Livingston loses no-hitter in 9th

Gerrit Cole pitched 8 hitless innings but couldn't finish the job and neither could the Livingston bullpen, giving up a single in the 9th to spoil a potential no-hitter.

Cole struck out 9 in Livingston's 4-0 win over San Francisco in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader. Of his 106 pitches, 67 (.632) went for strikes.

A walk to pinch-hitter Dan Vogelbach to open the 9th was only Cole's second of the game but it was enough to get the hook after 106 pitches. Abner Uribe came on in relief and promptly walked Yainer Diaz before striking out Anthony Santander. It would be Max Kepler who would break up the no-hitter with a single to load the bases. Uribe then struck out Mike Ford and got T.J. Friedl to line out to center to end the game, preserve the shutout.

The Lords of Swing jumped out early with Mookie Betts launching a home run after Juan Soto lead off the game with a walk. Livingston added 2 more in 8th when Nolan Jones tripled home fellow rookie Alex Kiriloff and later scored on a Sal Frelick groundball double play.

San Francisco got as far as 2nd base twice; a fielder's choice after Cole plunked 1b Mike Ford in the 2nd inning and a 7th inning error by 3B Max Muncy allowed Kepler to advance to 2nd.

Cole, who finished 7th in McDonald Award voting last year and won the award in 2019, earned the win, evening his record to 8-8 and lower his ERA to 3.85 on the season.

Had Livingston been able to complete the feat, it would have been the second no-hitter in DMBL this season.