PITTSBURGH - A.J. Burnett took a no-hitter into the seventh inning nearly 12 years after throwing the only one of his career, pitching the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night.
Burnett (1-2) lost his bid with two outs in the seventh on Carlos Beltran’s double to right-center. That was the only hit given up by the 36-year-old right-hander from North Little Rock in seven dominant innings.
The only other runner he allowed came when he hit Daniel Descalso with a 2-2 pitch with one out in the sixth to end his shot at a perfect game. Burnett struck out eight to raise his season total to 35 in 24 innings.
His bid for a no-hitter came on a night when he recorded the 2,000th strikeout of his 15-year career. Burnett reached the milestone when he caught Beltran looking to lead off the second.
The game was stopped briefly when Pirates infielders and catcher Russell Martin went to the mound to shake Burnett’s hand. Burnett also gave a quick wave to the crowd of 9,570, which gave him a standing ovation.
Mark Melancon, Tony Watson and Jason Grilli completed the one-hitter. It was the Pirates’ second shutout of the season and the second time the Cardinals had been blanked.
Burnett’s no-hitter came on May 12, 2001, for the Florida Marlins in San Diego. That game was also notable for his nine walks. Burnett did not issue a base on balls Wednesday night.
St. Louis rookie Shelby Miller ( 2-1) pitched well despite taking his first loss in four career decisions. He gave up 2 runs and 6 hits in 6 innings with1 walk and 6 strikeouts.
REDS 1-11, PHILLIES 0-2 Jay Bruce hit two bases-loaded singles that sent host Cincinnati to a couple of victories over Philadelphia. The Reds completed their first sweep of the Phillies since 1996. First, they finished their game suspended overnight by rain. Several hundred fans were in the stands to see Phillippe Aumont (1-2) pick the game up in the bottom of the ninth and give up Bruce’s bases-loaded single only four batters later. The crowd was 16,467 for the series finale, which started an hour and a half later. Bruce had a big hand in that one, too. He had a bases-loaded single to right field that highlighted a five-run rally in the second inning.
NATIONALS 6, MARLINS 1 Ross Detwiler departed with a lead for the third start in a row, and this time the bullpen held on as Bryce Harper as visiting Washington beat Miami.
AMERICAN LEAGUE ATHLETICS 7, ASTROS 5 Bartolo Colon (2-0) pitched six crisp innings, Josh Reddick doubled in two runs during a six-run first and host Oakland beat Houston to complete another three game sweep.
WHITE SOX 7, BLUE JAYS 0 Tyler Flowershit a three-run home run and Jose Quintana pitched 6 2/3 innings to lead visiting Chicago to a victory over Toronto.
RAYS 6, ORIOLES 2 Kelly Johnson and Shelley Duncan homered, James Loney had three RBI and visiting Tampa Bay beat Baltimore to snap a four-game losing skid. Matt Moore (3-0) gave up 2 runs and 5 hits in 62/3 innings.
RED SOX 6, INDIANS 3 Converted closer Alfredo Aceves coasted through five innings, Mike Napoli and Daniel Nava drove in two runs apiece and the Red Sox struck quickly against Justin Masterson and beat Cleveland.
INTERLEAGUE YANKEES 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3 Travis Hafner had a pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning to make a winner of CC Sabathia (3-1), who settled down after a shaky start and helped host New York beat Arizona.
ROYALS 1, BRAVES 0 Wade Davis (2-0) pitched five-hit ball for seven innings, Jeff Francoeur had a fourth-inning RBI single, and visiting Kansas City stopped Atlanta’s 10-game winning streak with a victory. The Braves were seeking their first 13-1 start since 1994, but Davis struck out seven and walked no one.
Wednesday’s games
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cincinnati 1-11, Philadelphia 0-2 Pittsburgh 5, St. Louis 0 Washington 6, Miami 1 Milwaukee 4, San Francisco 3 NY Mets at Colorado, ppd., snow San Diego at LA Dodgers, (n)
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Oakland 7, Houston 5 Boston 7, Cleveland 2 Baltimore 5, Tampa Bay 4 Chicago White Sox 4, Toronto 3 LA Angels at Minnesota, ppd., rain Detroit at Seattle, (n)
INTERLEAGUE
Kansas City 1, Atlanta 0 Arizona at NY Yankees, (n) Texas at Chicago, ppd., rain
Sports, Pages 22 on 04/18/2013