SEATTLE – Mike Leake of the Seattle Mariners lost his bid to pitch a perfect game on a leadoff single in the ninth inning by rookie Luis Rengifo, then finished off the Los Angeles Angels for a 10-0 win Friday night.
A week after the worst start of his career, Leake almost achieved baseball immortality.
The Angels hadn’t come close to a hit and Leake hadn’t gone to a three-ball count before Rengifo grounded a clean hit to right field on Leake’s 79th pitch.
The fans gave Leake a standing ovation and he quickly waved to acknowledge their cheers.
After a walk, Leake (8-8) retired the next three batters for a one-hitter, striking out Mike Trout on a full-count pitch to end it. Leake fanned six overall and walked one.
In between innings, especially as the game went later and later, the bearded, 31-year-old righty sat alone on the Mariners’ bench.
“The sixth, seventh, I started to feel it a little bit,” he said.
“It was a cool experience, too bad we didn’t get it.”
Leake’s second career shutout came exactly a week after he was tagged by the Angels in his previous start, giving up seven runs on eight hits and a walk while getting just two outs.
There have been 23 perfect games in major league history, the last by Felix Hernandez of the Mariners in 2012.
Seattle’s Daniel Vogelbach hit two homers and drove in six runs.
Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-3.
Giants 1, Mets 0 (10)
In San Francisco, Alex Dickerson raced home from first on a botched fly ball to shallow left field with two outs in the 10th and the Giants won their season-high seventh straight game.
Cardinals 12, Reds 11
In Cincinnati, Jose Martinez homered and singled during a 10-run rally in the sixth inning and St. Louis overcame a seven-run deficit for a wild win over the Reds.
Astros 4, Rangers 3
In Houston, Justin Verlander struck out 12 in six solid innings, while four Astros players hit solo home runs in a victory over Texas.
Indians 10, Royals 5
In Cleveland, rookie Oscar Mercado went 5-for-5 and drove in two runs as the Indians won their sixth straight game.
In Other Games
Braves 4, Nationals 3
Yankees 8, Rockies 2
Athletics 5, Twins 3
Dodgers 2, Marlins 1
Diamondbacks 10, Brewers 7
White Sox 9, Rays 2
Orioles 11, Red Sox 2
Blue Jays 12, Tigers 1
Phillies 6, Pirates 1
Cubs 6, Padres 5
Source : Baseball – The Japan Times