Only In Baseball

Last night, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim while getting no hits. Even though Angels pitchers Jered Weaver and Jose Arrendondo combined on a no-hitter for eight innings, it was not ruled a no-hitter because the two pitchers combined to throw only 8 innings. The Dodgers scored their only run in the fifth inning en route to a 1-0 victory at Dodger Stadium. Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp reached on an error, and then stole second. When the throw of Angels catcher Jeff Mathis sailed into center field, Kemp went on to third. Dodgers third basemen Blake DeWitt then hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Kemp, the only run of the game. Had the Dodgers not scored that run, the game would have been tied going into the bottom of the 9th and the Angels would have had a shot at combining on a no-hitter.

Only in baseball could something as wacky as this happen. First of all, the Angels did not allow a hit and lost. The Dodgers got no hits during the game and somehow won. Second of all, even though the Angels did not allow any hits during the course of the game, they did not an official no-hitter. The rule states that a no-hitter is "when a pitcher(s) allows no hits during the entire course of a game, which consists of at least nine innings." Since the Dodgers were the home team and were winning at the end of the top of the 9th inning, the bottom half of the 9th was not played and the Angels were denied a chance at their franchise's ninth-ever no-hitter. It was just the third time since 1961 that a team threw a no-hitter for 8 innings, yet could not try for an official no-hitter because they lost the game.

Usually it is walks that bring in runs for a team that is eventually no-hit. For instance, in Chicago White Sox pitcher Joe Cowley's no-hitter in 1986, he gave up one run on eight walks. However, last night, Angels starter Jered Weaver's run was unearned, as it was scored because of an error. The Angels could not even score a run to make up for their mishap, and Weaver ended up with the loss. Imagine how unlucky Weaver must feel. He did not allow a hit or an earned run for the 6 innings he pitched, and yet he somehow became the losing pitcher.

Only in baseball could something that odd happen. The way the game is played allows for some crazy and just outright wierd things to happen. For instance, Carlos Delgado, the first basemen for the New York Mets, a National League team, set the record for most RBIs in a single game by a DH with 9 against the New York Yankees on Friday. A record broken like that could only happen in baseball, which is one of the reasons why the sport is so great. Only in baseball can something so amazing and different happen in every single game, which makes going to the ballpark a treat because no one can ever predict an outcome. It is why baseball is America's pastime and why baseball is the best sport on the planet.