|
It's not often when you are satisfied to lose a ball game, but this might have been one of those nights. See, the victory in this game was just to get a hit. Daisuke Matsuzaka took a no-hitter into the eighth inning before Juan Castro broke it up in a 5-0 loss to the Red Sox.
It would have been the first no-hitter thrown against the Phillies since 1978 when Bob Forsch threw one in a 5-0 victory at old Busch Stadium.
The Phillies did hit a few balls hard, but all luck went the way of Daisuke. Dustin Pedroia robbed Chase Utley when he leaped to grab a rocket line drive toward right field and doubled up Placido Polanco in the process.
With two outs in the seventh, Matsuzaka took his no-hitter into the eighth thanks to some good glovework of his own. Jayson Werth smashed a line drive up the middle, but Matsuzaka threw up his glove and snatched the ball out of the air.
Then in the eight. Matsuzaka walked Raul Ibanez to lead off the inning, then Carlos Ruiz ripped a line drive toward third baseman Adrian Beltre. Ibanez initially thought it hit the ground and was doubled up at first.
But Juan Castro batted next and blooped a 3-1 fastball into left field. Shortstop Marco Scutaro broke back to try to make the play, but the ball fell just over his glove for the Phillies' only hit of the night.
Opposing Matsusaka was Kyle Kendrick, who pitched pretty well early on. With just one run allowed through the first four innings, Kendrick was able to get two outs in the fifth. But he couldn't get that last out. He allowed four two-out runs in the fifth inning to make it a five-run game. Kendrick lasted just 4 2/3 innings, allowing eight hits, five runs and two walks and striking out two.
|
