What a night last night!
Before getting to the meat of this post, a word from my sponsor. Remember that Jake Odorizzi bobblehead night is September 2! Tickets are available.
A picture to start it:
Jake Odorizzi with eight scoreless, hitless innings and 10 strikeouts. Adrian Rosario completes the first no-hitter by the Timber Rattlers since August 27, 2001.
Two questions:
When did you know something special was happening?
Did you say anything about it?
Two answers:
Believe it or not, I thought in there was something going on after the error in the bottom of the second inning. Just the way that Jake shook that off and went after the next three hitters had me think something special was going to happen. Also, credit is due to Jim Breen of Bernie's Crew. He put out this on twitter in the fourth inning last night.
As I said on my twitter account later in the game, I'll hint at it, but I won't come right out and say it. Of course, this guy came right out and said it. But, he used the #twitterjinx hashtag...I have no idea what those last two words meant.
Two odd facts:
The last no-no in Rattlers history was at Cedar Rapids.
Jake Odorizzi pitched five no-hit innings at Burlington on April 16, 2010. The Rattlers were within one strike of a combined no-hitter against the Bees on that night.
Two Random observations:
This was the song that was played right before Cedar Rapids starter Stephen Locke threw his first pitch. If he is superstitious, Jake may want to look into that one. In retrospect maybe they should have played this Richard Marx classic.
No spectacular plays were needed in this no-hitter. The hardest hit ball for the Kernels was when Randal Grichuk lined out right to Joey Paciorek at third for the final out of the seventh inning.
Two toughest plays:
Justin Bass tried to bunt his way on base in the fifth and popped the ball to the first base side of the mound. Odorizzi made a nice running catch.
There were two outs in th sixth inning when Michael Wing sent a popup to shallow center and second baseman Connor Lind, who has had some issues with similar popups this season, raced back and got to the ball in plenty of time. He made sure that he squeezed that ball for the final out of the inning.
Two things about Adrian Rosario:
Unfazed. He walked Michael Wing on four pitches with one out in the ninth. He just went right after the next two batters. Kudos to Rosario for finishing it off.
On the final out of the game, Jose Jimenez struck out swinging on a pitch in the dirt. The ball bounced a little in front of the plate and Rosario knew the job wasn't done yet. He was pointing the ball out to catcher Cameron Garfield as he was running in to the plate. The way he was charging, I thought that if Garfield didn't get the ball and tag out Jimenez, Rosario would have picked up that ball and raced after Jimenez for the final out.
Two things about the aftermath:
There was no dogpile and no over the top celebration by the Rattlers. There was a little extra jumping around and everyone got to the handshake line more quickly than usual, but no exotic touchdown celebrations.
As the coaching staff walked out to the third base line, I noticed manager Jeff Isom point in recognition to the Kernels dugout. I haven't had a chance to talk with Jeff about this, but I am guessing that the Kernels coaching staff - even after being no-hit - shouted out something congratulatory to the Rattlers. Classy.
Two things about Big Jake:
When he couldn't finish off Alliman in the bottom of the eighth inning, he didn't try anything cute. Alliman fouled off five different two-strike pitches and worked the count full. Even as he was up near 120 pitches, Odorizzi just kept saying, "Here it is. Hit it if you can." He blew a fastball by him to end the inning. How can you not like that?
The kid stuck around and signed autographs for about 10 minutes for fans by the Rattlers dugout after the game. How can you not like that?
Four stories:
Rattlers website: Odorizzi and Rosario no-hit Kernels.
Kernels website: Wisconsin no-hits Kernels
MiLB.com website: Odorizzi, Wisconsin deliever no-hitter.
Cedar Rapids Gazette story: Odorizzi’s eight-inning gem leads to combined no-hitter against Kernels"Everything was working," he said. "Everything clicked, I could throw anything in any count, it's nice to have that when it comes around."
Odorizzi ended his night by striking out Terrell Alliman after an 11-pitch at-bat. In doing so, he matched the career high in strikeouts he set during the Timber Rattlers' June 26 11-7 victory over Burlington.
"It was pretty satisfying (ending it with a strikeout)," he said. "I was throwing a lot of fastballs, because if he was going to get a hit, I wanted him to earn it. He really battled, hats off to him."
The 20-year-old, who also throws a slider, curveball and a changeup, had struggled in his previous start Aug. 16. He allowed six runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings in an 11-10 loss, also against Cedar Rapids.
"I knew it was going to be the last time I would face these guys this year. I wanted to come out and have a good outing, but I never imagined it would be this good," Odorizzi said.
Awesome is a sometimes over used word. But, Awesome fits perfectly in this situation.Jake Odorizzi will gladly sacrifice a chance to be alone in the record books, if it results in a long stint in professional baseball.
The 19-year-old Wisconsin Timber Rattler right-handed pitcher wasn’t upset long when he was pulled after throwing eight no-hit innings against the Cedar Rapids Kernels. If a possible future in the Major Leagues meant turning over his gem to a teammate then so be it.
“I’d take the long career over one no-hitter to my record,” Odorizzi said. “It’s no big deal.”
Oh, but it turned out to be a very big deal. Odorizzi’s gem was capped by reliever Adrian Rosario and the pair teamed to no-hit the Kernels in 3-0 Midwest League game last night at Memorial Stadium in front of 2,127 fans.
“It was fun for me to pitch. It was fun for everyone to watch,” Odorizzi said. “It was a great time out there. My teammates played great behind me and made plays for me. I had a blast out there it was awesome.”
The last word here goes - fittingly, I think - to Rosario.
Yes he did.“Team no-hitters are a great accomplishment,” Odorizzi said. “It was great that I did good and it was great he came in and finished it out. It was an all-around good game.”
Rosario was grateful for a chance to close out the game, which became his first no-hit experience. he wasn’t worried with everything at stake.
“I don’t feel nervous,” Rosario said. “I just threw strikes and got outs.”
Five Pictures:
Jake Odorizzi in the dugout in the bottom of the ninth.
A modest celebration.
I just missed the handshake and the hug for Odorizzi from Lee Tunnel.
Hey, can I get your autograph?
Jake obliges.
