Homer Bailey’s no-hitter brings 1-0 win for the Reds against the Pirates – MLB News
Homer Bailey threw a no-hitter on Friday, September 28, to help the Cincinnati Reds win 1-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. At PNC Park, the Reds’ starter outplayed the Pirates batters, and attained a new feat in his career – coming as gloriously that it came to him.
Facing him was A. J. Burnett who did not have an ordinary game either. Burnett allowed seven hits in his eight innings, giving up only a run with five strikeouts to his credit. Burnett surrendered the run in the first inning when Todd Frazier hit a sacrifice fly to score the one and only run of the Reds – which was maintained by an incredibly spectacular pitching spell of Bailey.
Bailey went for 10 strikeouts, and allowed no hit in his shutout game.
In his career – which spans six years now, this was also for the first time that he pitched 200 innings in any season. Importantly, though, it was first no-hitter game for any Reads’ starter since Tom Browning who did it back on September 1988.
200th inning was something rare even for himself.
"Honestly, I figured it out about the sixth because I think I needed five or six innings for 200 innings," Bailey said. "I happened to look up there to see how many innings I had gone, and looked and there were a couple of zeros up there.”
But the game had its element of breathtaking surprise too. In the final play of the game, Alex Presley of the Pirates hit his 115th pitch, but Brandon Phillips made the catch at the second base, drawing a huge round of applause.
"That last out, I was thinking, 'Please don't hit the ball to me, please don't hit the ball to me,'" Phillips said. "Catching the last out, it means a lot. It's something that every time you look on TV, they're going to show me catching the last out. I'm glad to be a part of history. I'm very happy for Homer also. He pitched his butt off."
With the win, the Reds will try to capitalize on it further in Saturday’s second game against the Pirates at PNC Park.
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