A.J. Burnett nearly threw a no-hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs. The no-hit bid was broken up with two outs in the eighth inning by Adrian Cardenas, called up to the Cubs Tuesday.
Burnett is 13-3 with a 3.27 ERA
The bid would have been the first Pirates’ no-hitter since 1997 and the second of Burnett’s career.
Pittsburgh beat the Chicago Cubs 5-0 to bump their record to 59-44 while Burnett moved his record to 13-3 on the season.
Pirates’ 2B Neil Walker had a grand slam and 5 RBI in the win.
Francisco Cordova and Ricardo Rincon pitched a combined no-hitter for the Bucs in ’97, the last no-hitter for the franchise.
John Candelaria threw the last individual Pirates no-hitter in 1976.
Burnett flirted with what would have been the sixth no-no in franchise history.
Cincinnati defeated the San Diego Padres earlier Tuesday to remain three games ahead of the Pirates. The rubber match of the Cubs-Pirates series will take place Wednesday afternoon between starters Jeff Karstens and Travis Wood.
Burnett stopped a two-game losing streak with the win, a pair of blowouts at the hands of the lowly Astros and Cubs.
More importantly, his 13th victory of the season stands as three more than anyone else on the Pirates.
And three more than anyone on the Yankees.
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