San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Moore fell one out short of throwing the first no-hitter of his career against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Moore gave up a single to shortstop Corey Seager and was immediately pulled from the game, likely due to his high pitch count. Santiago Casilla recorded the final out to seal the Giants’ 4-0 win.
In 8.2 innings, Moore struck out seven batters and walked three on 133 pitches. It was the most pitches a starter has thrown in a game this season, per the Dodgers’ telecast.
In the eighth inning, concerns over whether Moore would be able to go the distance were growing.
He surpassed his season high of 114 pitches in the frame, and by the time Joc Pederson lined out to Denard Span to end the inning, Moore was up to 119 pitches. His previous career high was 120 in 2013.
But he batted in the bottom of the eighth, which signaled he’d be back on the mound for the ninth inning.
Moore and manager Bruce Bochy discussed the game plan, per CSN Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic:
Enrique Hernandez made a bid to end the no-hitter, rocketing a line drive to center field to lead off the ninth, but Span made a sliding catch to record the first out.
After going to a 3-2 count against Howie Kendrick, Moore got him to ground out to third base.
On his bobblehead night, it all came down to Seager to prevent Moore from making history. On the 133rd pitch of Moore’s outing, Seager fisted a blooper over second baseman Joe Panik’s head to spoil the evening.
While Moore’s wait to achieve one of the greatest feats a major league pitcher can attain will continue, he didn’t seem too broken up about it after the game, per Pavlovic:
Even the Dodgers appreciated Moore’s performance:
Moore was making just his fifth start with the Giants since the Tampa Bay Rays, the team with which he spent the first five seasons of his career, dealt him ahead of the non-waiver trade deadline.
Only once in his career had Moore gone seven innings or more while allowing only one hit. That came in 2012, his second year in the majors, against the Miami Marlins.
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