Dodgers' Beckett no-hits Phillies

Baseball saw its first no-hitter of the 2014 season on Sunday when Josh Beckett of the Los Angeles Dodgers worked his magic to blank the Philadelphia Phillies in their own home. With such pitching stars as Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, both of whom who have hoisted Cy Young Awards during their careers as well as former All-Star Dan Haren and Korean sensation Hyun-Jin Ryu, it was the eldest of the bunch who did something neither of his teammates had accomplished before. Needing 128-pitches, 80 of which were for strikes, the 34-year old Beckett became the 24th Dodger in franchise history to toss a no-no (11th since the club moved to L.A.) and the first since Hideo Nomo no-hit the Colorado Rockies on September 17, 1996.

Beckett, a 3-time All-Star himself and a 2-time World Series champion, has had his fair share of ups and downs over the last few seasons but seems to have found his rhythm so far in 2014. Sporting a 2.43 ERA in 9 starts this year, Beckett saw his best outing yet on Sunday, striking out six and allowing three walks without yielding a single hit, which earned him NL Player of the Week honors. But the road Beckett has taken over the last year is almost as remarkable as the masterful performance he had on Memorial Day weekend. After struggling early in the season last year and eventually serving a stint on the disabled list where he began experiencing tingling in his fingers and numbing of his hands, it was learned that Beckett had been diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome. Fearing that he wouldn't be able to pitch again, Beckett underwent season-ending surgery in July and had a rib removed to relieve pressure on his nerves. Several outings into the new season and I think it's safe to say Beckett is healthy again.

Though the no-hitter was a first for Beckett who had made 320 starts prior to Sunday's 6-0 win over the Phillies, the man behind the dish who caught Beckett, had some experience however. Dodgers catcher Drew Butera added a second no-hitter to his resume on Sunday after catching one from Francisco Liriano back in 2011 while with the Minnesota Twins. Beckett's gem was nearly one-upped the following day when his fellow teammate Hyun-Jin Ryu took a perfect game into the 8th inning on Monday before Todd Frazier of the Reds hit a double to lead off the inning. The two combined for 17 straight no-hit innings, nearly becoming the first pair of teammates to toss no-hitters on back to back outings. L.A.'s streak of 17 hit-less innings is one that's only been matched one time in the last 30+ years when the Dodgers' cross-town rival Los Angeles Angels did it in May of 2012 which featured a no-hitter by Jared Weaver. The Dodgers (29-24), winners of their last three, are hoping Beckett's stellar pitching can continue as they look to gain some ground on the division-leading San Francisco Giants who hold a 4.5 game lead in the NL West.


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Fish out of Water

In what was a forgetful season for the Miami Marlins in 2013, finishing dead last in the NL East with a National League worst record of 62-100, 21-year old pitcher Jose Fernandez was one of the lone bright spots for the struggling franchise. After boasting an ERA of 2.19 and a 12-6 record in 28 starts while being named to the NL All-Star squad last season, the Cuban born Fernandez who was shutdown in 2013 after pitching 172 1/3 innings, went on to take home NL Rookie of Year honors in what the Marlins were hoping would be a glimpse of the future. A future for the time being appears to be a little cloudy. Fernandez would see a similar start to his 2014 campaign, leading the league in strikeouts and among the league leaders in WHIP before being named April's NL Pitcher of the Month for the 20-20 Marlins. But on Monday, it all came crashing down.

Despite the precautions the Marlins have taken during Fernandez's young and brief big league journey, setting an innings limit during his rookie season, the team was unable to prevent their darling ace from falling victim to an arm injury. Following a May 9 start on the road against the San Diego Padres where he was hit hard, allowing six hits and five earned runs in five innings, Fernandez experienced some discomfort in his right elbow which an MRI later revealed to be a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament. After meeting with team doctors, it was learned that Fernandez would need to undergo Tommy John surgery to repair the ligament, thus putting an end to his 2014 sophomore campaign. For the Marlins, the news is devastating as Fernandez is not only their best player and one of the premiere pitchers in all of baseball, but he's a fan favorite. And for a ball club that has struggled to fill seats since opening the gates to their new ballpark in 2012, the absence of Fernandez will hit that much harder.

Though there's been a laundry list of young pitchers that have seen their 2014 season come to an end already this season such as Atlanta's Kris Medlin, Tampa's Matt Moore and Oakland's Jarrod Parker among others, as well as towards the end of last year as was the case for Mets phenom Matt Harvey, the injury to Fernandez is the most surprising considering how well the Marlins groomed and pampered him, setting up an innings limit and keeping a close eye on his pitch counts. Not to mention the clean history of never sustaining an arm injury in his past. With a 12 to 18 month expected recovery time for their star pitcher, all the Marlins can do is wait it out and hope for the best. Still in the process of rebuilding the franchise, the Marlins who weren't expected to make a whole lot of noise coming into the season, boast the best home record in all of baseball at 17-5, thanks in large part to their starting pitching which will now be without its leader. With Fernandez no longer in the running for the NL Cy Young Award which many including myself thought he would end up winning this season, L.A.'s Zack Greinke looks like an early candidate to potentially prevent teammate Clayton Kershaw from winning the hardware for a third consecutive season.


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Yu almost had it

If someone had asked me before the season started who I thought would be the first pitcher to toss a no-hitter this season, without hesitating, I would've said Texas' Yu Darvish. After retiring the first 26 batters he faced last season when pitching against the Houston Astros back on April 2, Texas' ace Yu Darvish watched out no. 27 go right between his legs into center field for a hit, erasing what would've been the 23rd perfect game in MLB history. Despite the disappointment that he had to have felt coming oh so close to making history, there he stood with a smile on his face after flirting with a perfect game. Though he would fail to etch his name into the record books and reach baseball immortality on this night, Darvish, who has more than lived up to the hype since transitioning his game from Japan to the Major League's just two seasons ago, has established himself among the top pitchers in the game today. 

And on Friday night, the Japanese All-Star was once again on top of his game and appeared to be on his way to pitching a game for the ages in Arlington. From the first inning on, Darvish was hitting his target and had several pitches working for him which would spell doom for the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox who would have their work cut out for them. At one point in the game, Darvish hit a streak of six consecutive strikeouts before eventually finishing the game with 12 K's, while retiring the first 20 batters he faced. And then what appeared to be a harmless fly ball to shallow right field off the bat of Big Papi David Ortiz, fell in between second baseman Rougned Odor and outfielder Alex Rios as both players looked at one another thinking the other one was going to make the catch. Darvish would catch a break, however, as the call would be ruled an error by the official scorer. A rare call given the ball failed to touch either player. Rios would be the one changed with the error, one any teammate would be willing to sacrifice if it meant their pitcher still had a chance at making history. 

Though the error wouldn't break Darvish completely, it would have an effect on how he pitched the rest of the game as he went on to walk two of the next three batters he faced. But even then, the 27-year old hurler still had a no-hit bid in tact. That was until he reached the dreaded ninth inning. With 26 outs recorded and a goose egg in the hit column for the Red Sox, Ortiz came up one last time as the only batter standing in the way of Darvish and his no-hitter. But even with the shift on, playing Ortiz to pull, Big Papi who just innings earlier was the cause of an error that wiped out any chance of a perfect game, snuck a ground ball single in between the second baseman and shortstop on the 126th pitch on the night by Darvish who came just one out shy of a no-hitter for the second time in as many seasons. It would be the final batter of the night for Yu who was pulled by skipper Ron Washington and received a thunderous ovation by the 45,000+ in attendance who stood and applauded Darvish's masterful performance. For the second time after nearly making history, Darvish would be forced to watch another man record that 27th out that he came so close to recording as Rangers reliever Alexi Ogando retired the next batter, sealing Texas' 8-0 win and leaving Darvish still seeking his first complete-game.

Darvish joins hurler Dave Stieb as the only pitchers to have multiple no-hit bids broken up with 2-outs in the ninth inning. Stieb had it happen three times while a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, including twice in back to back starts in 1988. With the season still young and plenty of starts left in the promising career of Yu Darvish, I've got a feeling the third time will be a charm. 


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