Plesac takes no-hitter into 8th as Indians top Mariners 4-2

SEATTLE (AP) — Zach Plesac's day started with a frantic search for a pair of cleats after learning he'd left his normal road spikes behind in Cleveland.

After a replacement pair was found, Plesac came within six outs of ending the longest no-hitter drought in the majors.

“I felt the energy of it happening,” Plesac said. “You could feel it in the air, really.”

Plesac took his no-hit bid into the eighth inning, nearly throwing Cleveland's first no-no in 40 years, and the Indians held on for a 4-2 win over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night.

The anticipated debuts of Seattle prospects Jarred Kelenic and Logan Gilbert were overshadowed by a masterful pitching performance from Plesac.

His attempt at Cleveland’s first no-hitter since 1981 ended when J.P. Crawford led off the eighth with a line-drive single that just cleared the glove of leaping shortstop Amed Rosario. It came on a changeup that had baffled Seattle's hitters for most of the night.

This one stayed up in the zone and ended Plesac's shot at history.

“I made a couple good pitches to J.P., and then my change, it was working for me all night so I felt comfortable throwing it,” Plesac said. “But I just kind of spun through instead of getting through and it kind of stayed over the plate, allowed him to get the bat on it.”

Plesac (3-3) lost the shutout moments later when Dylan Moore hit a two-run homer. That sent the Indians’ bullpen into a frenzy to get ready.

Moore’s homer was his fourth of the season and one of the few hard-hit balls all night against Plesac. While he wasn’t overpowering, the right-hander managed to induce weak contact for most of the first seven innings.

He escaped the eighth after a lineout from Evan White and Kelenic’s deep flyout to...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Zach-Plesac-loses-no-no-in-8th-as-Cleveland-tops-16176294.php