Major League Baseball

Wacha's no-hitter, unblemished record spoiled in one inning against Dodgers

Published May. 31, 2015 12:59 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

ST. LOUIS -- Michael Wacha's night started brilliantly, but it couldn't have ended on a worse note.

Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal sent the right-hander's final pitch over the center-field fence for the critical hit in the Cardinals' 5-1 loss, their first in Wacha's 10 starts this season. The two-out, three-run home run also ended St. Louis' third five-game win streak in two months.

"We saw a good changeup today, had depth to it," Matheny said. "He was pitching his fastball off of it, with elevating it and getting some swing and misses. I thought his cutter was good as well and getting some early strikes with the hook, but I just think he was executing everything right from the top."

After a two-hour, 20-minute rain delay, Wacha struck out the side to set the tone for five hitless innings. Kolten Wong took advantage of a Dodgers error to score in the first for the sixth straight game, and everything looked clear for the Cardinals in a lingering mist at Busch Stadium.

The trouble began with Justin Turner's one-out double off the wall in right field to break up Wacha's no-hitter just in time to face the heart of the LA order. A fastball drilled Adrian Gonzalez in the back on the 12th pitch of a grinding at-bat, and Howie Kendrick followed with a game-tying RBI single.

Andre Ethier's flyball to center fielder Jon Jay brought Wacha within an out of minimizing the damage before Grandal stepped up to the plate. Although relievers Seth Maness and Randy Choate were up in the bullpen, manager Mike Matheny never doubted his best starter so far this season.

"He's our best option and he's throwing the ball extremely well and has strikeout ability to get us out of it," Matheny said. "He's the guy we want on the mound and he was pushing his limit pitch-count wise, but it wasn't anything crazy."

Wacha agreed fatigue wasn't to blame for his costly mistake, which turned into just the fifth home run he's given up in 63 1/3 innings this season. He lowered his ERA to 1.71 before the Dodgers scored four to hand him his first regular-season loss since last September.

An offense that had provided Wacha with an MLB-best six runs per game of support in his first nine starts couldn't come close to matching that total against starter Carlos Frias and the LA bullpen. The Cardinals didn't have an extra-base hit and got only two runners to second base after the second inning.

Watch the Cardinals Live pregame and postgame shows before and after every St. Louis Cardinals game on FOX Sports Midwest.

Wacha allowed even less to extend the Dodgers' scoreless streak on the road to a franchise-record 42 innings. Los Angeles hitters reached base only on three walks as Wacha matched a season-high seven strikeouts through five innings on the two-year anniversary of his MLB debut.

"Right off the gate, I felt really strong, felt good with all my pitches," Wacha said. "Just that one inning got away from me there."

That was all the Dodgers needed.

You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball