No more second fiddle
Kevin Millwood, overshadowed in Atlanta, no-hits the Giants for his new club in the Phillies' 1-0 win.
By Associated Press,
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 28, 2003
PHILADELPHIA - Often overlooked and considered expendable in Atlanta, Kevin Millwood at last outdid his former Cy Young teammates.
Millwood pitched his first career no-hitter, shutting down Barry Bonds and the NL's top team to lead the Phillies over the San Francisco Giants 1-0 Sunday.
Millwood, acquired from Atlanta in December, struck out 10 and walked three to record the ninth no-hitter in team history.
His gem came on the anniversary of the most recent no-hitter, by Boston's Derek Lowe against the Devil Rays.
"Every pitcher's goal is to throw one. I was probably as nervous as I've ever been," said Millwood, traded for catcher Johnny Estrada in a cost-cutting move by the Braves.
"It was one of those special days, and I don't plan on doing it every time out, but it was a lot of fun."
Millwood used several variations of his fastball and just enough off-speed pitches to keep Bonds and the other Giants off-balance throughout the afternoon, keeping the crowd of 40,016 cheering at Veterans Stadium.
"My fastball was the flavor of the day," said Millwood, who threw it on 81 of his 108 pitches. "The fans were great, they were loud and on their feet. When I got two strikes, it was so loud I couldn't hear myself think. That made me more nervous."
In Atlanta, Millwood pitched behind Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.
Maddux (four), Glavine (two) and Smoltz (one) have seven Cy Young Awards among them, but none has a no-hitter. The trio has three one-hitters, two by Maddux and one by Smoltz.
"That was cool," said Maddux, who watched on a clubhouse television as Atlanta played Milwaukee at Turner Field. "I really enjoyed it. I was probably more nervous than he was."
Millwood said upstaging his former mentors didn't make his performance more special.
"I'd be just as excited if one of those guys threw it," he said.
Millwood retired Bonds three times, striking out the single-season home run king in the seventh looking at a 91 mph fastball. Bonds hit a long drive to right that Bobby Abreu caught near the wall in the fourth.
Marquis Grissom came the closest to getting a hit, but centerfielder Ricky Ledee raced back and made a leaping one-handed catch on his hard liner to right-center to start the seventh.
"I was just praying that Ricky would make a great play, and he did," Millwood said.
Ledee homered and caught the final out, a routine fly ball by Grissom.
Jose Cruz nearly homered in the second, but his long fly hooked outside the rightfield foul pole.
"He threw a great game," Cruz said. "He kept pumping them up there."
In the ninth, Millwood retired pinch-hitters Neifi Perez and Marvin Benard on grounders before walking Ray Durham on a full count. Millwood retired 15 straight before the walk.
"Not only was that unbelievable, it came against the best team in the National League right now," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. "To do it in 1-0 game makes it more special."
St. Louis' Bud Smith, now a Phillies minor-leaguer, pitched the most recent NL no-hitter against San Diego on Sept. 3, 2001.
When Grissom lofted the final fly ball, Millwood put his right finger in the air and held it there as Ledee made the catch.
Jim Thome was the first teammate to reach Millwood, coming from first base and embracing the pitcher on the mound. Thome and Millwood were Philadelphia's top acquisitions in a free-spending offseason.
Catcher Mike Lieberthal hugged Millwood and Bowa pumped his fist as he ran from the dugout. But Bowa couldn't get to Millwood as the Phillies surrounded him.
Millwood tipped his hat twice to the fans, who stood the last two innings. His wife, Rena, said she chewed her fingernails the last few innings.
"I wouldn't say it was his best stuff," Lieberthal said. "His slider wasn't working and he threw a few curves. It was all his fastball."
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