No-Hit Loss

On 2008 June 28, Los Angeles defeated Los Angeles in a baseball game. This is the sort of thing that inter-league ball will do - it will make a strange headline like that one. The Dodgers beat the Angels 1-0. But the strangest thing is how they did it.

The Angels did not score a single run during the entire game. The Dodgers did not have any hits anywhere in the game. Therefore the two Angels pitchers, Weaver and Arredondo, tossed a no-hitter. However, the Dodgers won because they scored a run in the fifth inning. Kemp got on base on an error, then while the next batter was batting, he stole second. The throw to put him out at second went wild, and so Kemp got all the way to third. He then scored on DeWitt's sacrifice fly.

Major League Baseball does not consider this a no-hitter. That's because the two pitchers pitched only 8 innings, because the 9th inning wasn't played because the home team was ahead (the Angels were visitors). Maybe this is to keep the records unbiased, but it still seems a little strange to me to say that a no-hitter was not pitched because the game was so long. That has nothing to do with the number of hits.

If there is that much concern about nine innings for a no-hitter, then let's change the rules a bit. After 8 1/2 innings are played, if the home team is ahead, the bottom of the 9th is not played. This is because there is no chance for the visitors to win - only the home teams bats. It seems pointless to continue. But not if the visitors have a no-hitter going and they need 9 innings for a no-hitter.

So change the rules to say that if the home team is ahead after 8 1/2 innings but have not made any hits, the bottom of the ninth is played anyway. Balls, strikes, walks, running on the base paths, and putouts are the same as in previous innings. Runs do score. But as soon as the home team scores a hit, the game ends immediately, as the no-hitter is broken. If three outs occur before this happens, the visiting pitcher(s) will have a no-hitter, and it will be official. So continue the game if the home team has no hits. This will allow a moment of glory for some pitcher, even though he loses the game.