Major League Baseball

One pitch away: Carrasco loses no-hitter in the bottom of the 9th

Published Jul. 1, 2015 10:29 p.m. ET

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By Will Gibson

One. Pitch. That’s how close Indians righthander Carlos Carrasco was to no-hitting the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field Wednesday night. WFNY will have a full game recap tomorrow morning, but here’s the quick and dirty of what happened.

Carrasco was perfect through six innings. He struck out 10, including two hitters in the each of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings.

Cookie lost his perfect game bid in the 7th inning, when he walked Rays left fielder Joey Butler with one out. He got Evan Longoria to hit into a 1-6-1 double play in the next at bat, and no-hitter stayed alive. Carrasco set the Rays down in order in the 8th, and came out in the bottom of the 9th with a no-no still intact.

He walked Asdrubal Cabrera to start the inning — those ex-Indians have been involved in some awfully big moments lately, no? — and hit the next man up, pinch hitter Brandon Guyer. With two on and nobody out, Grady Sizemore grounded into a fielder’s choice, getting thrown out at first base as Guyer and Cabrera moved up to second and third. He recovered to strike out leadoff hitter Kevin Kiermaier for the third time.

The next batter was the same man whose walk ended the no-hitter in the 7th: Joey Butler. Butler fouled off the first pitch and swung and missed at the second. Two strikes, two outs, two men aboard. On the next pitch, Butler flicked a looping line drive to the right side. Jason Kipnis leaped and extended his left arm as high as it would go, but the ball stayed a whisker too high and landed in short right field for a single.

Terry Francona pulled Carrasco after that — to a standing ovation from the Tampa fans — and Austin Adams got Jake Elmore to fly out to centerfield to end the game.

Carrasco had Rays swinging and missing all game long. He struck out 12 batters, and 10 of those were swinging. Carrasco induced a whopping 30 swinging strikes, only the third pitcher to do so since 2006.

It wasn’t a perfect game nor a no-hitter, but it was a hell of an effort, and Cookie was all smiles after the game. Carrasco’s start was the Indians’ third brilliant one in a row, with Danny Salazar and rookie Cody Anderson pitching 15.2 gorgeous innings over the previous two games. Salazar and Anderson took perfect games into the sixth inning on Tuesday and Monday, respectively, and the Indians pitchers made some history in the process.

It was great to see the ball club having fun, frankly. The Tribe pitchers have provided a vital lift when things have looked so bleak, and 14 runs in the past two games suggest that the offense may be coming around.

Is it starting to come together?

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