• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Dodgers' Beckett tosses first no-hitter of 2014

May 25, 2014 - 11:01 PM Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Josh Beckett tossed his first career no-hitter and the first for the Dodgers in almost two decades, as Los Angeles claimed a 6-0 decision over Philadelphia in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Beckett (3-1) threw 128 pitches, 80 for strikes, walking three and fanning six during his memorable outing. Hideo Nomo had been the last Dodgers hurler to hold the opposition hitless, in a 9-0 victory at Colorado on Sept. 17, 1996.

The Phillies hadn't been held hitless since April 16, 1978 in a 5-0 loss at St. Louis with Bob Forsch earning the victory.

"It's very special. It takes really good defense behind you, a little luck sprinkled in and making pitches when you need to make pitches," Beckett said. "That's a good-hitting team you don't take lightly."

Staked to a comfortable lead, Beckett went through the Phils' lineup with no issues in the sixth and seventh thanks to three groundouts, two fly outs and a pop out. He fanned Domonic Brown looking to start the eighth, then induced a grounder to shortstop from Wil Nieves and fanned Cesar Hernandez.

In the ninth, Beckett induced a fly to short left from Tony Gwynn, Jr. gloved down by shortstop Erisbel Arruebarrena. Adrian Gonzalez then snared a sharp grounder from Ben Revere and fed Beckett covering first, but Jimmy Rollins followed with a walk to end the veteran right-hander's streak of 23 straight batters retired.

"He had real good stuff right down to the final batter," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "Our best hitter not swinging at the last two strikes is an indicator right there."

Rollins moved up on defensive indifference with Chase Utley at the plate. Utley began walking towards first after a 3-1 pitch appeared to be outside, but was instead called a strike. Beckett then froze Utley on a low, inside fastball to end the contest.

"I was trying to think along with him," Utley said of the final pitch, which he hoped would be offspeed.

Gonzalez finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and Justin Turner homered for the Dodgers.

Utley and Marlon Byrd were the only other players to reach base for the Phillies, who have been shut out six times in the month of May and suffered their first nine-inning no-hit game at home since Montreal's Bill Stoneman claimed a 7-0 victory on April 17, 1969 at Connie Mack Stadium.

A.J. Burnett (3-4), who was Beckett's teammate with the Marlins in the early 2000s, was charged with 11 hits and six runs -- four earned -- over seven full frames.

The Dodgers picked up a run in the first, as Dee Gordon led off with a single, stole second, moved to third on a Carl Crawford fly out and scored on a Gonzalez double.

Turner belted a leadoff homer to center in the second, and the visitors had two runners in scoring position later in the frame but came up empty after Drew Butera was erased on a fielder's choice at home and Carl Crawford lined out.

Beckett walked two batters through five hitless frames, and his offense added another run in the sixth as Turner singled with one away, moved up on a groundout and came in on a single from Arruebarrena.

LA tacked on three more in the seventh. Gordon walked, stole second and scored when Phils first baseman Ryan Howard misplayed a liner by Crawford. Yasiel Puig then doubled and a Gonzalez single brought in Crawford. Andre Ethier's double-play grounder plated Puig for a 6-0 game.

"It was awesome. You think about it pretty much from the fourth on," Beckett admitted. "I'm not one of those guys that carried a lot of no-hitters deep into games."

Game Notes

Beckett, who recorded the 21st no-hitter in franchise history and 11th since the club relocated to Los Angeles, had held the Detroit Tigers hitless for 6 2/3 innings for the Red Sox on June 3, 2009 ... Only the Cubs (1965) and Reds (1971) had gone longer than the Phillies without being no hit ... Beckett and Burnett have faced each other five times, and Sunday was their first matchup since Aug. 7, 2009 ... with Beckett starting for the Red Sox and Burnett with the Yankees ... Prior to the contest, the Phillies placed third baseman Cody Asche on the 15-day disabled list with a hamstring issue and recalled reliever Justin De Fratus from Triple-A Lehigh Valley ... The Dodgers revealed that infielder Hanley Ramirez will have an MRI on his bothersome lower left calf injury.