(No) No Moore

On Sunday, August 23rd, 23-year-old Brandon Moore tossed the first no-hitter in franchise history -- a seven-inning, complete game in which he allowed just three walks and struck out six batters.

The no-hitter was Moore's sixth win of the year, and lowered his ER%A on the season to 2.15.

Brandon checks in on the blog with a recap of his no-hit experience:

You probably won't believe this, and I know it sounds strange when you're talking about a no-hitter, but up until the fifth or sixth inning or so, I was actually pretty upset with myself, because I felt like I wasn't throwing a good game. Being able to locate my fastball is a huge part of my game, and yesterday I just wasn't able to put it where I wanted to. I was so focused on that lack of command, and so mad at myself about it that it kept me from even realizing I hadn't given up a hit...which is probably a good thing.

It was really, really, hot and humid, and I was mostly trying to get quick outs and get back into the dugout as fast as possible. My teammate, Collin McHugh, kept on bringing me water, which was a huge help. It's funny -- he told me after the game that he never saw someone throw a no-hitter and look so horrible while doing it. Between the heat and my thinking about locating my fastballs, I was just drained. Completely exhausted. I kept on falling behind hitters and throwing a lot more pitches than I wanted to, so getting to sit in the dugout and grab some water was pretty much the only thing on my mind...until the sixth inning.

I was going over the game in my head, and I just kind of starting thinking, "wait...have they gotten a hit yet?" I walked a couple of guys, and hit another one, so they had runners on base throughout the game, but I couldn't really remember any hits. Almost immediately, I tried to push it out of my mind. If I was throwing a no-hitter, I didn't want to think about it. I had to force myself not to look at the scoreboard. When I did look, I focused on the balls, strikes, and outs. Deep down, I knew it, but I just didn't want to confirm it.

After I got through the sixth inning, though, I knew it was for real. I finally looked at the zero on the scoreboard, and I knew I had three more outs to go. I went out to the mound for the last inning, and just kind of said, "Here we go. Let's see what happens."

I got a fly ball, and then a strikeout, and then I got two strikes on the next batter, and threw two borderline sliders, trying to get a groundball or a strikeout. They were pretty close, and I thought the ump was going to ring him up, just because it was the last out of the game, but he didn't, and I walked him. The next guy grounded out to second base for the last out.

Some of the guys were saying I was at about 87-88 MPH the whole game, and for the last batter got up to 90-91. I didn't feel any different, but I guess I just had that adrenaline pumping a little more.

When I got that last out, I was just so happy that we won, and that the game was over. Thinking about the no-hitter didn't even hit me immediately. But then the guys swarmed the mound, and everybody was telling me what a good job I did, and congratulating me. It was such a cool experience. I've never thrown a no-hitter before, and I later heard that it was the first one for the Cyclones, too, so it's very cool for me to be a part of the team's history.

The whole experience was awesome! I was so happy to be a part of it. I heard from friends, family and lots of former teammates right away, which was amazing. I was actually kind of shocked how fast the news was spreading, and it was great to hear from so many people.

Thanks a lot to all the fans who wished me congratulations, and who cheer us on every night! We're going to do everything we can to win a championship for Brooklyn this year!

-- Brandon