Michael Wacha‘s rookie campaign has been full of success and full of almost’s when it comes to no-hitters.
Wacha came within inches of the feat against the Nationals on Sept. 24, only to have his no-hit bid be broken up by Ryan Zimmerman with two outs in the ninth. On Monday, and on a much bigger stage in their Game 4 NLDS matchup against the Pirates, Wacha came close to once again making history with St. Louis on the brink of elimination.
The 22-year-old held Pittsburgh hitless through 7 1/3 innings at PNC Park. The right-hander was flirting with the no-no deep into the game, but Pedro Alvarez put a quick end to the shutout, launching a monster home run to center field. In the next at-bat, Wacha walked the next batter, Russel Martin, for the second time, and his day on the mound was over with the Cardinals holding a 2-1 lead.
The Cardinals went on to win by the same score, tying the series at 2-2.
Check out a video of Alvarez’s absolute blast below.
