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Baseball is a strange game.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/gameday_rec...xt=.jsp&c_id=la
No hits, no problem for Dodgers in win
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LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers have been trying to win without hitting all year and Saturday night they literally did.
They were held hitless by Angels starter Jered Weaver and reliever Jose Arredondo, but recorded a 1-0 win anyway with an unearned run in the fifth inning. It was only the fifth time since 1900 a Major League team won a game without a hit.
"The most bizarre game I've ever been part of," said catcher Russell Martin.
Chad Billingsley lost the battle with Weaver, allowing three hits over seven innings, but won the war by combining with Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito as the Dodgers recorded their second consecutive shutout against the Angels in the Interleague Freeway Series.
"It was pretty magical," manager Joe Torre said of the pitchers' duel, and here's the historical roundup:
Although by MLB rules it doesn't officially qualify as a no-hitter because the Angels didn't pitch nine innings, it was the first time the Dodgers were no-hit since Kent Mercker and Atlanta, April 8, 1994; the first time a Dodgers team won a game without a hit and the first time any team won a game without a hit since 1992, when the Indians beat Boston and former Dodgers pitcher Matt Young.
"We'll try to win with one hit tomorrow and work our way up," said general manager Ned Colletti.
Weaver was lifted for a pinch-hitter by Angels manager Mike Scioscia trailing by a run in the top of the seventh inning, despite having no-hit the Dodgers through six innings, having allowed two walks. It was Weaver's fielding error that set up the unearned run.
Matt Kemp led off the fifth with a cue shot off the top of the bat that spun 50 feet down the first-base line, then like a top, veered to the left and Weaver missed it with his glove. Initially, a hit went up on the scoreboard, so many of the Dodgers weren't aware until later in the game that official scorer Don Hartack, after viewing a replay, ruled an error on Weaver.
With Blake DeWitt batting, Kemp stole second, continued to third when catcher Jeff Mathis airmailed his throw into center field for another error and scored on DeWitt's sacrifice fly to right.
"It's pretty exciting," said Kemp. "I've never been part of anything like this. I feel like we're going to the playoffs."
"You look up and see we just got no-hit and we won," said DeWitt. "That's pretty surprising."
The Dodgers not only created their run, they cut off several Angels rallies with web gems. Right fielder Andre Ethier had a pair, throwing out Erick Aybar at second base trying to stretch a sixth-inning single and running down Howie Kendrick's seventh-inning gapper. First baseman James Loney stole a hit from Casey Kotchman in the fourth inning with a diving stop.
The game-saver, however, was turned in by Luis Maza, a defensive replacement for second baseman Jeff Kent, who was fully extended to make a diving stop on Kotchman's bouncer that was heading into right field with one out in the ninth inning, bounding to his feet for the throw to first. The Maza out saved a tying run because Kendrick then doubled off Saito, who walked Mike Napoli before striking out Reggie Willits for the final out and his 12th save.
"You have to separate offense from defense," said Ethier. "If you're having a bad game at the plate, you can't take it into the field, because you can win or lose the game out there, too."
Ethier was the Dodgers final batter of the game in the bottom of the eighth and might have had the closest thing to a hit for his club, slicing a line drive that Garret Anderson flagged down in deep left field.
Meanwhile, Billingsley squared his record at 7-7 with a third consecutive victory. In addition to help from his defense, he pitched his way out of a first-and-second jam with no outs in the third inning; a two-on, two-out jam in the sixth by striking out Torii Hunter; and a two-out, runner on second threat in the seventh by getting Chone Figgins on a ground out. He struck out seven and walked three, lowering his ERA to 3.38.
"Things are starting to go my way," he said.
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http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp...t=.jsp&c_id=ana
Weaver, Arredondo in elite company
Angels fifth team since 1900 to lose without allowing hit
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LOS ANGELES -- Angels right-hander Jered Weaver stood at his locker still amazed by what had just transpired.
He pitched six no-hit innings and watched reliever Jose Arredondo pitch two more hitless innings, but the Angels still lost, 1-0. Weaver had a simple response when he was asked about the game's unlikely line score.
"It's kinda weird isn't it?" Weaver said. "What are you going to do?"
But Weaver wasn't the only Angel in the clubhouse that was in awe of what happened.
Angels catcher Jeff Mathis, who caught the six innings Weaver pitched, called it "crazy."
Angels catcher Mike Napoli, who caught both of Arredondo's innings, said "You don't think you'll ever see anything like this."
Angels outfielder Torii Hunter said he'd "never seen anything like it -- not even in Little League."
And perhaps Angels outfielder Vladimir Guerrero put it best when he said baseball was "loco."
But as crazy as the boxscore was on Saturday, it wasn't the first time in history that a team had pitched at least eight no-hit innings but still lost.
In fact, the Dodgers' 1-0 win over the Angels was the fifth time since 1900 that a team won without a base hit. A team must throw at least nine innings of no-hit ball for it to be considered an official no-hitter.
Here's a rundown of the previous four:
April 12, 1992 (first game of a doubleheader)
The Indians beat the Red Sox, 2-1, in Cleveland, despite not getting a hit in eight innings against left-hander Matt Young. The Indians scored their runs on Young's seven walks, six stolen bases and an error by Luis Rivera.
July 1, 1990
The White Sox defeated the Yankees, 4-0, in Chicago even though right-hander Andy Hawkins tossed eight hitless innings. The White Sox scored on five walks and four errors, including three in the eighth inning that led to all four runs.
April 30, 1967 (first game of a doubleheader)
The Tigers beat the Orioles, 2-1, in Baltimore despite Steve Barber (8 2/3 innings) and Stu Miller (one-third of an inning) throwing a complete-game no-hitter. The Orioles committed two errors and Barber walked 10 Detroit hitters.
April 23, 1964
The Reds downed the Houston Colt .45s, 1-0, in Houston, even though Ken Johnson threw nine innings of no-hit ball. Johnson gave up the winning run to Pete Rose, after an error, a groundout and another error. Johnson is the only modern pitcher to throw a nine-inning no-hitter and still lose.
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