Pitcher Matt Garza Throws First No Hitter in Tampa Bay Rays History
Tonight, as of this writing (July 26, 2010), the Tampa Bay Rays are celebrating on the turf at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL. Since 1998 the Tampa Bay Rays have not had a pitcher throw a no-hitter - until tonight. Young ace Matt Garza, with the assistance of veteran catcher Kelly Shoppach, tossed 9 innings of no hit baseball against the Detroit Tigers. The crowd stood on their toes as Detroit pinch hitter Ramon Santiago flied out to right for the final out of the game.
For the Rays, this means a lot. Much more than the first no-hitter in history, but more because of the last two years where the Rays have been on the losing end of two perfect games. This time, with the backing of one of the best defenses in Baseball, Matt Garza faced 27 batters and allowed none of them to get a hit.
Matt Garza, with a shaving cream pie on his face had this to say in the post game interview, crediting his defense with the strong assist, "We played great defense tonight, whenever the ball was hit on the ground, in the air, we were there. It's a lot easier to pitch when these guys are there."
Racking up a mere 120 pitches, with only one walk, coming in the second inning which turned into a double play. Garza recorded six strikeouts, the other 21 outs coming from outstanding defense behind him. The best play was a reaching catch at the warning track by Ben Zobrist on a line drive hit by Danny Worth.
In the eighth inning Miguel Cabrera booted a liner to left, which Carl Crawford handled with ease under the glare of the lights.
The Rays scored four in the sixth inning, off a Matt Joyce grand slam, then tacked on one more in the eigth off a home-run by Crawford. That made up what would be the final score of 5-0.
The Rays are three games behind the Yankees in the American League East. With their young pitching staff and powerful defense, they will be strong in the upcoming playoff race. As long as they stay ahead of the Red Sox....
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