Pirates get no hits but still manage victory over Reds
In what’s quickly become a lost season for the Cincinnati Reds, this really was the ultimate misery.
Prized rookie Hunter Greene, out of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High, and reliever Art Warren combined to allow zero hits in a complete game, but it didn’t count as a no-hitter — or even a win.
Instead, the Pittsburgh Pirates eked out a run in the bottom of the eighth inning on three walks and a groundout for a 1-0 victory Sunday.
“It would have been great to have a different result, but it is what it is,” Greene said.
Ke’Bryan Hayes’ RBI grounder helped the Pirates become the sixth team in big league history since 1901 to win despite not getting any hits. It last happened in 2008 when Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo of the Angels lost while holding the Dodgers hitless.
By Major League Baseball record-keeping rules, Cincinnati’s accomplishment isn’t an official no-hitter because its pitchers didn’t go at least nine innings.
“Sometimes you win games in weird ways and today we won one in a weird way. And if it’s a part of history, that’s fine because it’s still a win,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said.
And in a year in which most everything has gone wrong for the Reds, this surely had to be the topper as they fell to 9-26, the worst record in the majors.
Greene (1-6) was pulled after one-out walks in the eighth to Rodolfo Castro and Michael Perez. The 22-year-old righty walked five and threw 118 pitches, the most by any pitcher in the majors this year.
Greene fired seven heaters at 100 mph or faster, and mixed in sharp sliders and effective changeups.
He was totally aware of the possible no-hitter, too.
“To be honest, like in the third or fourth. But that’s the last thing I wanted to think about (because) it is really hard to just stay locked in and not think about those things,” Greene said.
“I had the scoreboard right in my face and I was trying not to make eye contact with it. Everybody was giving me my space and knew that I was locked in.”
Toward the end, he admitted, he was out of gas.
“But then again, there’s the mental part of, you know, ‘I’m fine. I’m not tired,’” he said.
Warren relieved and walked Ben Gamel to load the bases. Hayes followed with a grounder to second baseman Alejo Lopez, who bobbled the ball before throwing to shortstop Matt Reynolds for a forceout. Reynolds’ relay for a potential inning-ending double play was a fraction late to get the speedy Hayes at first base.
Cincinnati batters went down in order in the ninth and that was it at PNC Park.
Pirates starter José Quintana pitched seven innings, giving up three hits while striking out five.
CARDINALS 15, GIANTS 6 >> Yadier Molina homered and drove in four runs and Adam Wainwright tossed six effective innings to lead St. Louis over visiting San Francisco in a game that ended with veteran slugger Albert Pujols on the mound.
Paul Goldschmidt, who had three RBIs, and Nolan Arenado each had a two-run homer for the Cardinals.
Pujols, the Cardinals’ designated hitter, came into a game as a pitcher for the first time in his career in the ninth inning. He gave up a three-run homer to Luis Gonzalez and a solo homer to Joey Bart but managed to get the final three outs.
Molina capped a four-run outburst in the first inning off Carlos Rodon (4-2) with a two-run single. Molina added a two-run homer off reliever Zack Littell in the fifth to push the lead to 11-0.
Wainwright (4-3) gave up two runs and three hits.
Rodon (4-2) allowed eight runs and 10 hits over 3 2/3 innings. He had given up just seven earned runs over his previous six starts this season.
MARINERS 8, METS 7 >> Rookie Julio Rodríguez hit a tying homer as part of a four-hit game, Cal Raleigh added a go-ahead, two-run drive and reliever Diego Castillo struck out New York star Pete Alonso with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to lift Seattle to the road win.
New York trailed 4-1, then burst ahead in the fourth against Robbie Ray when J.D. Davis and Brandon Nimmo became the first pair of Mets in the team’s 61-season history to hit two-run triples in the same inning.
ASTROS 8, NATIONALS 0 >> Yuli Gurriel went 3-for-4 with a homer, Justin Verlander pitched five solid innings and visiting Houston topped Washington.
Jose Altuve, Martin Maldonado and Chas McCormick also homered for the Astros.
A day after allowing 13 runs as Houston’s 11-game winning streak ended, Astros pitchers tossed their fourth shutout in seven games, a four-hitter kicked off by Verlander.
Verlander (5-1) didn’t allow a hit until surrendering back-to-back singles with one out in the fifth. Manager Dusty Baker opted to leave him in and Verlander retired César Hernández on a popup before getting Juan Soto to ground out with his 107th pitch.
Verlander struck out five and walked three.
PADRES 7, BRAVES 3, 11 INNINGS >> Ha-Seong Kim had a run-scoring double to give San Diego the lead in a fourrun 11th inning and the Padres won at Atlanta.
Kim’s double to left field off Jackson Stephens (01) drove in Jake Cronenworth, who opened the inning as the automatic runner on second.
Kim moved to third on a throwing error by shortstop Dansby Swanson and scored on Jurickson Profar’s grounder to second base. Will Myers added a two-run single.
Swanson’s two-run homer off Joe Musgrove gave the Braves a 3-0 lead in the fourth.
RANGERS 7, RED SOX 1 >> Adolis García and Kole Calhoun each hit two home runs, Martin Perez pitched six strong innings and host Texas beat Boston.
García broke a 1-1 tie with two out and two men on base in the sixth when he hit an 0-1 pitch from Boston’s Ryan Brasier into the right-center field bullpen.
Two pitches later, Calhoun sent another homer the other way.
García added a two-run homer in the eighth to tie his career high with five RBIs.
Perez (2-2) allowed one run, five hits and struck out seven.
TIGERS 5, ORIOLES 1 >> Miguel Cabrera blasted his 505th career home run, Tarik Skubal equaled his career high with 11 strikeouts, and Detroit completed its first series sweep this season by beating visiting Baltimore.
Cabrera had two hits, scored two runs and knocked in two more for the Tigers, who have won three straight.
Skubal (3-2) lasted six innings, limiting Baltimore to three hits and two walks.
YANKEES 5, WHITE SOX 1 >> Nestor Cortes pitched a career-high eight innings and New York took advantage of Michael Kopech’s one wild stretch to win at Chicago.
The Yankees managed just two hits: a second-inning single by Isiah KinerFalefa and a two-run homer by Joey Gallo in the ninth.
Cortes (2-1) allowed three hits, struck out seven and walked none.
Kopech (0-1) pitched six innings of one-hit ball for Chicago. The right-hander had five sharp innings — and one real bad one.
New York got to Kopech for three runs in the second after he retired the first two batters, making the most of four walks, a wild pitch and Kiner-Falefa’s single to left. Aaron Hicks and DJ LeMahieu each walked with the bases loaded, and Jose Trevino scored on the wild pitch.