Mariners Discover Silver Lining Cloude Flirts With No-Hitter Before Seattle Falls 5-2

Ken Cloude wanted to prove he deserved a spot in the big leagues. On Saturday, the Seattle rookie came close to earning a place in baseball history.

Cloude, making his major league debut, took a perfect game into the sixth inning and held Chicago hitless until the seventh before the White Sox rallied to defeat the Seattle Mariners 5-2.

Though he had never pitched above Double-A, and though he was facing the likes of Frank Thomas and Albert Belle, the 22-year-old right-hander was unnerved as he retired the first 16 batters.

“I felt like I belonged out there,” Cloude said. “The guys kept reminding me to do what got me here. I just threw whatever Danny (catcher Dan Wilson) called and it seemed to work out.”

A day after Randy Johnson struck out 19, Cloude (0-1) did not allow a runner until walking Mario Valdez with one out in the sixth.

Cloude’s bid to become the first pitcher in modern history to throw a no-hitter in his big-league debut ended when Dave Martinez led off the seventh with a clean single to center field.

“The no-hitter was the furthest game from my mind,” Cloude said. “It might be the worst thing that could happen to a pitcher in his debut.”

The White Sox, trailing 1-0, went on to load the bases with no outs on a walk to Thomas and a bunt single by Belle. With the bases loaded and no outs, Cloude then left to a standing ovation from the crowd of 45,063.

“Our young pitcher did an outstanding job,” Mariners manager Lou Piniella said. “He was aggressive. He kept his pitches down. If he continues pitching like that, he’ll win a lot of games.”

Cloude was promoted from Double-A Memphis on Thursday. At the time, the Mariners said he would get at least three starts.

“I threw too many pitches early in the game,” Cloude said. “When I needed to throw a good fastball in the seventh, I didn’t have it.”

Paul Spoljaric relieved and Robin Ventura hit a two-run double that put the White Sox ahead 2-1, and they added another run in the inning when Jorge Fabregas bounced into a double play.

Ventura said he was impressed with Cloude.

“He was hitting his spots and that is more important than us not seeing him before,” Ventura said.

Thomas limped home on Ventura’s double and headed to the clubhouse, but returned to bat in the ninth. He suffered a strained left hip flexor.

Ventura hit a two-run homer, his third, in the ninth off Bobby Ayala.

James Baldwin (8-12) allowed two runs and struck out 10 in 7-1/3 innings. Matt Karchner pitched 1-1/3 innings for his third save.

The White Sox won despite being outhit 7-4. Dan Wilson homered and doubled for the Mariners.

Cloude struck out six. He allowed two hits and two walks, and was charged with three runs. He showed great poise, going to a full count on seven hitters in the first five innings and retiring all of them.

The last rookie to pitch a no-hitter was Wilson Alvarez for the White Sox on Aug. 11, 1991.

The closest any pitcher has come to a no-hitter in his major league debut this century was Billy Rohr, whose bid for Boston on April 14, 1967, was spoiled by a two-out single in the ninth by Elston Howard of the Yankees.

After appearing as a reliever, Bobo Holloman of the St. Louis Browns pitched a no-hitter in his first major league start on May 6, 1953, against the Philadelphia A’s.

In 1892, Bumpus Jones pitched a no-hitter in his major league debut for Cincinnati against Pittsburgh.

Cloude was 11-7 with a 3.81 ERA at Memphis before his recall.

Cloude, the Mariners’ sixth-round pick in the 1993 draft, caught Piniella’s eye on July 21 when he pitched three scoreless innings in an exhibition game against Seattle at Zebulon, N.C. Cloude struck out six, including Rich Amaral and Rob Ducey, in three scoreless innings.

Wilson doubled in the third, eventually leading to an RBI single by Joey Cora. Wilson homered to lead off the seventh.

The Mariners appeared to get a run in the sixth when Alex Rodriguez tried to score from third base on a wild pitch. Television replays showed he slid in ahead of Baldwin’s tag, but Rodriguez was called out by plate umpire Ray DiMuro.

Rodriguez was ejected in the eighth for arguing a strike call.

The Mariners’ All-Star shortstop was still upset after the game.

“I told him, ‘Why should I get thrown out because you missed a play at the plate?”’ Rodriguez said.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: White Sox 5, Mariners 2 Chicago AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Durham 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .252 DaMartinez rf-1b 4 1 1 0 0 1 .266 FThomas dh 3 1 0 0 1 1 .351 Belle lf 3 2 1 0 1 1 .268 Ventura 3b 4 1 2 4 0 1 .348 Cameron cf-rf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .260 Fabregas c 4 0 0 0 0 2 .252 MValdez 1b 1 0 0 0 1 1 .235 a-LMouton ph-rf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .273 DLewis cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .206 OGuillen ss 3 0 0 0 0 1 .259 Totals 30 5 4 4 4 9

Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Cora 2b 5 0 1 1 0 0 .324 ARodriguez ss 4 0 1 0 0 3 .304 Gates ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .242 Griffey Jr cf 4 0 1 0 0 2 .297 EMartinez dh 2 0 0 0 2 2 .328 Buhner rf 3 0 0 0 1 2 .238 Sorrento 1b 3 0 0 0 1 2 .271 DaWilson c 4 1 3 1 0 0 .277 RDavis 3b 4 1 0 0 0 1 .283 Tinsley lf 2 0 1 0 2 1 .231 Totals 31 2 7 2 6 13

Chicago 000 000 302 5 Seattle 001 000 100 2 a-struck out for Valdez in the 7th. LOB-Chicago 2, Seattle 8. 2B-Ventura (5), DaWilson (25). HR-Ventura (3) off Ayala; DaWilson (10) off Baldwin. RBIs-Ventura 4 (9), Cora (46), DaWilson (55). SB-MValdez (1), DaWilson (5). GIDP-Fabregas, Cora, Buhner. Runners left in scoring position-Chicago 1 (Durham); Seattle 5 (Cora 2, Griffey Jr, Sorrento 2). DP-Chicago 2 (Ventura, Durham and MValdez), (OGuillen, Durham and DaMartinez); Seattle 1 (ARodriguez and Cora).

Chicago IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Baldwin W, 8-12 7-1/3 7 2 2 3 10 104 4.81 McElroy 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 5 3.48 Karchner S, 3 1-1/3 0 0 0 3 2 33 2.70 Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Cloude L, 0-1 6 2 3 3 2 6 93 4.50 Spoljaric 2/3 1 0 0 1 0 15 2.92 Ayala 2-1/3 1 2 2 1 3 46 5.04 Cloude pitched to 3 batters in the 7th. Inherited runners-scored-Spoljaric 3-3, Ayala 1-0. Balk-Baldwin. T-3:02. A-45,063 (59,084).