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Cardinals rookie right-hander Michael Wacha came within one out and mere inches of throwing the 282nd no-hitter in baseball history. On Tuesday night in St. Louis, Wacha held the Nationals hitless over 8 2/3 innings, and lost his bid for history only when a Ryan Zimmerman infield grounder eluded him and reached shortstop Pete Kozma just an instant too late.
Here's that play:
First, Wacha almost snared it, then Matt Adams was almost able to keep his foot on the bag, and then Adams almost swipe-tagged Zimmerman. That's an agnozing way to lose it.
Wacha also almost became only the 22nd rookie ever to twirl a no-hitter and the first since Clay Buchholz in 2007.
In the end, though, Wacha picked up a valuable victory for the Cardinals, who are trying to wrap up the NL Central title. Over those 8 2/3 innings, the 22-year-old Wacha struck out nine and walked two, and of his 112 pitches 77 went for strikes. Trevor Rosenthal picked up the save in the 2-0 victory.
Wacha's gem lowers his 2013 ERA to 2.78.
