White Sox lefty Carlos Rodón threw a no-hitter earlier this season, back on April 14 against Cleveland. Sunday, he got within a whiff of making history by throwing a second no-no this season. Chicago ended up winning the game, 4-1, on the strength of Rodón's no-hitter flirtation.
Rodón got through six no-hit innings and recorded the first out of the seventh. He appeared to move within seven outs of history, but he didn't get the call on a 2-2 slider that would have been the second out of the inning. A double from Eric Haase on a 3-2 pitch followed. Here's the close call:
Carlos Rodón threw this BEAUTIFUL 2-2 slider, but didn't get the call. three pitches later, Haase broke up the no-no. #WhiteSox pic.twitter.com/oHUtrCCIYn
— Stephen Nelson (@StephenNelson) June 13, 2021
Ouch!
— Patrick (@prospectdad) June 13, 2021
Tough call that should have been strike three, there goes the no hitter for Rodon. #whitesox pic.twitter.com/hsFlHYFtc2
It certainly looks like a missed call by home plate umpire Pat Hoberg. Regardless, Rodón still had a chance to get Haase out and didn't do so in the ensuing pitch sequence.
Rodón was pulled after the seventh with just the one hit allowed on 103 pitches. We can't possibly know if Rodón would've pulled off the no-hitter had he gotten that call, but it sure would've been nice to see how it played out. Instead, he finished with seven innings, one hit, one run, two walks and nine strikeouts.
There have been five pitchers in history to throw two no-hitters in one season:
- Johnny Vander Meer, 1938
- Allie Reynolds, 1951
- Virgil Trucks, 1952
- Nolan Ryan, 1973
- Max Scherzer, 2015
(Note: Roy Halladay did it in 2010, too, but one came in the postseason. This was for regular-season only)
Rodón is now 6-2 with a 1.89 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 97 strikeouts against 17 walks in 66 2/3 innings. He's surely headed to his first All-Star Game later this summer. All this after being non-tendered by the White Sox last winter and then re-signed with them in February on a one-year deal.
