Chicago White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodón threw a no-hitter on Wednesday night against the Cleveland Indians, and was oh so close to a perfect game.
Now, he did catch two breaks in the inning. He almost lost both the perfect game and no-hitter to start the inning, when Josh Naylor hit a dribbler that almost turned into an infield single, but Jose Abreu tagged first base in sliding fashion for the out.
BARELY out. Wow. pic.twitter.com/nQeG1eOGzN
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) April 15, 2021
And for the second out, Rodón got an extremely generous (bad) strike three call from home plate umpire Doug Eddings.
Carlos Rodón did get the benefit of the doubt on this questionable call for the second out in the ninth. pic.twitter.com/opN6CcohrM
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) April 15, 2021
But in between those plate appearances, Rodón lost the perfect game in a very frustrating way. The left-hander was trying to get a chase on 0-2, but instead his breaking ball clipped the back foot of Cleveland’s Roberto Pérez for a hit-by-pitch.
Carlos Rodón loses the perfect game on a breaking ball hit-by-pitch with one out in the ninth. Pretty lame way to lose it. pic.twitter.com/oJMpd8iXwy
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) April 15, 2021
So, he lost the perfect game, but he was able to finish off the no-hitter on this Jordan Luplow groundout to first:
Carlos Rodón has thrown a no-hitter!!!! ⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/tevENtGSTB
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) April 15, 2021
It’s incredibly the 20th no-hitter in White Sox history, and it comes just five days after Joe Musgrove threw the first no-hitter in San Diego Padres history.
if you, like me, felt like the White Sox were prolific with no-hitters, you were right. With 20, they are second in MLB history behind the Dodgers (26)
— Matt Snyder (@MattSnyderCBS) April 15, 2021
There hasn’t been a perfect game since 2012, when Felix Hernández threw one for the Seattle Mariners, and Rodón becomes the seventh pitcher to lose a perfect game in the ninth inning since then.
Since Felix Hernandez threw the last perfect game in 2012, Carlos Rodon is the seventh pitcher (and eighth occurance) to lose a perfect game in the ninth inning: Yu Darvish (2013), Yusmeiro Petit (2013), Max Scherzer (2015), Rich Hill (2017), Jorge… https://t.co/F4In8FT5oF
— David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield) April 15, 2021
Pérez told the media that he didn’t even know Rodón had a perfect game before the hit-by-pitch.
Roberto Perez on the HBP: "To be honest, I really didn’t think he had a perfect game until I got hit. I thought he had a no-hitter going on, but I really didn’t think he had a perfect game. So, it’s hard, man. I’m not gonna try to stand there and get hit, you know?"
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) April 15, 2021
The 8-0 White Sox victory also featured another incredible home run from 28-year-old rookie Yermín Mercedes.
