The Chicago Cubs dismantled the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday afternoon in Wrigley Field. The final score was 13-0 Cubs and obviously there were plenty of offensive fireworks that should be highlighted, eventually. Cubs starter Drew Smyly, however, attempted to steal the show for a bit.
Smyly had gotten through the Dodgers lineup for seven innings without having allowed a single baserunner. Yes, that's right. Smyly was throwing a perfect game. He still had six outs to go before history and then Dodgers left fielder David Peralta came to the plate.
Peralta was sawed off with a curve and sent a broken-bat dribbler down the third-base line. Smyly attempted to field it himself, but catcher Yan Gomes was also on the case. The players ran into each other with Gomes rolling over a bent-over Smyly's back. Peralta made it to first without a throw. The ruling was an infield single.
Obviously, we can't know for sure what would've happened had someone fielded it cleanly -- most likely Gomes letting Smyly try it on his own -- but it looked like either Peralta would've beat any throw or it would've been incredibly close at first. The numbers on the hit might be sad if they weren't so funny. Peralta hit it 32.9 miles per hour and the distance was measured at three feet. How's that for a single to break up a perfect game?
"It was a tough play to end [the perfect game bid]," Smyly said afterward (via Paul Sullivan). "Yan wanted it just as bad as I did."
Smyly stayed in the game and retired the next two hitters. What an incredible outing. The final line: 7 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K. And, of course, the lone hit was a dribbler with eyes. For those who didn't see much of the game, he was every bit as dominant as the line suggests. Sometimes there are a bunch of defensive plays that keep a pitcher perfect, but this time around it was just Smyly being in total control of the game and making Dodgers hitters look silly.
Smyly threw 103 pitches and some might be wondering if he would've been able to complete the perfect game, given how workloads are handled these days.
Cubs manager David Ross, a former catcher, came through with an outstanding quote on the matter after the game: "I was gonna ride him harder than Yan did." (via Jordan Bastian)
So, it sure seems like Smyly wasn't going anywhere if the perfect game were still intact.
The Cubs have 17 no-hitters in franchise history, with the most recent being a combined no-no in Dodger Stadium on June 24, 2001. The last no-hitter by an individual Cubs pitcher came on Sept. 13, 2020 when Alec Mills pulled it off in Milwaukee. A Cubs pitcher hasn't thrown a no-hitter in Wrigley Field since Milt Pappas did so in 1972.
Now, as for a perfect game -- which is obviously a much rarer feat -- no Cubs pitcher has ever done it. There have only been 23 in MLB history. The most recent came a while back, too with Félix Hernández pulling it off in Seattle on Aug. 15, 2012.
All of that stays on the books.
Smyly's lone career shutout remains an outing from all the way back in 2014.
The Cubs' offense had a ton of fun in this one, too. Seiya Suzuki's two-out, two-RBI double got the scoring started in the first. Leadoff man Nico Hoerner went 4 for 5 with a home run and four RBI. Patrick Wisdom hit his MLB-lead-tying ninth home run. Cody Bellinger stayed hot with a homer and a double. Trey Mancini went 3 for 4 with a home run.
In all, the Cubs collected 17 hits and every starter had at least one. They moved to 12-7 on the season and look relevant again in the NL Central.