WATCH: Drew Smyly loses perfect game after collision with teammate Yan Gomes
The Cubs SP had one of his best performances but was unlucky to loss out a chance at history.
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[Drew Smyly collided with Yan Gomes which allowed David Peralta to reach base. Pic Credit: ABC News]
Baseball is a game that has been dominated by pitchers. No doubt hitting home runs and scoring runs contributes to a team’s victory. It is the pitcher who is awarded the win or loss. A good pitcher is likely not to allow the opposition to score runs on his watch. The hardest part as a pitcher is going through a game with no hits.
Throwing a no-hitter is a daunting task. Throwing a perfect game is another level. A pitcher is said to throw a no-hitter after he does not allow the opposition to reach base by a hit. The Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Drew Smyly was closing on a perfect game when this happened.
Smyly has retired the first 21 batters he faced. He was close to on retiring the 22nd. At the top of the eighth inning, he went face-to-face with David Peralta. The Dodger hitter got a weak bunt down the third baseline.
Both Smyly and catcher Yan Gomes went for the ball. The pitcher got the ball and was about to throw Peralta out at the first base, but was unfortunate. He collided with Gomes and Peralta reached first base safely.
Both players fell to the ground in pain and agony. Could Peralta manage to beat the throw? Maybe. Smyly would retire the next two batters he faced before being relieved by his manager. He would exit the game after throwing 103 pitches while claiming 10 strikeouts.
Related: Max Scherzer’s sticky situation: MLB’s crackdown on pitchers’ use of foreign substances
Drew Smyly’s mishap cost the Chicago Cubs a perfect game
There have been 23 perfect games throughout baseball history. The wait for the next perfect game continues as the last perfect game was thrown in 2012 by Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners. Interestingly, there were three perfect games that year. Before Hernandez, Philip Humber of the White Sox and Matt Cain of the Giants joined this exclusive list.
This unfortunate mishap was the only moment of the game where the Cubs were not on top. They would hammer the Dodgers 13-0. Julio Urias, Dodgers starting pitcher allowed five runs through seven hits in 3 1/3 innings. The Cubs blew the game wide open with seven runs in the fifth inning.
The last no-hitter thrown by a single pitcher involved another Los Angeles team. Angels starting pitcher Reid Detmers threw it on May 10 against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Houston Astros‘ bullpen threw a combined no-hitter in Game 4 of the World Series last year.
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Kaushani Chatterjee
(2175 Articles Published)