So, after I got back from work, and saw that my Rays lost to the Rangers in Game 1 of the ALDS (5-1, Cliff Lee struck out 10), I decided to sit in front of the TV and watch some of the first game of the Reds-Phillies series. Seconds later, I decided to blog about the game, started writing up a play-by-play, and watched.
I saw about four innings, in which Roy "Doc" Halladay, making his postseason debut after more than a decade with the sub-.500 Blue Jays, looked great, giving up no hits and no walks, and got an RBI single at a key moment to keep his team alive. On the other hand, Cincinnati starter Edinson Volquez wilted under the pressure, the roar of the crowd, the patience of the Phillies' hitters, and a rising pitch count, exiting after just one and two-thirds innings. He got two outs in the second before allowing five straight baserunners, including Halladay, the opposing pitcher. It was 4-0 after the second inning.
I got into the fourth inning before my face (which, suffering from a fever/congestion cold, had felt heavy and uncomfortable all day) closed up, and I decided to take a shower and see if I could sleep. While I had been at work earlier, I had daydreamed lustily of coming home, taking a shower, and falling in bed and sleeping until whenever. So, I decided not to blog, turned off the TV, took a shower, and went to bed. However, I didn't fall asleep, and after about an hour, I decided to see if I could catch the end of the Reds-Phillies game.
Well, I missed the final out by about two minutes. The Phillies won, 4-0. So I saw all the scoring. But that final out I just missed: it wasn't just any final out. Turns out, Halladay, who threw a perfect game against the Marlins back in May, and totaled 9 complete games in his first season with the Phillies, threw a no-hitter, allowing only a walk to Reds' right-fielder Jay Bruce in the fifth. He threw 104 pitches, struck out eight, and got a series of weak flies, dribblers, and ground balls.
That was Halladay's first career postseason start. You know, postseason, playoffs, more pressure, more intensity, everything matters more, people (like Volquez) wilt under the pressure. Tell that to Halladay. He went the distance (which really isn't that big of a deal for him), shut out the Reds, got his team a win, and didn't allow a single hit. The hardest-hit ball of the entire game was a line drive to right field by the first Reds' pitcher to relieve Volquez, rookie Travis Wood.
That was "Doc's" second no-hitter of this season, after the perfect game. Only four other guys have thrown two no-hitters in one season, and none in 37 years, when the patron saint of no-hitters (Nolan Ryan) double-dipped in 1973.
By the way, did you know the last no-hitter in postseason history was in 1956, when New York Yankees' starter Don Larsen threw a perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game One of the World Series? Yep. That was the last time. 1956.
Oh yeah, that is the only other time a no-hitter has been thrown in the post-season. 1956. It happened then, in Larsen's classic perfect game, and it happened today, behind the brain, heart, and right arm of the Good Doctor.
He's already the favorite to win the CY Young (he had a 21-10 record, a 2.44 ERA-which led the league-tossed 250 innings-which led the league-and was second in strikeouts), and his team is the favorite to win the National League pennant. He clinched the Phillies' postseason berth nine days ago with a complete-game two-hitter. He may have been the best hurler of 'The Year of the Pitcher', and he just made some serious history.
And I just barely missed it. In all honesty, I knew Roy looked good early on. It looked like he was gonna have a good night. I even amused myself with the thought of his throwing a no-hitter. I was lying up in bed, not sleeping, and thinking about going downstairs to watch the end of the game, and I waited too long, and just missed it.
Roy didn't miss it, though. Mr. Larsen, you've got company.
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