Cincinnati’s Homer throws no-hitter
Homer Bailey of the Cincinnati Reds threw the season’s seventh no-hitter, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 on Friday night.
The seven no-hitters match the modern record for most in a season, tying 1990 and 1991. There were eight no-hitters in 1884.
The last no-hitter for the Reds was a perfect game by Tom Browning on Sept. 16, 1988. This was the 15th no-hitter in Reds history.
Bailey (13-10) walked one and struck out 10. He threw 115 pitches and retired the side in order in the ninth, striking out pinch-hitter Brock Holt then getting pinch-hitter Michael McKenry and Alex Presley to both pop out.
When Presley’s popup was caught by second baseman Brandon Phillips, Bailey was mobbed near the mound by teammates who doused him with water.
The 26-year-old Bailey improved to 5-0 in his six career starts with a 1.19 ERA at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park. All four of his complete games and both his shutouts have come against Pittsburgh.
Cincinnati, which clinched the N.L. Central title last Saturday, improved to 95-62. The Reds are tied with Washington for best record in the N.L.
Pittsburgh (76-81) made its own bit of history as it was assured a 20th consecutive non-winning season with the loss, extending its major North American professional sports record.
Bailey retired the first six batters before third baseman Scott Rolen failed to handle Clint Barmes’ ground ball leading off the third inning for an error. Bailey then set down 13 straight until walking Andrew McCutchen with one out in the seventh while clinging to the one-run lead.
McCutchen stole second but then was thrown out by catcher Ryan Hanigan attempting to steal third. The Reds scored the game’s lone run in the first inning on left fielder Todd Frazier’s sacrifice fly after loading the bases with no outs on singles by Phillips and Zach Cozart and a walk to Joey Votto.
A’s pitcher Braden yells at police chief
Oakland Athletics pitcher Dallas Braden yelled at the Stockton police chief while carrying a bat during an anti-crime rally in his hometown but won’t be punished.
Stockton filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and has experienced a surge in homicides.
Clearing the bases
Terry Francona joined Sandy Alomar Jr. as a candidate to become manager of the Cleveland Indians. … Yu Darvish felt no discomfort after throwing in the bullpen for the first time since skipping his turn for Texas because of neck stiffness. … Pirates second baseman Neil Walker is going to miss the rest of the season because of lower back soreness. … Minnesota released Tsuyoshi Nishioka, ending their experiment with the Japanese middle infielder after two rough seasons. … Omar Vizquel apologized to his Toronto teammates for telling a local newspaper the ballclub wasn’t doing enough to correct repeated mistakes by the players.