Josh Harrison had the lone hit for the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday night while making Major League Baseball history in the process.
It would be a huge understatement to say Josh Harrison made the Pittsburgh Pirates lone hit count Wednesday night. While the Bucs were being dominated throughout the night by Los Angeles Dodgers starter Rich Hill, there was a feeling in the air at PNC Park that something historic was going to happen.
That was indeed the case, but it wasn’t exactly the history everyone was expecting.
Hill has had an up and down career, bouncing rom ball club to ball club while spending an abundance of time in the minor leagues to go with his 240 career games at the major league level. So, when watching him throw his masterpiece Wednesday night at PNC Park, it was hard not to appreciate what he was doing.
Hill was relatively untouchable, finishing with his second 10-plus strikeout performance of the season and allowing no walks. Hill had a perfect game heading into the ninth inning; however, an error on third baseman Logan Forsythe ended that bid.
Hill was rolling. But there was one problem: The Dodgers offense, which is highly regarded as one of the best in baseball, didn’t give the veteran southpaw any run support.
As good as Hill was, Trevor Williams was just as good. While the Pirates righty did allow seven hits and walk four, he pitched eight shutout innings against the stacked Dodgers lineup, matching the Dodgers hurler in a classic pitchers duel.
Though LA wasn’t able to put a run across the board, Hill still continued to look masterful, taking his no-hitter into the 10th inning.
While many Pirates and Dodgers fans alike were cheering for Hill to continue making history while holding on to hope that the LA offense would produce some sort of support for him, Harrison came to the plate to lead off the inning. After taking the count to 2-1, Harrison decided to take matters into his own hands and make a little history himself.
The man of the hour is…@Jhay_da_man! #RaiseIt pic.twitter.com/SpAqCgZdS9
— Pirates (@Pirates) August 24, 2017
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
It’s accurate to say we have never seen anything like it because it has never happened before in the history of baseball. Harrison’s game winning bomb into the left field seats marked the first time in major league history that a no hitter was broken via a walk off home run.
A lot of crazy things have been seen in the game of baseball. It’s an unpredictable game and anything can happen. Teams, like the 2004 Boston Red Sox, can come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series and pitchers can walk eight and throw 149 pitches in a no hitter like Edwin Jackson. But what was seen Wednesday night was a different kind of crazy.
All fans in attendance were ready to see Hill make history. He pitched well enough to do it and probably deserved a little more, but Harrison made sure the Pirates lone hit – his 16th home run of the season – was historic. And he made it count.
Photo credit – Daniel Decker Photography
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
