Throwing a diving curveball that had the Yankees flailing foolishly all night long, Brandon Morrow pitched about as well in his first major league start as anyone in baseball history.
Morrow’s bid to become only the second pitcher in modern history to throw a no-hitter in his first major league start ended when pinch-hitter Wilson Betemit doubled with two outs in the eighth inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat New York 3-1 Friday night.
The quiet Californian said he was well aware he was nearing history throughout the game.
“I mean, there’s six scoreboards starting me in the face. It’s hard not to see,” he said.
The 24-year-old righty, whose 100 previous big league outings were all in relief, blanked the Yankees until Betemit, batting for Jose Molina, lined a clean drive far over right fielder Ichiro Suzuki. The hit scored Hideki Matsui, who had walked with one out on a close 3-2 pitch. Morrow angrily barked an expletive at himself as he walked back to the mound.
“You can’t do anything, but you want that back,” he said.
Bobo Holloman of the St. Louis Browns is the lone pitcher since 1900 to throw a no-hitter in his first big league start, doing it against the Philadelphia Athletics on May 6, 1953.
Cincinnati’s Bumpus Jones pitched one against Pittsburgh on Oct. 15, 1892, and Ted Breitenstein did it for St. Louis of the American Association against Louisville on Oct. 4, 1891, according the Elias Sports Bureau.
In other AL games on Friday night, it was: Chicago 10, Los Angeles 2; Minnesota 10, Detroit 2; Toronto 6, Tampa Bay 4; Boston 8, Texas 1; Cleveland 9, Kansas City 3; and Oakland 11, Baltimore 2.
It’s been nearly 50 years since the last complete-game no-hitter against the Yankees – Hoyt Wilhelm did it for Baltimore on Sept. 20, 1958. Six Houston Astros pitchers combined to no-hit New York at Yankee Stadium on June 11, 2003, a game in which starter Roy Oswalt left with a strained groin in the second inning.
Morrow (2-2) left after Betemit’s hit on his 106th pitch, and Justin Thomas retired Johnny Damon on a lineout to end the inning. J.J. Putz completed the two-hitter for his 11th save in 19 chances.
His gem had the home crowd roaring all night, for a refreshing change.
“I was excited. I think the short innings helped,” he said. “You don’t have to labor through things.”
Morrow tried to strike out Betemit with the same, new curveball that had fooled Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi and others all night. It’s a pitch he began throwing in game just last month. This time, the curveball stayed high and in the middle of the plate.
“He threw me a changeup, a fastball and then a curveball right down the middle. It stayed right in the middle and I swung the bat good,” Betemit said.
Seattle, with the worst record in the AL, had lost its previous eight games against the Yankees, who dropped 8 1/2 games behind Boston in the AL wild-card race with just 21 games remaining. With just over three weeks left in the regular season, it appears the Yankees will miss the playoffs for the first time since 1993.
“When you have stuff like that and you can locate with that stuff, you’re going to shut down a lot of lineups,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “He was electric tonight.”
Andy Pettitte (13-12), fading along with the Yankees, lost for the seventh time in eight starts since July 26. He allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings, while striking out nine and walking one.
“We need wins. Losses aren’t helping right now,” Pettitte said. “We’re running out of options here.”
Added Girardi: “Every day we have to win. Obviously the hill gets a little steeper now.”
Red Sox 8, Rangers 1
At Arlington, Texas, Josh Beckett (12-9) struck out seven over five scoreless innings in his first start in nearly three weeks and Mike Lowell came off the disabled list to go 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs, helping Boston beat Texas.
The Red Sox won their fourth straight game to move within 2 1/2 games of AL East-leading Tampa Bay, a 6-4 loser at Toronto. They remained 5 1/2 games ahead of Minnesota in the wild-card race.
White Sox 10, Angels 2
At Chicago, Juan Uribe homered twice, Paul Konerko added a solo shot and Mark Buehrle (12-11) pitched six shutout innings for the White Sox.
Chicago didn’t miss AL home run leader Carlos Quentin, who will undergo surgery Monday on a fractured right wrist and could be lost for the season.
Blue Jays 6, Rays 4
At Toronto, Roy Halladay (18-9) pitched seven solid innings to win his fifth straight start, Alex Rios hit two homers and the Blue Jays extended their season-high winning streak to six.
Rios hit a solo homer in the third and a two-run drive in the eighth for his third career multihomer game and second this season.
Athletics 11, Orioles 2
At Baltimore, Rajai Davis’ grand slam was the only Oakland hit in an eight-run eighth inning, and the Athletics topped the six-run barrier for the first time in 41 games.
Twins 10, Tigers 2
At Minneapolis, Justin Morneau hit a grand slam and Francisco Liriano (5-3) threw seven-plus innings to help Minnesota end a three-game skid.
Delmon Young also homered and had an RBI double in the seventh to help the Twins score more runs than they did in their previous three games combined in Toronto.
Indians 9, Royals 3
At Kansas City, Mo., Victor Martinez reached base four times in his return to catching, helping Cleveland earn its 10th straight road win.
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