DENVER — Ka’ai Tom singled to start the ninth inning for the Pittsburgh Pirates, breaking up a valiant no-hit bid from Colorado Rockies starter German Marquez on Tuesday night in an 8-0 victory.
Marquez nearly added his name to the growing list of no-hitters in 2021, as the veteran right-hander baffled the Pirates for eight innings.
Marquez, 26, struck out five and walked just one across an efficient 92 pitches, in his attempt to author just the second no-hitter ever at Coors Field and the eighth overall in the majors this season.
“There were a lot of things going through my mind, you know, I was excited. In my mind, I knew that I just had to calm down and make my pitches,” Marquez said in a postgame interview on MLB Network. “It was just one pitch that I missed, and that’s it.”
As a result, the MLB total sits at seven no-hitters, one shy of tying the single-season record — set in 1884 — and it’s not yet July. This season, there have been six solo no-hitters, and the Chicago Cubs last week no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers with a combined effort, including relievers.
Trevor Story had two RBIs and was one of five Rockies with two or more hits in the victory. Charlie Blackmon was 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI in support of Marquez, who improved to 7-6 on the season.
“I felt it. I had a feeling, and I didn’t want to think about it,” Marquez said. “But it is what it is.”
Marquez recovered quickly in the last inning, after Tom’s single, inducing a double play followed by a groundout to end the complete game. He is now 7-6 on the season with a 3.62 ERA.
“My fastball command was good. When my fastball command is good, everything else comes through very good. My slider was sharp today and my curveball was amazing.”
The Pirates concurred.
“We didn’t have a lot of solid contact,” said Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton, whose club was shut out for the second consecutive game. “We didn’t hit a lot of things on the barrel. He did a really nice job keeping us off the barrel. I think that the mix of his breaking ball … he commanded the breaking ball extremely well and then mixed in the fastball, especially late, and that’s what gave us problems.
“His tempo was really good all night.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.