Pittsburgh's A.J. Burnett has pitched seven hitless innings against the Cubs, and the Pirates took a 5-0 lead into the eighth inning at Chicago's Wrigley Field.
Burnett’s No-Hit Bid Intact After 7 Innings
Burnett has walked X Cubs: Anthony Rizzo in the fourth inning and David DeJesus in the sixth, both with two outs. In the seventh, Burnett retired the Cubs in order: Rizzo grounded to shortstop; Alfonso Soriano drove a fly ball to deep left-center field, where Andrew McCutchen tracked it down and avoided a collision with rookie Starling Marte; and Bryan LaHair grounded out to first base.
The Pirates grabbed a 4-0 lead in the first inning when Neil Walker hit a grand slam off Casey Coleman, just recalled from the minors to fill Ryan Dempster's rotation slot. They added another in the top of the seventh when Walker's sacrifice fly to shallow center field was enough to plate Travis Snider from third base.
Burnett’s thrown only 80 pitches through seven innings.
This wouldn’t be Burnett’s first no-hitter: in 2001, he no-hit the San Diego Padres despite issuing nine walks.
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