ORLANDO HERNANDEZ THROWS NO-HITTER FOR CHEESEHEADS

For Immediate Release
June 16th 2001

DETROIT (AP)Orlando Hernandez, pitched a no-hitter Saturday when he shut down the Detroit Crime 8-0 despite what Hernandez said as “Not having my best stuff”   The Cheeseheads swarmed Hernandez on the mound when Enrique Wilson struck out for the final out.  The feat came in front of a Busch Stadium crowd of 31,811, which gave Hernandez a long round of applause when he walked to the mound to begin the ninth.   Hernandez retired Fernando Tatis on a fly to center to open the ninth inning, Johnny Damon bounced to shortstop Neifi Perez, and — with the crowd on its feet — got Enrique Wilson to strike-out.  “It’s an amazing feeling just to be able to throw one is awesome,” Hernandez said. “I never thought that after my days in Cuba, that I’d throw a no-hitter.  Of his 128 pitches, just 65 were strikes. Hernandez said he threw only five breaking pitches.   “Un-believable!” said catcher Sandy Alomar, who has caught other no-hitters.’  “I’ve never seen anything like tonight. In my wildest dreams, I’ve never seen a no-hitter where the pitcher only threw 5 breaking balls, and I’ve never seen a guy dominate like that with just one pitch.”  The closest the Crime came to a hit was a Edmonds fly ball to the warning track in left in the second inning and a Johnny Damon ground ball up the middle in the sixth that Delino Deshields fielded and threw to first just in time.  “I was effectively in complete control,” said Hernandez, who added he didn’t realize he was working on a no-hitter until the seventh. “I never thought this day would come.”  Hernandez, walked two and received outstanding defensive support.  Especially by Matt Lawton who made a running catch of Jason Varitek’s long fly in foul territory in deep right to get the final out of the fifth inning.  “I had the defensive help when I needed it,” Hernandez said. “They made plays all night.”  Said Manager Ray McIntire: “He was laboring in the eighth. If he had given up a hit in the eighth, he was out. If he had given up a hit with two outs in the ninth, he was out.”   The game was the third of five in which the Cheeseheads took the series four games to one.

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