Kile no-hits Mets


only one batter reached base
(c) Houston Astros


(c) Houston Astros
by John P. Lopez, Houston Chronicle

September 8, 1993 - Darryl Kile, a surprising All-Star in 1993, entered into Astros lore Wednesday night, throwing a stunning no-hitter against the New York Mets in a 7-1 Astros victory.

It was the Astros' first no-hitter since Mike Scott's pennant-clinching victory over the San Francisco Giants in 1986 and only the third in baseball this year.

"It was just incredible, an unbelievable feeling," said Kile, who improved to 15-6, walked only one batter and wrapped up the game with back-to-back strikeouts of Mets pinch-hitters Tito Navarro and Chico Walker.

"I guess the only thing better than this," Kile said, "would be winning the seventh game of the World Series. What can you say? I can't believe it."

For a rising star who struggled to make the team last spring and had to survive an emotional off-season when his father died, the no-hitter came thanks to an effort that could hardly have been more impressive.

For the start, Kile confused and overpowered the Mets. Kile's control proved to be impeccable, as he rarely got behind in the count and threw less than 90 pitches total.

"It's incredible just to be a part of it," Astros second baseman Craig Biggio said. "He was in such control out there. I looked up around the fourth inning and, you know how sometimes you just get a gut feeling?"

"I said to myself, 'Man, he's throwing. He might just get it.'"

Kile did, retiring the final 17 batters in a row.

"This is the best control I've had," Kile said, "I just felt real good."

But as much as Kile was superb, he also was helped by two of the most spectacular plays of the season in a seventh inning that nearly saw the gem slip away."

"You'll never see any two plays better," said Kile, who was mobbed on the mound after the final out and doused with champagne in the jubilant Astros locker room.

The huge plays came back-to-back, with third baseman Ken Caminiti diving hard to his left to scoop a bullet from the bat of Mets first baseman Eddie Murray.

It was easily the hardest-hit ball of the night, but Caminiti made the remarkable play.

One batter later, Astros shortstop Andujar Cedeno made a dive no less incredible than Caminiti's, leaping deep into the hole on a shot from Joe Orsulak. Cedeno turned and threw to Jeff Bagwell at first base in one motion and nipped Orsulak at the bag.

Box score 

     Game of 9/8/1993 -- New York at Houston
     Courtesy of Retrosheet

  New York           AB  R  H RBI    Houston            AB  R  H RBI
Thompson R, cf        3  0  0  0   Biggio C, 2b          4  0  1  0   
Walker C, ph          1  0  0  0   Candaele C, cf        4  1  1  1   
McKnight J, ss        2  1  0  0   Finley S, pr-cf       0  1  0  0   
Murray E, 1b          3  0  0  0   Bagwell J, 1b         4  1  2  1   
Orsulak J, lf         3  0  0  0   Anthony E, rf         4  0  0  0   
Gallagher D, lf       0  0  0  0   Caminiti K, 3b        3  2  1  1   
Burnitz J, rf         3  0  0  0   Gonzalez L, lf        4  0  2  2   
Kent J, 2b            3  0  0  0   Servais S, c          4  0  0  0   
Huskey B, 3b          3  0  0  0   Cedeno A, ss          4  2  2  1   
Hundley T, c          3  0  0  0   Kile D, p             2  0  0  0   
Tanana F, p           1  0  0  0   
Landrum C, ph         1  0  0  0   
Manzanillo J, p       0  0  0  0   
Telgheder D, p        0  0  0  0   
Navarro T, ph         1  0  0  0   
                     -- -- -- --                        -- -- -- --
                     27  1  0  0                        33  7  9  6   

New York         000 100 000 --  1
Houston          012 010 03x --  7

  New York             IP  H  R ER BB SO
Tanana F (L)          5.0  7  4  4  0  0
Manzanillo J          2.2  2  3  0  1  4
Telgheder D           0.1  0  0  0  0  0

  Houston              IP  H  R ER BB SO
Kile D (W)            9.0  0  1  0  1  9

Game winning RBI -- none
E -- Tanana F, Bagwell J, Murray E, Huskey B
DP -- New York 1
LOB -- New York 0, Houston 4
2B -- Cedeno A, Bagwell J, Biggio C
HR -- Caminiti K, Cedeno A
SH -- Kile D
WP -- Kile D
T -- 2:11
A -- 15684

Play by Play 

Game of Wednesday, 9/8/93 -- New York Mets at Houston Astros

Starting Lineups:

   New York                      Houston                       
1. cf Ryan Thompson              2b Craig Biggio                    
2. ss Jeff McKnight              cf Casey Candaele                  
3. 1b Eddie Murray               1b Jeff Bagwell                   
4. lf Joe Orsulak                rf Eric Anthony                  
5. rf Jeromy Burnitz             3b Ken Caminiti                  
6. 2b Jeff Kent                  lf Luis Gonzalez                  
7. 3b Butch Huskey                c Scott Servais                    
8.  c Todd Hundley               ss Andujar Cedeno                    
9.  p Frank Tanana                p Darryl Kile                       

METS 1ST: R.Thompson struck out; J.McKnight flied to
C.Candaele-cf; E.Murray flied to L.Gonzalez-lf; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Mets 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 1ST: C.Biggio flied to J.Burnitz-rf; C.Candaele reached
on an error [C.Candaele to first (error by F.Tanana-p; assist by
E.Murray-1b)]; C.Candaele was picked off first (it was the 3-2
pitch) (F.Tanana-p to E.Murray-1b); J.Bagwell grounded out
(B.Huskey-3b to E.Murray-1b); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 0,
Astros 0.

METS 2ND: J.Orsulak grounded out (C.Biggio-2b to J.Bagwell-1b);
J.Burnitz lined to C.Biggio-2b; J.Kent struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Mets 0, Astros 0.

ASTROS 2ND: E.Anthony popped to B.Huskey-3b in foul territory;
K.Caminiti homered to deep leftfield (it was the 0-1 pitch);
L.Gonzalez singled to right field (it was the 0-1 pitch);
S.Servais grounded into a double play (J.Kent-2b to
J.McKnight-ss to E.Murray-1b) [L.Gonzalez out at second]; 1 R, 2
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 0, Astros 1.

METS 3RD: B.Huskey struck out; T.Hundley popped to
C.Candaele-cf; F.Tanana flied to L.Gonzalez-lf; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Mets 0, Astros 1.

ASTROS 3RD: A.Cedeno doubled to center field (it was the 3-2
pitch); D.Kile out on a sacrifice bunt (T.Hundley-c to
J.Kent-2b) [A.Cedeno to third]; C.Biggio popped to J.Kent-2b;
C.Candaele singled to center field (it was the first pitch)
[A.Cedeno scored]; J.Bagwell doubled to right field (it was the
1-2 pitch); E.Anthony grounded out (J.McKnight-ss to
E.Murray-1b); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Mets 0, Astros 3.

METS 4TH: R.Thompson was called out on strikes; J.McKnight
walked; E.Murray flied to L.Gonzalez-lf; D.Kile threw a wild
pitch (it was the 0-2 pitch) [J.McKnight scored (unearned)
(error by J.Bagwell-1b)]; J.Orsulak flied to L.Gonzalez-lf; 1 R
(0 ER), 0 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 1, Astros 3.

ASTROS 4TH: K.Caminiti flied to R.Thompson-cf; L.Gonzalez lined
to E.Murray-1b; S.Servais flied to R.Thompson-cf; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Mets 1, Astros 3.

METS 5TH: J.Burnitz grounded out (J.Bagwell-1b to D.Kile-p);
J.Kent popped to L.Gonzalez-lf; B.Huskey struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Mets 1, Astros 3.

ASTROS 5TH: A.Cedeno homered to very deep centerfield (it was
the 2-0 pitch); D.Kile popped to E.Murray-1b; C.Biggio doubled
to left field (it was the 0-2 pitch); C.Candaele grounded out
(F.Tanana-p to J.McKnight-ss to E.Murray-1b) [C.Biggio to
third]; J.Bagwell grounded out (J.McKnight-ss to E.Murray-1b); 1
R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Mets 1, Astros 4.

METS 6TH: T.Hundley flied to C.Candaele-cf; C.LANDRUM BATTED
FOR F.TANANA; C.Landrum lined to L.Gonzalez-lf; R.Thompson flied
to C.Candaele-cf; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 1, Astros 4.

ASTROS 6TH: J.MANZANILLO REPLACED C.LANDRUM (PITCHING);
E.Anthony grounded out (J.Kent-2b to E.Murray-1b); K.Caminiti
struck out; L.Gonzalez struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets
1, Astros 4.

METS 7TH: J.McKnight popped to L.Gonzalez-lf; E.Murray lined to
K.Caminiti-3b; J.Orsulak grounded out (A.Cedeno-ss to
J.Bagwell-1b); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets 1, Astros 4.

ASTROS 7TH: D.GALLAGHER REPLACED J.ORSULAK (PLAYING LF);
S.Servais grounded out (E.Murray-1b unassisted); A.Cedeno struck
out; D.Kile grounded out (J.Kent-2b to E.Murray-1b); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Mets 1, Astros 4.

METS 8TH: J.Burnitz was called out on strikes; J.Kent lined to
K.Caminiti-3b; B.Huskey struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Mets
1, Astros 4.

ASTROS 8TH: C.Biggio flied to J.Burnitz-rf; C.Candaele reached
on an error by E.Murray-1b (it was the 2-2 pitch) [C.Candaele to
first]; S.FINLEY RAN FOR C.CANDAELE; J.Bagwell singled to center
field (it was the 2-0 pitch) [S.Finley to second]; E.Anthony was
called out on strikes; K.Caminiti walked [S.Finley to third,
J.Bagwell to second]; L.Gonzalez singled to second base (it was
the first pitch) [S.Finley scored (unearned), J.Bagwell scored
(unearned), K.Caminiti to third]; D.TELGHEDER REPLACED
J.MANZANILLO (PITCHING); S.Servais reached on an error by
B.Huskey-3b (it was the 1-0 pitch) [K.Caminiti scored (unearned)
(no RBI), L.Gonzalez to second, S.Servais to first]; A.Cedeno
forced L.Gonzalez (B.Huskey-3b unassisted) [A.Cedeno to first];
3 R (0 ER), 2 H, 2 E, 2 LOB.  Mets 1, Astros 7.

METS 9TH: S.FINLEY STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); T.Hundley
grounded out (A.Cedeno-ss to J.Bagwell-1b); T.NAVARRO BATTED FOR
D.TELGHEDER; T.Navarro was called out on strikes; C.WALKER
BATTED FOR R.THOMPSON; C.Walker struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Mets 1, Astros 7.

Final Totals      R   H   E  LOB
 Mets             1   0   3   0
 Astros           7   9   1   4