Last night Homer Bailey threw the first no-hitter of the 2013 MLB season and the second of his career, as the Cincinnati Reds blanked the SF Giants 3-0. Actually he seems to be the only one throwing them these days as he also threw the final no-hitter of last season. Nolan Ryan is the only other player to ever pull that one off.
Before Homer Bailey took the mound for the eighth inning on Tuesday night, it was obvious to anyone inside Great American Ball Park that something special was happening. The 27-year-old right-hander was working on a no-hitter against the Giants, and as a result, there was a buzz not found during an ordinary early-July game.
But Bailey — calm, cool and collected — knew this feeling. It was fewer than 10 months ago that he no-hit the Pirates in Pittsburgh, and the memory of that game was still fresh in his mind.
“Here we go again, I guess,” Bailey thought to himself. “It’s something I’ve already done, so I knew what to expect.”
Whether his past experience making history played any part in his success on Tuesday, Bailey finished the game as if he knew exactly what he was doing, delivering the 16th no-hitter in franchise history in a 3-0 win.
After getting the last out, Homer was mobbed on the mound by his teammates and treated to a gatorade bath and shaving cream pie to the face.
He was still so excited during the post game interview that he dropped an F-bomb on live tv!
“D’oh!” Homer said later (we assume).
All no-hitters are team efforts, and this one was no exception as Bailey survived a close call due to a brilliant heads up play by Joey Votto to get a fielder’s choice put out in the 7th.
The Reds fans aren’t the only people happy about Bailey’s accomplishment. As it turns out his no-no can be turned in to free pizza from Dominos:
The Reds right-hander’s gem against San Francisco on Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park means the first 10,000 MLB.TV subscribers who visit MLB.com/Dominos on Wednesday can score a free Domino’s two-topping medium handmade pan pizza.
At the start of this season, Domino’s and Major League Baseball Advanced Media announced the “DomiNoNo” offer to all subscribers of MLB.TV, the Internet’s longest running and most prolific live video subscription service. The offer is good for the first two no-hitters of this season, so there will be one more chance in 2013.
It is for carryout only, and the code must be claimed and redeemed within five days starting at 3 p.m. ET the first business day following the no-hitter.
Suffice it to say that Bailey is on top of the world today — and full of pizza.
