It took the Colorado Rockies franchise 18 years to experience one of the most exciting moments in professional baseball — 9 innings of no-hit baseball. With a fastball that topped out in the high 90’s the entire game, Ubaldo Jimenez became the first Rockies pitcher ever to record a no-hitter when he defeated the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night. Despite six walks through the first five innings, Jimenez was able to go the distance and keep his pitch count to a modest 128, retiring the last 15 Braves hitters he faced. The secret? Pitching exclusively from the stretch from the fifth inning on:
In the fifth inning [pitching coach] Bob Apodaca, he just came to me and was like ‘You’ve been throwing good from the stretch, why don’t you just give it a try?'”
The advice was well-taken, as Jimenez settled in and steamrolled through the final five innings and cemented his place in the MLB record book. Like almost every no-hitter or perfect game, Jimenez got a little help from his defense. While probably not as impressive as DeWayne Wise’s wall-leaping snag to preserve Mark Buehrle’s perfect game for the White Sox last season, Rockies center fielder Dexter Fowler covered some serious ground to keep his hurler’s no-hitter in tact in the seventh inning. Check out the video of Fowler’s catch, courtesy of Every Joe via YouTube:
Sources:
Jimenez dominates Braves for first no-hitter in Rockies’ history [AP recap]
Video: Dexter Fowler Catch Saves No-Hitter [Knuckle Curve]
