Cardinals' Wacha loses no-hitter in 9th

Michael Wacha came remarkably close to becoming the 10th pitcher in franchise history to record a no-hitter, but the St. Louis Cardinals right-hander fell short after allowing a leadoff single to Colin Moran to begin the ninth inning.

After eight no-hit frames, Wacha's 111th offering was laced into right field by the Pittsburgh Pirates pinch-hitter. The Cardinals replaced the 26-year-old with flame-throwing reliever Jordan Hicks.

Over the eight shutout innings, Wacha's final line included one hit, two walks, and eight strikeouts. He now owns a 2.41 ERA and 3.32 FIP over 71 innings in 2018.

Hicks closed the door in the ninth, capping off a 5-0 victory against the division-rival Pirates.

Wacha lost two potential no-hitters during his incredible rookie campaign in 2013. The first came against the Washington Nationals, with Ryan Zimmerman beating out an infield groundball with two outs in the ninth inning. And the second came during the postseason that year, when the right-hander's bid for a no-no was broken up in the eighth inning of a National League Division Series game versus the Pirates.

Bud Smith was the last Cardinals pitcher to throw a no-hitter, all the way back in 2001. While Wacha would have been the 10th Cardinals pitcher to accomplish the feat, it technically would have been the 11th in franchise history, with Bob Forsch accomplishing the feat twice.