Near Misses...

by LaddieRenfroe on Sep 20, 2008 12:44 AM CDT

I've contemplated putting up a FanPost on this subject for quite awhile, and tonight, while watching and listening to the replays, ...

Each and every time that a Cubs pitcher has taken a no-hitter into the latter innings during my lifetime, I've thought about the near misses...the games in which a Cubs pitcher took a no-no into the 9th inning.

I can think of three...

Rainey

Moyer

and Guzman.

Are there any others? I fooled around with baseball-reference's PI index but there is neither a "near no-hitter" tool nor is there a way to siphon results to find such a game. My personal memory doesn't cover the entire 36-year gap between Zambrano and Pappas...did anyone else come close?

Did anybody other than Zambrano ever take one into the 8th?

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I know you said OTHER than Z...

But here’s a few near-misses for Z…

April 9th, 2005 v. Brewers – A 2nd inning single was the only hit given up by Z in 7.1 innings… Up until this game, Z had never thrown anything better than a 2-hitter.

May 31st, 2005 v. Dodgers – No-hitter broken up in 3rd on an RBI single, turns out to be the only hit Z gave up in 8 innings…

July 9th, 2007 v Reds – Only a 2nd inning homer by Adam Dunn while Zambrano was on the bump, as he went 8 strong…

The closest Z came to a no-no before this year was June 5th, 2006 against the Astros, when Z had a no-no through 7.1 before giving up a single to right. Z finished with 8 IP, 1 hit.

As for other Cubs… Jason Marquis had the most dominant complete game performance in recent history (for me, at least) against the Pirates on May 9th, 2007, when he had a three hit shutout of the Pirates. In that game he looked nasty and didnt walk anyone.

One thing you learned as a Cubs fan: when you bought you ticket, you could bank on seeing the bottom of the ninth.
Joe Garagiola

by Ryan at Cubshub on Sep 20, 2008 1:15 AM CDT reply actions

strong work...

…I thought that Zambrano had gone into the 8th twice… Now I recall that game on 6/5/06. I was probably confused because that game took place in an abandoned airplane hangar, just like the game in 2003 as well as his no-hitter last Sunday.

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by LaddieRenfroe on Sep 20, 2008 2:11 AM CDT up reply actions

I attended Marquis' CG shutout vs. the Pirates last year.

By the time my friend and I found some seats in the bleachers, we’d missed the first three to four innings. (And we heard but did not witness Soriano’s leadoff home run in the first inning – the only run of the game.) And then we were so far back that I assumed Dempster had come on to close it out. I didn’t even realize Marquis had finished the game until we were at Murphy’s afterward.

Oh, and about Z, didn’t he one-hit the Padres last season? The Cubs lost the game on a late-inning home run. Anyone, anyone? I’m too lazy to look it up right now.

''Let's be clear about this: We've still got to win two more games.'' - Jim Edmonds, 9/18/08

by daver on Sep 20, 2008 9:05 AM CDT up reply actions

Last year vs Padres

Zambrano also had a no-hitter thru 7 1/3 last year vs the Padres on June 18th. Same game that DLee and Chris Young got ejected for fighting

by sowsman on Sep 20, 2008 11:50 AM CDT up reply actions

Uh, yeah...

…that was the game I was referring to. I can’t believe I forgot that was the same game as the DLee-Young fight. I’m hurtin’.

''Let's be clear about this: We've still got to win two more games.'' - Jim Edmonds, 9/18/08

by daver on Sep 20, 2008 8:51 PM CDT up reply actions

Here's the only other one I can think of.

Jim Bullinger on August 30, 1992. He took a no-hitter into the 8th and Kirt Manwaring led off the inning with a home run, which was the only hit. Kicker: Manwaring wasn’t a power hitter. He hit only 21 career HR in almost 3000 at-bats.

The Guzman game was perfect through 7, then Terry Pendleton led off the 8th with a walk. That’s as close as any Cub has come to a perfect game since Pappas.

On September 20, 1999, Jon Lieber had a perfect game through 6 2/3. He then gave up: a homer, a single, another homer, another single, another homer, and another single before he was taken out of the game. The Cubs lost 6-0. That’s about the biggest explosion I have ever seen off any pitcher who had a no-hitter that late into a game.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Sep 20, 2008 4:12 AM CDT reply actions

thanks Al...

…the Bullinger game rings a bell, but not Lieber’s effort.

Speaking of “the biggest explosion” after a no-hit bid, I remembered Moyer nearly losing the game after taking a no-hit bid into the 9th with a big lead. Upon finding the actual boxscore, it wasn’t as close as I thought – in my memory, that game was a close-run thing, with the Phillies making it a one-run game and then loading the bases with one out. In reality, it wasn’t nearly so tight.

I also remember Harry refusing to obey the superstitious protocol of not acknowledging that a no-hitter was taking place. For example, in the 7th inning of Guzman’s game, he opened the inning by saying, “Jose Guzman is pitching a perfect game!”, instead of tiptoeing around it and using a phrase like “Houston’s without a base hit”, as both Len and Pat did for most of the latter innings last Sunday. At the same time, Steve was continually reprimanding him for discussing the no-hitter so blatantly…

…While I’d swear that was the case, my memory was wrong about Moyer’s game so I may be wrong about Harry too. Anybody else remember more clearly?

We sell spatulas...and that's all.

by LaddieRenfroe on Sep 20, 2008 4:47 AM CDT up reply actions

Frank Castillo

On Sept 25, 1995, Frank Castillo has a no hitter for 8 2/3 innings until Bernard Gilkey hit a triple. THe CUbs won 7-0 while Castillo stuck out 13. I remember that because I was sitting right behind home plate for that game.

Kasey

See my Pictures of the 2008 Cubs at http://ignarski.tripod.com/cub-pics-2008.html
Also, see the Cubs 2008 schedule with game results and TV schedule at http://ignarski.tripod.com/sched2008.html

by kaseyi on Sep 20, 2008 8:19 AM CDT reply actions

This is the one I was thinking of...

…didn’t Sosa dive for and narrowly miss Gilkey’s triple?

"That’s what I love about my skip, man. He’ll tell you that you suck...I know I suck. We know we suck...Yeah, we suck. But we’ll see who sucks at the end."
- Gary Sheffield

by DrGalazkiewicz on Sep 20, 2008 3:37 PM CDT up reply actions

Didn't Z

have a near no-hitter against the Diamondbacks in Arizona about four or five years ago?

For your information, the Supreme Court has roundly rejected prior restraint.

by Less is Walrond on Sep 20, 2008 9:17 AM CDT reply actions

Me dumb

For your information, the Supreme Court has roundly rejected prior restraint.

by Less is Walrond on Sep 20, 2008 9:18 AM CDT up reply actions

all this and no mention of kerry wood?

the 20-K game? there was one cheap hit. i forget which inning.

by nathew on Sep 20, 2008 11:02 AM CDT reply actions

3rd Inning

Ricky Gutierrez hit a grounder to the left of Kevin Orie, who closed his glove too soon and had the ball kick off it. Scorer ruled it a hit when it was an obvious error.

Just think – if Orie fields it cleanly, and if Woodie doesn’t hit Biggio with a pitch (he probably leaned into it, given his reputation), it’s a perfecto. And probably the most dominating pitching performance ever!

Never, but NEVER, put ketchup on a hot dog.

by CaliCub on Sep 20, 2008 2:21 PM CDT up reply actions

my take on the "hit"...

…is that it was a play that would normally have been scored a hit. However, if that play had occured later in the game, if Wood had clearly had a no-hit bid, it would’ve been scored as an error. Orie was charging the ball and getting it over to first in time would’ve been difficult…

…certainly, it was a “soft hit”…as well as a reason to like Game Scores as a measure of a starting pitcher’s performance on any given day. Yeesh. It makes me sad to think about the 1998 version of Kerry Wood’s breaking ball. Sometimes he couldn’t get it too close to the plate but it was as devastating a pitch as I’ve ever seen. I wasn’t there for the 20 strikeout peformance but I was at Riverfront for this game which remains the best pitching performance by a Cub that I’ve ever seen in person.

We sell spatulas...and that's all.

by LaddieRenfroe on Sep 22, 2008 2:52 AM CDT up reply actions

In 2005

Matt Clement pitched 6.1 innings of no hit ball against the Mets. Ended up only giving 2 hits. That’s the closest I had gotten to a no-hitter in person…until Sunday night!

by KatoRx on Sep 20, 2008 12:05 PM CDT reply actions

My bad

4/25/04, not 2005

by KatoRx on Sep 20, 2008 12:05 PM CDT up reply actions

Thanks...

…for the responses. I knew that there was a “near miss” that I couldn’t recall and it was the Castillo/Gilkey game. Funny, the mention of Gilkey’s name immediately rang a bell but I’d long since forgotten that it was Castillo pitching. I must admit that, while I do remember that game, I’d somehow worked it into my head that it was Shawn Boskie and not Castillo that came so close…

…I spent about 15 minutes looking through Boskie’s gamelogs, which is fifteen minutes of my life that I’ll never get back.

I didn’t post on the old “why we’re here” thread, now a closed sidebar feature, (the question there was essentially “why are you a Cubs fan” and my answer is “because my dad was a Cubs fan”) but I like this site because there’s always somebody else out there who remembers those obscure, individual games from the 90s, 80s, or 70s, etc. And if I wrack my brain trying to conjure up memories of Frank Castillo, and fail, I can put up a fanpost…so thanks.

We sell spatulas...and that's all.

by LaddieRenfroe on Sep 22, 2008 2:24 AM CDT reply actions