One strike.
That’s all that separated Stevie Delabar from etching his name in the Wizards’ history book.
The right-handed pitcher stood one strike away from becoming the first pitcher in the team’s 15-year history to throw a no-hitter.
But Eduardo Perez had other ideas.
Perez dumped a single just in front of center fielder Cedric Hunter, ending Delabar’s seven-inning no-hit bid.
The Wizards had to settle for a one-hitter and a 1-0 victory over Great Lakes in the opener of a doubleheader Wednesday at Memorial Stadium. Fort Wayne completed the sweep with a 6-0 victory in the nightcap in front of 1,578 fans.
Stephen Faris retired the first 11 batters on the way to throwing a two-hitter in Game 2, helping the Wizards extend their winning streak to a season-high five games.
“Pitching was the whole story today,” manager Doug Dascenzo said. "Delabar was just about perfect. … Faris did an outstanding job as well.”
Delabar struck out six and didn’t walk a batter in 6 2/3 innings to improve to 2-0. It was the fifth time this season the Wizards flirted with a no-hitter.
LaMond Pope is the Wizard beat writer and here is the link to his blog post on the near no-no. He recaps the other four near misses and there was this little thing at the end of the post:
For the record, I think the official scorer ruled correctly in the fifth inning when Josh Bell’s grounder to second –initially ruled a hit – was changed to an error. Tom King had to go to the outfield grass to field the ball, but he had plenty of time to get in front of it, which he did before booting it.
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