Say what you will about Homer Bailey, but the man sure has a penchant for spectacular finishes.
The Cincinnati Reds right-hander recorded the first no-hitter of the 2013 MLB season on Tuesday night, blanking the San Francisco Giants in a 3-0 victory at Great American Ballpark.
Bailey barely seemed to break a sweat during his 109-pitch effort, striking out nine batters and mowing through the San Francisco hitters with ease.
The Giants had only one baserunner during the entire contest, as Gregor Blanco drew a walk to start the seventh inning. Other than that, Bailey was perfect. He went through San Francisco’s first 18 hitters without so much as a scare. The Giants continually hit lazy fly balls to the outfield and whiffed as Bailey broke their will with ever-changing speeds.
As noted by ESPN Stats & Info, Bailey became the fourth active pitcher with multiple career no-hitters. The others are Roy Halladay, Justin Verlander and Mark Buehrle—not bad company.
Bailey’s no-hitter comes just before the All-Star break. Though there have been many close calls, the Reds star’s triumph was the first of 2013. Last season, there were seven no-hitters throughout Major League Baseball, a streak that led some to wonder if that signaled a far tilt toward a pitcher’s era.
Actually, it was Bailey who closed out last year’s rampant run of no-nos. The Reds star blanked the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sept. 28 at PNC Park, again giving up a mere one walk and striking out 10 batters en route to a 1-0 Cincinnati win.
As noted by MLB’s Twitter feed, Bailey has something of a “magic number” when it comes to throwing no-hitters. He’s thrown exactly 74 pitches for strikes in both outings, a strange fact in a night full of them for the former top prospect.
While Bailey “only” recorded nine strikeouts on Tuesday night, I’m sure he’s more than satisfied with his performance. The 27-year-old righty atoned for his only “mistake” of the night in getting Blanco to ground out to third to end the game, setting off a raucous celebration in front of over 27,000 at Great American Ballpark.
Watch the video embedded above and share in the triumphant moment for Bailey, his teammates and the Reds fans.
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