The Pittsburgh Pirates came within one out of a Spring Training no-hitter Tuesday during a 10-1 win against the Atlanta Braves at North Port, Florida’s CoolTodayPark.
The Pirates’ Steven Brault (2), Miguel Yajure (2), Chris Stratton (1), Edgar Santana (1), Sam Howard (1) and Sean Poppen (1) no-hit the Atlanta Braves through eight innings before giving the ball to Nick Mears for the ninth.
Mears issued a leadoff walk to Michael Harris, then hit Ryan Goins with a pitch in the back. That brought up Pablo Sandoval, who popped up to the right side of the infield just behind the mound. First baseman Mason Martin, second baseman Kevin Kramer and third baseman Rodolfo Castro converged on the fly, but the trio watched the ball hit the grass. Harris took off for third and was caught out in a rundown, and Sandoval was also ruled out on the play as the umpires called the infield fly rule.
The double-play left just one out to complete the no-hitter, but Philip Ervin lined a 2-2 pitch to shallow right that was knocked down by a strong wind, and his single ended the no-hit bid. After Mears walked Alex Jackson to load the bases, he balked in Goins to forfeit the shutout. Mears got Braden Shewmake to line out to right to end the game.
The Pirates have thrown three Spring Training no-hitters, with the more recent occurring in 1966:
| 1 | Cy Blanton |
|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| Sunday, April 9, 1939 Pittsburgh Pirates 6, Cleveland Indians 0 Pelican Stadium (New Orleans, Louisiana) |
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| 2 | Bennie Daniels (5) Jim Umbricht (4) |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| Wednesday, March 16, 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates 5, Detroit Tigers 0 Terry Park (Fort Myers, Florida) |
|
| 3 | Bob Veale (7) Luke Walker (2) |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| Monday, March 28, 1966 Pittsburgh Pirates 5, Los Angeles Dodgers 0 Terry Park (Fort Myers, Florida) |
