With a division title already wrapped up, the Cincinnati Reds added another footnote of history to the 2012 baseball season.
Reds starter Homer Bailey threw the seventh no-hitter of the season, defeating the Pirates 1-0 on Friday night in Pittsburgh.
"I looked up at the scoreboard (after the fifth inning) to see if I had hit 200 and saw a couple of zeros," Bailey said. "That's when I knew I had a chance at a no-hitter. It's not something you think about doing."
The seven no-hitters tie the modern record for most in a single season, matching 1990 and 1991. In 1884 there were eight no-hitters recorded.
"I don't think there is any reason why there have been so many," Bailey said. "There is a real fine line there in throwing a no-hitter. A bloop can fall in the outfield or an infielder can be in the wrong position and there goes your hit. You have to be extremely fortunate to throw a no-hitter, and we had luck on our side tonight."
Bailey reached 200 innings pitched on the season for the first time in his career and struck out ten batters in the game while only walking one.
According to ESPN, it's the first season with three 1-0 no-hitters since 1908. The other ones this season include the Seattle Mariners combined no hitter and Felix Hernandez's perfect game, also for the Mariners. It's one of the latest regular-season no-hitters to occur all-time, coming on Sept. 28. The latest one to occur was by Mike Witt in 1984 on Sept. 30.
Bailey closed out the game in the ninth by striking out pinch-hitter Brock Holt, and then getting Michael McKenry and Alex Presley to pop out. The final out was caught by second baseman Brandon Phillips on the shallow outfield grass.
Bailey has pitched three complete games and two shutouts in his career, all against Pittsburgh. He improved to 5-0 with a 1.40 ERA with the win. The Pirates suffered their first no-hitter since 1971 when Bob Gibson pitched one with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Bailey has been seen as a potential ace and a top-of-the-line starter since the Reds drafted him as the seventh pick in 2004.
"He's always been a good thrower, but he's really learned how to pitch this season," Reds bench coach Chris Speier said. "You saw the evolution tonight."
Speier has been serving as acting manager for Dusty Baker, who has been recovering from a mini-stroke and heart issues.
The Reds took an early 1-0 lead off of Todd Frazier's fly ball that scored Brandon Phillips.
The Pirates bats went silent until the third inning when Scott Rolen recorded an error on a Clint Barmes grounder. He retried the next 13 batters before walking Andrew McCutchen in the seventh inning.
The only trouble besides the error for Bailey and the Reds was one fly ball in the third inning that Frazier was able to track down near the foul line. They made another stellar defensive play in the eight inning.
"I thought the no-hitter was gone when Alvarez hit that ball, but fortunately the shift was on," Bailey said.
A.J. Burnett pitched well for the Pirates, just not well enough. He gave up seven hits over eight innings and only one run, the sacrifice fly in the first inning.
"The way A.J. pitched, it was going to take almost nothing short of a no-hitter to beat him," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.
The Pirates have been freefalling in the second half of the season after starting off with a 63-47 record. The team has gone 13-36 since Aug. 8 and has clinched a losing season for 20th-straight year.
It was the 15th no-hitter in franchise history for the Reds and the first for a right-hander since Tom Seaver in 1978. The last no-hitter for the Reds was Tom Browning's perfect game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988.
Scott Rolen, Brandon Phillips and Zach Cozart all had two hits for the Reds.
The other no-hitters this season were thrown by Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox, Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels, Johan Santana of the New York Mets, Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants, Felix Hernandez of Seattle and a combined six-pitcher effort by the Mariners. Humber, Cain and Hernandez each had a perfect game
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