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Floyd flirts with no-hitter as White Sox roll

May 7, 2008 - 4:30 AM By Gene Chamberlain PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Gavin Floyd ended the Chicago White Sox's six-game losing streak in a big way Tuesday, coming within two outs of the season's first no-hitter in a 7-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins at U.S. Cellular Field.

The 25-year-old righthander, who threw 62 of his 105 pitches for strikes, lost the no-hitter when Joe Mauer hit a 1-0 pitch into left-center field for a double as center fielder Nick Swisher made a diving attempt for the ball.

"I tried my best Superman impersonation," Swisher said of the dive. "That's probably the farthest away I've ever dove for one."

"When you're in that situation, you just keep attacking and anything can happen," Floyd said. "When it leaves your hand, you hope it's an out."

Manager Ozzie Guillen immediately pulled Floyd, who held the Detroit Tigers hitless for 7 1/3 innings on April 12 before the no-hit bid was broken up, following Mauer's double.

"Gavin has got confidence now," Guillen said. "It seems like nothing bothers him. It was nice to see, especially with the team struggling the way we have."

Floyd (3-1) struck out four, walked three and retired 16 straight before allowing the double. He left to a standing ovation.

"I made a turn during the middle of the game and had a good rhythm and tempo and just kept attacking and started throwing more strikes," Floyd said. "I tried to keep it the same throughout every inning."

In his sixth start of the season, Floyd was attempting to throw baseball's first no-hitter since rookie Clay Buchholz of Boston shut down the Baltimore Orioles on September 1.

"I've seen him since the minor leagues," Mauer said. "He's been getting better and better. I was just trying to get on base and get a hit. I got a pitch that was up a little bit and tried to drive it into the gap."

Floyd's bid came more than a year after Mark Buehrle threw the 16th no-hitter in White Sox history on April 18, 2007.

Had Floyd completed the amazing feat, it would have been just the sixth time in major league history that a run was allowed in a no-hitter.

Floyd threw a no-hitter in the minors on July 24, 2002 against Lexington of the South Atlantic League but lost a 1-0 decision as a result of an unearned run.

Floyd was just happy with a victory on Tuesday. He has pitched two no-hitters - one in the minor leagues and one in high school - and left after eight innings without giving up a hit in another minor league game.

"My team lost in all three of them," Floyd said.

Left fielder Carlos Quentin's error on a fourth-inning fly ball hit by Justin Morneau was the closest Minnesota came to a hit until Mauer's double. Quentin made a long run toward the line for the fly but did not lunge or dive and clearly had the ball in his glove before dropping it.

That error allowed Mauer to score on a sacrifice fly by Jason Kubel two batters later.

Bobby Jenks retired both batters he faced to pick up his seventh save for Chicago, which produced the timely hits that were absent during its 0-6 road trip to Minnesota and Toronto that ended Monday.

Chicago backed Floyd with 11 hits, including Jermaine Dye's fourth home run of the year.

Dye hit a two-out RBI single to center in the first inning to plate Orlando Cabrera, and Quentin scored Chicago's second run after a throwing error by center fielder Carlos Gomez.

The Twins pulled within 2-1 on Kubel's sacrifice fly, but the White Sox came back with a two-out RBI single by Juan Uribe, who entered the game batting .181.

Dye extended the lead to 4-1 with a sixth-inning leadoff homer to right off Minnesota starter Nick Blackburn (2-2), who yielded four runs - three earned - and six hits in six innings.

Quentin's single up the middle off reliever Jesse Crain scored Cabrera and Uribe in the seventh, and Joe Crede delivered an RBI double to left in the eighth against Bobby Korecky.

"We did today what we did early in the year," Guillen said. "We made those guys pitch. We got hits with two outs. Our problem had been that we were swinging at everything they throw at us."