Some team that's a little desperate is going to try this someday: A staff of 12 or 13 pitchers, all designed to throw 3-4 innings or fewer. It will save wear and tear on the "starting pitchers," allow teams to plug holes more efficiently and -- perhaps the real reason -- keep their salaries in line.
Sound a little kooky? Sure. But look at what the Seattle Mariners did on Friday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. After starter Kevin Millwood was injured after six innings, five Seattle relievers picked up the slack and threw a no-hitter, the fourth of the season already. The Mariners won 1-0.
Millwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League and Tom Wilhelmsen put their names in the record book. And a decent baseball fan probably has ever heard of just a couple of them.
Wilhelmsen, a substitute teacher and bartender a couple of years ago, didn't even know he finished a no-hitter.
"He was surprised," Mariners catcher Jesus Montero said to the Associated Press. "He didn't know. ... I jumped on him and I was like, 'Hey, it's a no-hitter!' And he went, 'What?!" And then he was so happy after that. He was so focused on the game. That's what happened."
It's Milwood's second no-hitter - he threw a more conventional one in 2003 for the Phillies.
The six pitchers ties a big-league record for a no-hitter. On June 11, 2003, the Astros threw a no-hitter with starter Roy Oswalt throwing just one inning, then leaving with an injury. Five relievers "finished" the job in perhaps the most bizarre no-hitter ever, and it came against the Yankees, too.
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