On Sunday in the Mile High City, rookie and Denver native Kyle Freeland missed a no-hit bid by two outs in a 10-0 rout of the Chicago White Sox at Coors Field.
“It was incredible,” Freeland, 24, said. “Our fans were great. Our bats got going immediately with those two runs, and they didn’t stop. It was a good team win to go into the break and it was a lot of fun to battle today.”
It would have been only the second time in Rockies history that a pitcher put up all zeros in the hit category, behind Ubaldo Jimenez’s no-hitter in Atlanta in 2010. But, as a consolation, Freeland put up the second-longest bid for a no hitter in Rockies history at 8.1 innings, and the longest at Coors Field.
Throughout the course of the game, manager Bud Black said his mind was racing.
“He’s pitching great, man, I’m pulling for him,” Black said. “We were all pulling hard for Kyle. Once Pat hit the home run to get it to 7-0, there’s a little bit of exhale, because Kyle’s pitching well as it gets deeper into the game. We’re all thinking the same thing, just how he was throwing. We’re going pitch to pitch, we all are. That’s what I’m thinking.”
After striking out Adam Engel in the top of the ninth, Melky Cabrera stepped up to the plate and ruined the no-hit bid by sending a hit over the head of Nolan Arenado and into shallow left field. After that, Freeland’s game was over as he headed to the dugout in front of a boisterous crowd.
“It was awesome,” Freeland said. “When I walked out to the dugout, the crowd gave that big roar when they saw me, and it was great. Going through that, it was kind of a blackout moment, but it is a ton of fun to battle out there. In that ninth inning, Cabrera was able to muscle the fastball inside over Nolan, but I tip my cap to him. I made my pitch, and he put a good enough swing on it to get a hit.”
On the afternoon, Freeland struck out nine, while only allowing three walks. That’s not half bad for a rookie in his 18th career Major League start. His record improved to 9-7 on the year.
The ‘W’ couldn’t have come at a better time for the Rockies. Not only did they win the series against the White Sox, but the victory ended the tough stretch just before the All-Star break on a high note.
The bounceback was certainly a welcome change for Freeland, who suffered his third straight loss in his last start on July 4 after starting out the year being nearly infallible. On Sunday, minus a few walks, he practically was.
“I went on a little skid there for about three starts where my fastball command wasn’t what it used to be, and I wasn’t pitching the way I believed I should be pitching, and today was a great bounceback for me,” Freeland said. “I felt great out there, I made my some adjustments in between my last start and this one, and it worked out well.”
Black said the biggest difference between this game and his last three boiled down to one simple change: Pitch command.
“I thought he pitched inside extremely well – both, in [and] off the plate and for strikes. I thought his slider-cutter was much better than it’s been the last four starts. I thought the fastball away had great action, and Kyle’s got good movement on his pitch, and we talked about the action on his pitches,” Black said. “Today, he was on, I think there was a lot of conviction with every pitch that he threw. I think he and Ryan [Hanigan] were in sync the entire game.”
Throughout the first two innings, Freeland got the job done swiftly with just three batters apiece, but things started feeling real when he did it again in the top of the third by striking out the side. The next inning, he stayed clean in the hit category, but forfeited his bid at a perfect game when he hit José Abreu with a pitch to put him on base.
“Around the fifth or sixth inning was when I realized that I had really set into my groove, feeling really well, team’s playing well, we got a lead,” Freeland said. “Just go out there, pitch to contact, get quick outs and get back in here.”
In the top of the eighth, with every fan in attendance hanging on to every single pitch with bated breath, left fielder Gerardo Parra made the play of the game as he snared a diving catch from a shallow left-field knock off of Yolmer Sanchez’s bat.
“He made the play of the game, and I immediately gave him applause for it,” Freeland said. “He came in flying after it and he knew what was on the line, and I knew every single one of my teammates was going to do everything they could to get the out.”
The next two batters struck out swinging to send things to the ninth.
Before almost every pitch in the top of the final inning, you could almost hear a pin drop at Coors Field. And after every strike, the crowd was absolutely electric.
Adam Engel stepped up to the plate first, and struck out swinging. Melky Cabrera took the next shot, and ruined the afternoon with the sole base hit of the day for the White Sox. After that, Freeland exited the game to a loud, electric, standing ovation.
Either way, it’s a game Freeland and the Rockies will not soon forget.
“Nobody knew he was going to take a no-hitter into the ninth inning. It was great,” Black said. “It was a great baseball game. It’s great theater; it’s great drama. The people who were here loved it, the people who were watching on TV – which I hope were a ton – enjoyed every minute of it. It was a great day of entertainment.”
