finally be on the other side,” Carl Crawford said. “We’ve been in two of them [this season] and now it’s nice to be on the winning side this time.”
Garza’s no-hitter made the Rays the first Major League team to be no-hit and throw a no-hitter in one season since 1991, when the Orioles, White Sox and Expos did it.
Garza threw 120 pitches, 80 for strikes, struck out six and walked one. He faced 27 batters.
“In the ninth inning, I ran out there and I just told myself, ‘Well, we can go about this two ways — I can try not to get contact and get in trouble, or I can go at these guys,’” Garza said. “And if it happens, it happens, and if it doesn’t, I have a guy who can come in the ninth inning and shut the door for me. But the most important thing tonight was the win.”
- The Last five to face 27 batters in a no-hitter (and not throw a perfect game):
- M. Garza 2010 VS Tigers
- M. Buehrle 2007 VS Rangers
- T. Mulholland 1990 VS Giants
- S. Koufax 1964 VS Phillies
- W. Spahn 1961 VS Giants
Garza before the game, was 0-4 with a 5.85 ERA against the Tigers.
“Other than going to the World Series, this is probably the coolest thing I’ve been involved with,” B.J. Upton said. “He’s pitched well all year. He’s scuffled a little bit the last month, but you know what? Good for him. I’m happy for him. Like I said, that’s probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever been involved with.”
Lost in the crazyness of Garza’s no-no was the fact that Detroit starter Max Scherzer held the Rays hitless through 5.2 innings. The Rays loaded the bases with one out on two walks and a catcher’s interference call. Carlos Pena struck out to bring up Matt Joyce.
Joyce worked the count full before hitting a grand slam off the right field foul pole to give the Rays a 4-0 lead. The last player to break up a no-hit bid (five innings or more) with a grand slam was Philadelphia’s Dickie Thon against the Mets’ Frank Viola on July 23, 1990.
It was the fifth No-hitter already this season. The last time there were at least five in a season was in 1991 (7)
The five No-Hitters this season:
- Garza (TB) July 26 VS DET
- Jackson (ARI) June 25 VS TB
- Halladay (PHI) May 29 VS FLA *was a perfect game
- Braden (OAK) May 9 VS TB * was a perfect game
- Jimenez (COL) April 17 VS ATL
- Most Home Runs per game (by ballpark this season)
TOR- Rogers Centre 2.74
NYY- Yankee Stadium 2.72
MIL- Miller Park 2.59
ARI- Chase Field 2.58
CIN- Great American 2.51
- Lowest team batting average (MLB) this season:
Mariners .235
Astros .239
Pirates .242
Blue Jays .247
Indians .248
- Joe Mauer went five-for-five, HR, and had seven RBI in yesterday’s game against the Royals (They won 19-0). In MLB History, there have only been three catchers with five or more hits and seven or more RBI in a single game.
“It’s a funny game,” Mauer said. “Tonight obviously I felt good and just tried to hold on to that feeling as long as I can. I’ve felt it [this season] but I haven’t really been able to hold on to that feeling for a long time. Tonight was good and hopefully it’s there tomorrow.”
H/RBI OPP
Joe Mauer 2010 5/7 @ KC
Victor Martinez 2004 5/7 @ SEA
Walker Cooper 1949 6/10 @CHC
Also during the the Twins/Royals game:
They tallied season highs in extra-base hits (11) and runs and tied their season high in hits with 20. The 19 runs are the most the Twins have ever scored in a game against Kansas City, and the 18-run margin of victory is also a franchise record against these Royals.
Rookie third baseman Danny Valencia tallied a career-high four hits, going 4-for-4 on the night, and became the first ever player in Twins history to hit a grand slam for his first Major League home run.
“What better way to start it off?” Valencia said with a big smile. “Not just hit a home run, but a grand slam, and off a guy who’s an accomplished big leaguer and won the Cy Young. It was great. It was surreal.”
- Dan Haren made his Angels debut yesterday against the Red Sox. He was pulled in the fifth inning after he was hit in the forearm with a comebacker. He was diagnosed wtih a right arm contusion and will be re-examined today. He went 4.2 IP, 7H, 2ER, 8K -74.2% Strikes
“It’s a little sore but nothing throbbing,” Haren said. “There’s nothing that I’m worried about. Hopefully I’ll get a decent night’s rest and wake up and it won’t be so bad. I’ll get some treatment and I’ll be out there soon.”
“Sometimes these things heal quickly,” Scioscia said. “It doesn’t seem like it got much of the bone and just some soft tissue. But we’ll let Dr. Yocum and the medical staff make that decision to see what the extent might be.”
- The Pirates recalled RHP Steven Jackson and selected the contract of LHP Wil Ledezma from Triple-A Indianapolis this morning. The Club starts a six game trip tonight in Colorado.
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Cubs Geovany Soto bruised his left foot and left the game in the middle of the sixth inning against the Astros on last night.
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The Pirates starting Pitcher, Paul Maholm tweeted this picture yesterday. I couldn’t help but post it because its so breathtaking.
@Maholm28: “Relaxing day in the Rockies. Unbelievable scenery”
- Curtis Granderson has been hot in his last six games. He is batting .429 with three HR, four RBI and scored seven runs. The Yankees are 5-1 during that span.
- David Ortiz joins Ted Williams (16), Dwight Evans/Jim Rice (11), Manny Ramirez/Carl Yastrzemski (8) with eight 20 HR Red Sox seasons.
- (via @JeffFletcherAOL) Pablo Sandoval is scheduled to return to the SFGiants in time for Tuesday’s game, but Bochy said he probably won’t start him.
- Felix Hernandez lost his 7th game of the season last night. In the 7 losses, the Mariners have given him only 7 runs of support.
- Matt Wieters had his first career multi-HR game yesterday, but the Orioles still lost to the Blue Jays 9-5.
- Pirates Jeff Locke’s line last night for Double-A Altoona: 6 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 0 BB, 9 K.
- The only two teams to have never thrown a no-hitter in history: the Mets (established in 1962) or the Padres (1969)
- Buster Posey in the month of July: .459/.500/.788, 7 HR, 13 EBH in 85 ABs.
- Monday was Jim Leyland’s 54th career ejection, tying him with Bill Rigney for 13th place on the all-time list.
- Aramis Ramirez in his last 25-games is batting .347 with 10HR, 25RBI and a slugging pct of .723. He has raised his AVG from .165 to .230 during this span.
Kristy Robinson
