ST. LOUIS — Cardinals rookie Michael Wacha lost his no-hit bid on Ryan Zimmerman’s infield single with two outs in the ninth inning, and St. Louis beat the Washington Nationals 2-0 Tuesday night to close in on the NL Central title.
Making his ninth career start, Wacha came about as close as possible to finishing off the third no-hitter in the majors this season. Instead, the Busch Stadium crowd let out a loud, collective groan as he became the third pitcher to have a bid broken up with one out to go.
Zimmerman hit a chopper just over the 6-foot-6 Wacha, and the ball bounced slowly toward shortstop. A charging Pete Kozma grabbed it with his bare hand and whipped a throw to first that was a little wide, pulling Matt Adams off the bag as Zimmerman arrived.
“I think it nicked off my glove a little bit,” Wacha said.
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As the ball left Zimmerman’s bat, several Cardinals started to climb the dugout railing, ready to pour onto the field to celebrate. Second baseman Matt Carpenter did a little hop, all set for the final out.
But first base umpire Jeff Kellogg correctly called Zimmerman safe, and the Cardinals sagged right along with their fans.
Third baseman David Freese sat crouched in the infield, stunned at how close his 22-year-old teammate had come. Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright put his hands on his head in disbelief.
Wacha (4-1) was pulled after Zimmerman’s hit and walked off to a huge ovation. The right-hander struck out nine and walked two.
“I guess I wasn’t meant to throw one tonight,” he said.
Trevor Rosenthal got Jayson Werth to ground out for his second save.
With anticipation building and fans on their feet in the ninth inning, Wacha retired pinch-hitter Steve Lombardozzi on a grounder to Kozma before throwing a called third strike past Denard Span.
But on the next pitch, Zimmerman spoiled it.
Texas’ Yu Darvish lost a perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning against Houston on April 2 and San Francisco’s Yusmeiro Petit had his try at perfection end one out shy against Arizona on Sept 6.
Cincinnati’s Homer Bailey and the Giants’ Tim Lincecum threw no-hitters in July.
The last two no-hitters by St. Louis pitchers came from rookies — Bud Smith in 2001 and Jose Jimenez in 1999.
It has been 30 years since there was a no-hitter in St. Louis. Bob Forsch finished off his second for the Cardinals on Sept. 26, 1983, against Montreal.
Drafted 19th overall out of Texas A&M last year, Wacha has been up and down from the minors a couple of times this season. But he came up big for the Cardinals in the final week as they try to nail down their first division title since 2009.
St. Louis, which already clinched a playoff berth, began the night with a two-game lead in the NL Central over Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. The Reds lost to the Mets 4-2, falling three games back with four to play.
The Cardinals have won four of five. They remained a half-game behind Atlanta for the best record in the NL.
Washington was eliminated from playoff contention with a 4-3 loss to St. Louis on Monday night. The Nationals have dropped three of four.
Wacha retired his first 14 batters before Adam LaRoche reached on an error by Carpenter at second base with two outs in the fourth.
Span tried to break up the no-hitter with a two-out bunt in the sixth. The ball rolled just foul near third base, and the crowd booed lustily.
Left fielder Shane Robinson made a running catch of a tailing liner off the bat of Anthony Rendon to end the eighth.
Robinson drove in Carpenter with a two-out single off Gio Gonzalez (11-8) in the third. Carpenter began the rally with his major league-leading 55th double.
Yadier Molina pushed the lead to 2-0 with a run-scoring double in the fourth.
Gonzalez came within inches of a no-hitter himself this month. He finished with a one-hit shutout against the Mets after pinch-hitter Zach Lutz’s seventh-inning single landed right on the first base line behind the bag.
This time, Gonzalez allowed two runs and six hits over seven innings. He struck out six.