Morrow mows down Yankees

SEATTLE – Brandon Morrow’s bid to become only the second pitcher in modern history to throw a no-hitter in his first major league start ended when pinch-hitter Wilson Betemit doubled with two outs in the eighth inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the New York Yankees 3-1 Friday night.

The 24-year-old righty, whose 100 previous big-league outings were all in relief, blanked the Yankees until Betemit, batting for Jose Molina, lined a clean drive far over right fielder Ichiro Suzuki. The hit scored Hideki Matsui, who had walked with one out on a close 3-2 pitch. Morrow angrily barked at himself as he walked back to the mound.

“You can’t do anything, but you want that back,” he said.

Bobo Holloman of the St. Louis Browns is the lone pitcher since 1900 to throw a no-hitter in his first big league start, doing it against the Philadelphia Athletics on May 6, 1953.

Cincinnati’s Bumpus Jones pitched one against Pittsburgh on Oct. 15, 1892, and Ted Breitenstein did it for St. Louis of the American Association against Louisville on Oct. 4, 1891, according the Elias Sports Bureau.

Morrow (2-2) left after Betemit’s hit on his 106th pitch, and Justin Thomas retired Johnny Damon on a lineout to end the inning. J.J. Putz completed the two-hitter for his 11th save in 19 chances.

The quiet Californian, left alone in the dugout between innings with his head resting on a white towel and his hands, said he was well aware he was nearing history throughout the game.

“I mean, there’s six scoreboards staring me in the face. It’s hard not to see,” he said, soaked from a postgame beer shower from teammates who haven’t celebrated much in this otherwise miserable Mariners season.

Morrow tried to strike out Betemit with the same, new curveball that had fooled Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi and others all night. It’s a pitch he began throwing in games just last month. This time, the curveball stayed high and in the middle of the plate.

“He threw me a changeup, a fastball and then a curveball right down the middle. It stayed right in the middle and I swung the bat good,” Betemit said.

Seattle, with the worst record in the A.L., had lost its previous eight games against the Yankees, who dropped 8 1/2 games behind Boston in the A.L. wild-card race with just 21 games remaining. With three weeks left in the regular season, it appears the Yankees will miss the playoffs for the first time since 1993.