Nick Kingham accomplished something Sunday that only one major league pitcher had achieved in the past century.<\/b>
\nPITTSBURGH — Nick Kingham accomplished something Sunday that only one major league pitcher had achieved in the past century.
In his big league debut, Kingham carried a perfect game into the seventh inning to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. He joined Johnny Cueto in 2008 as the only pitchers in the past 100 years with one hit allowed, at least nine strikeouts and no walks in their debuts.
\u00ab\u00a0That’s how you plan it up — not to let anybody on,\u00a0\u00bb Kingham said. \u00ab\u00a0It’s incredible how it happened. Just kind of starting from the get-go, it went well…. It’s corny, but it took everybody. I’m really fortunate and really happy about it.\u00a0\u00bb
The 26-year-old rookie right-hander retired 20 straight batters before Paul DeJong singled down the left-field line with two out in the seventh.
Kingham’s 20 straight batters retired are the most by a player in his MLB debut in the Expansion Era (since 1961). The previous longest streak in that span was 16, by Wayne Simpson on April 9,1970, and Ken Cloude on August 9,1997, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The home crowd responded with an ovation before Kingham retired Marcell Ozuna. The fans stood and cheered while Kingham walked off the field and waved. He finished with nine strikeouts on 98 pitches, 72 for strikes.
More than the numbers, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle was pleased with Kingham’s poise.
\u00ab\u00a0It was his next start. Watching him, it was just his next start,\u00a0\u00bb Hurdle said. \u00ab\u00a0It had to be more than that. He compartmentalized very well.\u00a0\u00bb
Kingham, who was drafted by Pittsburgh in the fourth round of the 2010 draft out of Sierra Vista High School in Las Vegas, got some love from fellow Las Vegan Bryce Harper.
Another Vegas kid making his stamp on the game! Congrats to @NickKingham on an absolutey stellar debut! Happy for you big man<\/p>\n