Burnett would like another no-hitter
A.J. Burnett admits he would like a second no-hitter before he retires, which could happen as soon as the end of this season.
“The no-hitter I threw was an ugly one,” the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander. “I want to throw a pretty one.”
Burnett was pitching for the Florida Marlins when he got his no-hitter on May 12, 2001 against San Diego. Burnett walked nine batters in a 129-pitch outing.
Burnett has taken four more no-hit bids into the seventh inning but has yet to get that elusive “pretty one.”
The Mets’ Victor Diaz hit a leadoff double off Burnett in the bottom of the seventh inning on Sept. 20, 2005 at New York. Burnett gave up two hits in eight innings and his Marlins wound up losing 3-2 in 12 innings.
Pitching for the New York Yankees on April 14, 2009, Burnett also had his bid for a no-no broken up by Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford leading off the bottom of the seventh at St. Petersburg. Burnett wound up allowing three hits in eight innings and the Yankees won, 7-2.
Burnett’s longest flirtation came last July 31 while pitching for the Pirates against the Cubs at Chicago when pinch-hitter Adrian Cardenas singled with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Burnett wound up pitching a one-hit shutout in a 5-0 victory.
This past Wednesday, Burnett lost his latest bid with one out in the seventh inning at PNC Park when St. Louis’ Carlos Beltran doubled. That was the only hit Burnett allowed in seven innings as the Pirates won 5-0.
The only active major-league pitcher to carry more no-hitters into the seventh inning is Texas’ Derek Lowe, who has done it six times, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Joining Burnett at five are Toronto’s Mark Buehrle, San Francisco’s Matt Cain, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Ted Lilly and Detroit’s Justin Verlander.
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Left fielder Starling Marte became just the fifth Pirates player since 1916 – as far back as the records go – to strike out at least five times in a game when he reached the dreaded platinum sombrero on Thursday night in a 6-4 loss to Atlanta at PNC Park.
Second baseman Pep Young punched out five times on Sept. 29, 1935 in the second game of a doubleheader at Cincinnati.
Pitchers Ron Kline and Bert Blyleven also pulled off the “feat,” with The Callery Hummer whiffing five times on Sept. 22, 1958 in the first game of a doubleheader at Philadelphia and Blyleven doing it on July 27, 1979 in the nightcap of a twinbill at Montreal.
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Backup catcher Michael McKenry had a game to remember last Sunday at PNC Park as he helped rally the Pirates to a 10-6 victory over Cincinnati. McKenry hit a leadoff home run in the seventh inning to ruin Mat Latos’ shutout bid then a two-run shot off Jonathan Broxton in the eighth to tie the game.
McKenry became just the third Pirates catcher to homer in consecutive innings since the beginning of the expansion era in 1961. Smoky Burgess did so on June 30, 1962 in a 17-7 win at St. Louis and Don Slaught followed suit on July 2, 1993 in a 10-9 victory at Cincinnati in the first game of a doubleheader.
Burgess hit both his homers off Ed Bauta, a solo shot in the seventh and a three-run blast in the eighth. Slaught hit a pair of three-run homers off former teammate John Smiley, one in the fifth and Bobby Ayala in the sixth.