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Baseball can be a funny game and with one swing of the bat, Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Josh Harrison reminded us why we love the game so much.
As the Bucs were absolutely dominated by Los Angeles Dodgers starter Rich Hill, who took a perfect game into the ninth and a no-hitter into the 10th inning, Harrison clubbed a walk-off solo homer into the left field seats to give the Pirates a 1-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers Wednesday night at PNC Park.
With one swing of the bat, no-hitter gone.
Shutout gone.
And an unthinkable win for the Bucs.
The man of the hour is…@Jhay_da_man! #RaiseIt pic.twitter.com/SpAqCgZdS9
— Pirates (@Pirates) August 24, 2017
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Baseball is a great game.
In the process, Harrison’s blast became the first time in MLB history that a no-hitter was ruined by a walk-off homer. It’s hard to fathom that in the history of the game that is the first time something like that has ever happened, but that is why we watch the game. Something historic can happen on any night at the ballpark.
Hill was outstanding for the Dodgers. The Pirates had no chance all night against the southpaw, but all it took was one swing of the bat.
The veteran lost his perfect game in the ninth when Logan Forsythe couldn’t handle a ground ball off the bat of Jordy Mercer. He struck out 10 and reached three-ball counts only twice on the night as the Pirates couldn’t even mount any hard contact off Hill.
Hill became the first pitcher since Pedro Martinez in 1995 to take a no-hit effort into extra innings. He also became the first pitcher since Lefty Leifield of the 1906 Pirates to lose a game with at least nine innings pitched, one hit or less and zero walks (H/T Adam Berry).
But at the end of the day it took just one swing of the bat for something magical to happen.
Trevor Williams equally outstanding
Lost in the dramatics of Harrison’s walk-off and Hill’s near perfect performance was the outing turned in by Trevor Williams.
The rookie right-hander matched Hill batter for batter and out for out keeping the Pirates in the game.
Williams went eight shutout innings, scattering seven hits and made big pitches when he had to; including a key nine-pitch at bat against Forsythe in the eighth that resulted in a line out to short with the go-ahead run in scoring position.
There haven’t been many positives on the season for the Pirates but one of them is Williams, who has shown that he can be a capable MLB starter.
Felipe Rivero pitched the ninth and Juan Nicasion pirthed the 10th to pick up the win.
The two teams will wrap up their four-game series this afternoon when Chad Kuhl (6-8, 4.52) takes the hill for the Bucs. He will be opposed by the Dodgers Hyun-Jin Ryu (4-6, 3.45). Ryu is undefeated in his past eight starts, going 2-0 with a 2.22 ERA since June 17.
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