Much Ado About No Hits

Never has a single by Juan Pierre been more welcome and received by more cheers!

The Sox were almost on the wrong side of history for the 2nd day in a row, as Lilly and Gavin Floyd battled through inning after scoreless and, more importantly, hitless inning. Of course, there were walks, there were errors, there were (2!!) men hit by pitches. But no hits. Gavin lost his no-hit bid sometime in the 7th, but his performance was nowhere short of brilliant. Lilly managed to hold on to his no-hitter until what seemed to be a very promising 9th.

Overall, I am disappointed in the loss, but boy was this an exciting game! Both pitchers had their best stuff, and we got an exciting finish. Well... either that or the offense on both sides was so bad, the pitchers had to force batters on base with hits, errors, walks, and even a balk.

Questions left to be answered: how were 5 plunked White Sox hitters not avenged? Clearly any retaliation would have resulted in the pitcher being thrown out, but the situation seems a bit overlooked. Especially since A.J.- a real Cub favorite- was hit TWICE in TWO DAYS! The Sox’ lack of retaliation? Smart, classy. The umpires’ lack of warning? Upsetting.

Well, at least for now, this nightmare seems to be over. The Sox and Cubs, with clouds looming, ended this first series, and the Sox took the first 2 of 3, obtaining their longest winning streak of the year. At the very least, this was a confidence booster for the Sox and for Gavin Floyd.