Texas Rangers ace Yu Darvish has come close to throwing a perfect game in the past, and was on the cusp of the feat yet again Friday night against the Boston Red Sox. Unfortunately, a misplayed fly ball cost him another chance at joining the exclusive club.
With two outs in the top of the seventh inning, Darvish got David Ortiz to lift a lazy fly ball into right field. Second baseman Rougned Odor—playing in only his second game at the big-league level—was under the ball because the Rangers had a shift on, but a miscommunication between him and right fielder Alex Rios allowed the ball to drop into no-man’s land.
On plays like this, where no fielders touch the ball, the official scorer typically credits the batter with a hit. This ended up being the case for Darvish, who was the beneficiary of the hometown scorer.
With the pressure of perfection lifted off his shoulders, Darvish continued his dominance and was within one out of throwing the first no-hitter of his career. But on his 126th and final pitch of the night, Big Papi was able to find a hole in the shift.
Odor had a chance—albeit a slim one—to redeem himself, but wasn’t able to stab the hard ground ball:
Had Darvish completed the no-hitter, this controversial ruling would have been talked about for quite some time.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com