The San Francisco lefty gave up a soft, clean single to Corey Seager with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 Thursday night.
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“Heading into the game, I had a lot of confidence in that pitch particularly”, Moore said.
Moore’s try ended on his 133rd pitch.
Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager blooped a single into right field with two outs in the ninth inning, ending the no-hit bit and ending Moore’s night at 133 pitches, the most thrown by any pitcher in Major League Baseball in 2016. Giants manager Bruce Bochy had been pacing in the dugout for a couple of innings as Moore’s pitch count climbed – he missed most of the past two seasons after Tommy John surgery.
“He was excited to have a chance at it”. He was very grateful and said, ‘Thanks, I appreciate you giving me a chance, ‘ ” Bochy said. “He pitched his heart out”. “You never want to get swept”. They’ve won a World Series from behind before, just two years ago, so they’ll just go ahead and play this thing out and count it up at the end.
Denard Span made a tremendous catch in the ninth inning to record the first out and save the potential no-hitter.
“He was definitely pitching away from what he’s been doing in the past”, Adrian Gonzalez said.
Moore earned his first win for the Giants since they got him in a trade with Tampa Bay on August 1.
Following a four-game losing streak for the Giants, and a four-game win streak by the Dodgers, the Giants had fallen three games behind their big time rivals.
But Seager prevented the Giants from throwing a no-hitter for the fifth consecutive year – something no major league franchise has done.
Wisler (5-11), 23, allowed a run and two hits with four strikeouts and three walks in eight innings.
Santiago Casilla relieved Moore, retiring Justin Turner on just one pitch to finish off the win for the Giants.
But on Thursday, all he allowed were three walks, two to Yasmani Grandal and one to Seager, retiring 14 straight at one point.
This was Moore’s 99th start in the majors, and his only previous complete game was a shutout. In that game, manager Dave Roberts lifted Stripling, who got a no-decision, after 100 pitches with the no-hitter intact and turned it over to the Dodgers’ bullpen.
Giants (69-57): San Francisco returns to the comfy confines of AT&T Park where they will open a three-game series with the Atlanta Braves.
“I’m happy”, he said half an hour later, again flashing a wide grin.
Obviously, they still got the victory, and we’ll be ready tomorrow.
Nationals 4, Orioles 0: Max Scherzer allowed two hits over eight innings, Bryce Harper had a two-run double and Washington avoided a four-game home-and-home sweep with a victory over Baltimore.
In the ninth, Span rushed over to grab a sinking liner by Enrique Hernandez.
Moore credited Posey with giving him the confidence to throw the cutter and Madison Bumgarner with giving him tips about the grip. Also, his health should be monitored going forward, as he is an injury prone pitcher who was asked to throw 133 pitches in this game.
The Dodgers threw them from 1962-65, all by Sandy Koufax.
Dodgers: Andre Ethier (broken right tibia) began a rehab assignment at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday. Bud Norris starts the opener on Friday night for the Dodgers, a 7:10 p.m. PT start. He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Mets on Sunday, the longest such bid of his career.
Rookie Seth Lugo pitched five scoreless innings before a right calf cramp forced him out and Alejandro De Aza drove in a career-high five runs as NY defeated St Louis in the rubber match of their three-game series.
Pirates 3, Brewers 2, 10 innings: Andrew McCutchen hit a home run and a pair of RBI singles, including the tiebreaker in the 10th inning, and Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee to stop a nine-game skid at Miller Park. In two of those years, the Giants didn’t even win their division.
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Elsewhere, Tampa Bay beat Boston 2-1, the Chicago White Sox edged Seattle 7-6, and Detroit defeated Minnesota 8-5.
