Before last night there was only one no-hitter thrown in the history of Coors Field, by Hideo Nomo of the Los Angeles Dodgers, back on September 17th, 1996. After last night, it remains as the only no-hitter in the history of Coors Field; although German Marquez did almost everything necessary to achieve something that no other Rockies has in the stadium’s 25 years in existence. He was in command in all of his pitches, didn’t allow much, if any, hard contact and was extremely efficient through his first eight innings of work; adding two doubles with the bat along the way-not that the outcome of this game was ever in question.
Then came the ninth inning, and the soft hitting Ka’ai Tom at the plate. With one swing of the bat, on an 0-1 pitch that hung up in the zone a little to much, history was erased.
He would go on to retire the next two batters, facing only 28 Pirates on the day, one over the minimum, thanks in part to Jacob Stallings hit by pitch in the bottom of second; providing the end of the story for most in Pittsburgh’s 49th loss of the season by a score of 8 to 0.
However, for some a debate arose, in the the immediate aftermath of the Pirates latest defeat, as to whether or not fans of the team should cheer when the no-hit bid was erased; which I am not actually sure is up for discussion. You never want your team to be on the receiving end of a no-hitter. Sure it’s cool to say you watched it, or were in attendance, after it’s all said and done; but does it honestly feel good? The answer is a resounding no; especially when your team is in the midst of a potential 100 loss season. But, if I am being candid, a shutout 1 hit loss doesn’t feel very good either.
News and Notes
- When your team gets shutout, and almost no-hit, there are a lot of questions; and also tons of frustrations. However, the part that made me hang, and shake my head the most, was when Jacob Stallings “lobbed” the baseball to Phillip Evans on Charlie Blackmon’s bunt single in the bottom of the 5th, with 2 outs; which allowed Marquez to score, and subsequently gave Trevor Story the opportunity to hit an RBI double, to put the Pirates down 5-0. Some say he should have tried to tag Marquez as he was trying to score, but that is incorrect; you always take the “sure thing”. A close second was Chase De Jong “trying” to pick off Blackmon earlier in the game, no less than a hundred times, and ultimately throwing the ball away.
- Without Stallings mental, and actually physical, lapse De Jong’s night looks a little better than 5 earned runs on 9 hits, with 3 strikeouts-would have only been 2 without the Stallings throw-and no walks.
- Cody Ponce made it three full innings in relief, after giving up 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th; and to be truthful I still don’t completely understand the decision to bring up Ponce from AAA to be relegated to the bullpen, especially when he had been stretched out as a starter in AAA. That is unless being a reliever becomes his role for the rest of the year.
- A no-hit bid doesn’t come without some great plays on defense. He’s Trevor Story climbing the ladder to rob Stallings.
- Prior to the game, Austin Davis was optioned to AAA to make room on the active roster for Sam Howard, who was returning from his stint on the IL.
After a short layoff, the Pirates and Rockies finish off their three game series-and Pittsburgh tries to avoid the sweep-at 3:10 PM EST.
For the Pirates, Chad Kuhl (2-4, 5.05 ERA) looks to put together his third strong start in a row; which probably means I just jinxed him. And for Colorado, it’s Jon Gray (4-6, 3.97 ERA); who is coming off a strong start-10 strikeouts and no earned runs-of his own.
Inside The Bucs Basement 