The Huntsville Times
2038-09-19
The Huntsville Phantoms were on the wrong end of history Saturday evening.
Montreal starter Jesús López threw a perfect game against the home team, allowing no hits, no runs, no walks …
No hope.
“This was one of those games where a good athlete was on top of his game,” Montreal manager Kayne Grandage said of his pitcher just minutes after the final out. “He had a tremendous rhythm out there. His focus, his concentration, his stuff, everything was as good as it could possibly be.”
The Phantoms looked helpless and frequently bewildered as López retired all 27 batters he faced, striking out 10 of them.
“His stuff was just filthy,” said DH Emilio Lugo, who struck out in each of his three at-bats. “I mean, everything was working – his fastball, his slider … that damn forkball. We couldn’t do anything with any of it.”
First baseman Norris Rutledge just shook his head in wonder at what he’d just experienced.
“My hat’s off to him. That was just impressive as hell.”
López did little to celebrate his historic feat, giving just a simple fist pump as he struck out shortstop Santiago Morales to finish the game.
Few of the 24,194 Huntsville fans in attendance left the ballpark early, no doubt hoping to see something special. And as Montreal players mobbed López on the mound, the crowd rose to its feet and gave a long, appreciative standing ovation.
“I’ve been in baseball a long time,” said GM Vic Caleca, “and I’ve never seen a perfect game in person. I hate like hell that we were on the losing end of it, but still … that’s one of those things you’ll never forget.”
Last night’s gem was the eighth perfect game in modern (since 1995) Brewster history, with the most recent coming on July 4 of last season. That gem was thrown by Calgary’s Edwin Gilliam against Hawaii.
López, whose season record is now 8-12 with a 4.51 ERA, seemed more than a little dazed by it all.
“A game like this was pretty special,” he said. “It doesn’t come along very often.”
And when they do, they become instant history.
