Mike Leake lost a perfect game bid in the ninth inning of Friday night’s contest between his Seattle Mariners and the Los Angeles Angels.
A week after being knocked out of the game in the first inning by the Angels, Leake bounced back with a stellar start. He dominated the Angels through eight innings before allowing a leadoff single to Luis Rengifo on a 1-1 pitch in the top of the ninth.
The hit cost Leake both his perfect game and no-hitter. He also walked the next batter, Kevan Smith. But Leake got two more easy outs and then struck out Mike Trout to end the game, giving him a spectacular one-hit shutout with six strikeouts.
Leake did it all on 98 pitches, 66 for strikes. He showed excellent movement on his pitches, keeping the Angels off-balance most of the evening. Prior to the ninth, he hadn’t thrown more than 12 pitches in a single inning.
The 10-0 victory was nice revenge for Seattle, which got stomped by the Angels 13-0 exactly a week prior. Not only was Leake knocked out of that start in the first, but the Mariners were no-hit. They nearly returned the favor both on offense and defense.
