Michael Wacha No-Hit Bid Foiled With Two Outs In The Ninth

St Louis Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha’s date with destiny Tuesday night didn’t go as planned. The rookie pitcher had a no-hitter foiled with two outs in the ninth inning by Ryan Zimmerman.

Ouch.

Worse, Wacha had a chance to make the game’s final out. Zimmerman hit a comebacker that he almost snared. It would have been an easy toss to first to end the game. Michael Wacha would have had the 282nd no-hitter in MLB history.

He would have been just the 22nd rookie to pull off the impressive feat.

Instead of joining Tim Lincecum and Homer Bailey in 2013 no-hitter glory, Wacha joins another less exciting club. A club full of pitchers in 2013 who had no-hitters foiled with two out in the ninth. Most notably, Yu Darvish had a perfect game broken up to open the season in the same way. More recently, the Giants Yusmeiro Petit fell victim.

Michael Wacha’s no-hit bid may have been spoiled by Ryan Zimmerman, but the Cardinals still won the game. It was a big win too.

The Cardinals are still trying to wrap up the National League Central, and Wacha’s performance puts them one game closer. With four games left this year, the Pittsburgh Pirates sit two and half games behind the Cardinals. If there is one thing baseball has taught us over the years, it’s that no lead is ever safe.

The game, probably Wacha’s last of the regular season, closed out a sensational rookie campaign. He started nine games, won four, and recorded a 2.78 era.

It will be interesting to see where Wacha fits in the Cardinals playoff pitching staff. It would be hard to keep him out of the rotation with those numbers.

Oh yeah, Michael Wacha is also only 22-years-old. He will have plenty more chances for no-hitter, Here’s to hoping he finds it one day.