Kevin Millwood, Five Relievers Combine for Mariners' No-Hitter; Ryan Roberts Leads Arizona with Walk-Off Homer

Players of the Day for Friday, June 8, 2012

American League

Kevin Millwood

Kevin Millwood started for Seattle in their interleague game with the Giants, going six innings without surrendering a hit, but a groin injury kept him from returning to the mound in the seventh.

That's when the Seattle bullpen picked up where Millword left off. Three innings and five pitchers later, the Mariners completed the fourth no-hitter in the majors this season, the first thrown by multiple pitchers, as Seattle topped the Dodgers, 1-0.

After taking some warmup tosses, Millwood couldn't continue and was replaced by Charlie Furbush, who recorded the first two outs of the seventh. Stephen Pryor completed the inning, and was replaced by Lucas Luetge, who got the first out of the eighth. Brandon League took the game to the ninth, getting two outs, and 6'6" Tom Wilhelmsen finished off the Dodgers with a perfect ninth inning for his third save.

Millwood struck out six and walked one, but didn't get a decision, as the Mariners scored their only run off a single by Kyle Seager in the seventh inning. The five relievers combined for three Ks and a pair of walks, both surrendered by Pryor, who, oddly enough, earned the win.

It was the second no-hitter thrown at Safeco Field this year. Philip Humber of the White Sox humbled the Mariners back in April.

The six pitchers tied an MLB record for the most pitchers used in a no-hit game.


National League

Arizona knocked off the A's, 9-8 as Ryan Roberts thrilled the hometown crowd with a three-run, walk-off homer with two out in the bottom of the ninth.

Ryan Roberts

Trailing 8-6, when A's closer, Brian Fuentes, took the mound for the ninth, the D'Backs didn't appear to have anything going, the first two batters surrendering on a fly to center and a ground out to short.

But, Fuentes opened the door a crack when he walked Chris Young and Aaron Hill pushed it wide open with a follow-up single, sending Young to second and putting the winning run at the plate in the form of Roberts, who had already doubled twice and scored a run in his previous four at-bats.

Roberts deposited a Fuentes offering deep into the left-center stands, giving Arizona their third straight win and putting them one up on the A's in the opener of their three-game weekend series.

INTERLEAGUE SCOREBOARD: With the results of Friday's games in addition to the games played the weekend of May 18-20, the American League leads the National League, 31-25, after splitting the scoreboard, 7-7. The first weekend of Interleague games went to the AL, 24-18, but the NL will have ample opportunity to even things up as this stretch of games between the opposing leagues stretches until June 24, a span - for most teams - of 15 straight games.

Due to the imbalance between the number of teams in the two leagues (there are two more NL teams than AL), there is normally a series pitting two NL teams. Friday saw the Brewers top San Diego, 9-5, in the opener of a three game set in Milwaukee.