Padres Analysis: The Top 10 Padres Games of 2014

Jul 20, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher

(40) pitches against the New York Mets during the eighth inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

 3. July 20th, Despaigne Takes No-Hitter Into 8th vs. New York Mets

Odrisamer Despaigne was just making his 5th start in the big leagues. His counterpart was the Mets’ bright young starter, Zack Wheeler.

Despaigne threw 123 pitches and was tossing a masterpiece. He went into the 8th inning with a no-hitter. Padres fans held their breath, wondering if they would finally be witnesses to the franchise’s first no-hitter.

He struck out the first two batters he faced in the 8th in Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Curtis Granderson. He then faced David Murphy and on a 2-2 count with 2 outs in the 8th, Murphy lined one in the left-center gap for a double, ending Despaigne’s bid for history.

He received a standing ovation from the home crowd. Then he gave up an RBI singe to David Wright in the next at-bat and was pulled from the game having taken a no-hitter 7 2/3 innings.

Now the task at hand was to reclaim the lead as he had surrendered a run to tie the game 1-1. The Padres entered the bottom of the 9th still tied.

Carlos Quentin leads off with a walk and Maybin pinch runs for him. Amarista then reaches on an error attempting to bunt which put runners at 1st and 2nd. Headley then grounded into a double play and with a load groan from the home crowd, it looked as if the Friars had squandered a golden opportunity to win the game.

With 2 outs and Maybin still at 3rd, Seth Smith hits a dribbler towards the mound that no one can get to or handle cleanly and he gets to first safely as Maybin scores, ending the game. The Padres won 2-1 walk-off style after the game started as a possible no-hitter.