Sabathia carried a no-hitter into the eighth before Kelly Shoppach's two-out single ended the historic bid. Dave Robertson finished up the combined two-hitter, as the Yankees blanked the Rays, 10-0.
The Yankees haven't had a no-hitter since David Cone tossed a perfect game on July 18, 1999, against the Expos in the Bronx.
Sabathia's gem evoked memories of A.J. Burnett's flirtation with history in this same ballpark nearly a year ago. Burnett retired 18 of the first 19 Rays he faced last April 14, losing his no-hit bid in the seventh on Carl Crawford's leadoff single in the seventh.
Robinson Cano snapped a scoreless tie in the fourth with a two-run blast to right field against Wade Davis, his second of the season.
The Yankees added two more runs in the fifth, getting an RBI single by Derek Jeter and an RBI double by Mark Teixeira – the first hit of the season for Teixiera, who started the year in a career-worst 0-for-17 skid. Teixeira finished the day 3-for-4.
The four-run lead was more than enough for Sabathia, who retired the first 12 Rays before issuing a leadoff walk to Evan Longoria to start the fifth. Longoria stole second and moved to third on a groundout, but Sabathia stranded him by striking out Pat Burrell to end the inning.
Sabathia retired the side in order in the sixth, getting some help from Teixeira, who made a diving grab to his right on Jason Bartlett's two-out liner.
Teixeira's web gem was memorable, but it paled in comparison to A-Rod's diving stop on B.J. Upton's hot shot down the third-base line with two outs in the seventh. A-Rod stopped the ball, jumped to his feet and fired to first, beating the speedy Upton by more than a full step to close the seventh, bringing Sabathia six outs from history. A-Rod pumped his fist as he walked off the field, excited to keep his teammate's historic bid alive.
After the Yankees tacked on four runs in the top of the eighth, Willy Aybar opened the bottom of the inning with a comebacker that Sabathia deflected with his bare hand. Cano had him backed up all the way, fielding the ball and firing to first for the out. Sabathia walked off the mound to bump fists with Cano, giving the second baseman a pat on his backside to thank him.
Chants of "Let's go CC!" began to erupt throughout portions of Tropicana Field, as the Tampa Bay crowd hoped to witness history. Burrell flied out to center for the second out, but Sabathia couldn't carry the no-no into the ninth, as Shoppach lined an 0-1 pitch to left, dropping it in front of a helpless Brett Gardner.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar