Josh Beckett threw the first Dodgers no-hitter in 18 years yesterday afternoon against the Philadelphia Phillies. Hideo Nomo was the last Dodger to throw one in 1996 against the Colorado Rockies. It was also the first no-hitter in the Majors this year. Beckett threw 128 pitches, struck out 6 and walked 3. 128 pitches is a high pitch count but if I was Manager Don Mattingly I wouldn't have taken him out, either. Beckett had a chance to make history and he struck out Chase Utley to finish it off. Beckett improved to 3-1 on the season and improved his ERA to 2.43. The Dodgers were led on offense by Adrian Gonzalez who went 3-4 with 2 RBI's, Juan Uribe's replacement at 3rd Base, Jeff Turner went 2-4 and hit his 2nd Homerun, and recent call up, Shortstop Erisbel Arruebarrena went 2-4 with an RBI. Yasiel Puig continued his recent tear with 2 hits and he raised his batting average to .349. The Dodgers took 2 out of 3 from the Phillies, shutting them out twice in the process.
Josh Beckett was probably the least likely of the Dodgers starters to throw a no-hitter, his first, as he is 34 years old and is not the fireballer he was when he won the World Series MVP with the Florida Marlins in 2005. He also underwent a procedure last year to fix a nerve problem in his arm that shut him down for the majority of the 2013 season. No-hitters often involve good pitching, great defense, and a whole lot of luck. Beckett didn't even need the great defense or the luck.
No comments:
Post a Comment