The St. Louis Cardinals’ Michael Wacha fell three outs shy of no-hitting the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday afternoon, and Major League Baseball’s 300th no-hitter remains up for grabs.
Wacha walked two and struck out eight at Busch Stadium before giving up a ninth-inning leadoff single to right to the Pirates’ Colin Moran. Jordan Hicks came in to preserve the 5-0 win, allowing Wacha improve to 7-1 on the season.
It would have marked the Cardinals’ 11th no-hitter – by our count (We include Ted Breitenstein’s 1891 American Association no-no for the St. Louis Browns). The last St. Louis no-no was 16 years, 9 months ago on Monday, September 3, 2001, when Bud Smith no-hit the San Diego Padres for a 4-0 win at Qualcomm Stadium. Coincidentally, the only pitcher to throw a no-no while wearing No. 52, Wacha’s number, was Smith.
The Pirates were last no-hit 2 years, 11 months, 13 days ago on Saturday, June 20, 2015, when the Washington Nationals’ Max Scherzer tossed a 6-0 no-no at Nationals Park.
The new Busch Stadium has yet to host a no-hitter.
Feature photo: Busch Stadium Inaugural Season by Phil under license (CC BY 2.0).
