A Fascinating History of Extra Inning No-Hitters the Pittsburgh Pirates Were Part of

August 23rd, 2017

When was the last time you saw a starting pitcher start the game, and then throw the last pitch of the game? Let alone in extra innings. Most fans probably can’t remember another time than this one.

Los Angeels Dodgers lefty Rich Hill was having the game of his life, but even being in a big league game seemed like an impossibility three years earlier for Hill. Hill was in the indy leagues in 2015 and was already 35 years old at the time. Plus it’s not like he was even like he was having a good career up until then. From 2005 to 2014, Hill had pitched to a 4.72 ERA and 4.41 FIP. But after an excellent short showing in 2015, Hill latched on with the Oakland A’s for 2016, and was traded to the Dodgers at the 2016 deadline.

So, here were two teams on completely different ends of the spectrum of baseball. One that was one win away from 90 for the season in late-August, and another that was only 61-69. Hill had tossed 9 no-hit innings not allowing a run, and even had a perfect game entering the bottom of the 9th until an error by third baseman Logan Forsythe.

But 25-year-old rookie Trevor Williams was also dealing. He fired 8 innings of ball, allowing seven hits, four walks, and striking out five. Not bad vs a team that was 5th in the Majors in OPS at .771. After Williams was dishing out punch-for-punch with Hill, Felipe Rivero and Juan Nicasio pitched a scoreless top of the 9th and 10th, sending it to the bottom of the 10th, and Rich Hill was ready to pitch beyond the 9th inning.

But in came utility man Josh Harrison. Harrison launched a ball from Hill over the left field wall, walking off the game for the Pittsburgh Pirates. This marked the first, and still to this day only, game in MLB history where a team broke up a no hitter by hitting a walk off home run.

But remember this game. It was a perfect storm for Rich Hill, literally. Even a no-hitter could have kept him from going extras. Hill was extremely efficient. He didn’t even get to 100 pitches in the game, and the only base runner he ever allowed wasn’t on 4 pitches out of the zone. Plus, the Dodgers could have went to the bullpen. The Dodgers had 4 bullpen pieces with sub-3 ERA’s. That being Kenley Jansen, Pedro Baez, Josh Fields, and Luis Avilan. In an era when baseball bullpen’s are so deep, and important, teams are letting starters go less and less.

Even more so when they are hard throwing ones. But Hill’s fastball only averaged below 90 MPH (89.2). When I say that you’ll probably never see a pitcher throw the first pitch of the game, and still be on the mound in extra innings, I’m not exaggerating. Hill just happened to put on his best Harvey Haddix impression.