In the bottom of the eighth, with one out and a runner on first, Francisco Liriano got Gordon Beckham to hit into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning and help preserve the no-hitter. But replays showed that Beckham was safe at first, as Justin Morneau's swipe tag caught nothing but air:
How Much Did Blown Call Help Francisco Liriano’s No-Hitter?
Here’s the tricky part: it wasn’t going to be a hit. It would have been a fielder’s choice, and the no-hitter would have still been intact.
So how many Super Cool No-Hitter Points does one dock from Liriano’s final tally? Is it a complete non-issue, or is Liriano’s no-hitter somewhat impure?
Alright, it's probably a non-issue. But it's an interesting contrast to the Armando Galarraga/Jim Joyce game. In that game, the only thing standing between a perfect game and a one-hitter was a blown call. In the Liriano no-hitter, it's way more ambiguous. Maybe he would have given up a hit to the next batter, but that's just cynical talk. I'd like to think that he would have walked the next six hitters, kept the no-hitter intact, and lost what would have been the most epic no-hitter of our generation.
We’ll never know. Pretty sure he would have walked the next six, though.
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