Rookie Smith Plays It Cool, No-Hits Padres

Bud Smith sat in the St. Louis dugout and talked hitting with Mark McGwire.

Nothing unusual about that. Except Smith, a 21-year-old rookie, was three outs away from a no-hitter.

“We’ve got no room down there because of the September callups,” Smith said. “So I was sitting next to Big Mac talking about hitting so it would take my mind off the no-hitter.”

Ignoring baseball superstition, Smith became the 16th rookie in modern history to throw a no-hitter, beating San Diego, 4-0, Monday in the second unlikely no-no against the Padres this season.

Although he admitted that he was nervous, Smith looked as poised as a veteran.

“I was shaking out there knowing that I was going for a no-hitter. I was going on adrenaline,” Smith said.

Smith was in the right place for an unexpected no-hitter. His mother, stepfather and 14 other immediate family members were at the game, plus 10 high school buddies.

“I started thinking about the no-hitter about the sixth or seventh inning,” Smith said. “I knew I had the stuff to do it.”

Smith, making his 11th career start, became the first rookie to throw a no-hitter since the Cardinals’ Jose Jimenez did it in a 1-0 win against Arizona on June 25, 1999.

He ended it by fielding Phil Nevin’s hard comebacker, pumping his fist and running halfway to first base before flipping to Albert Pujols for the final out.

“I threw him a changeup and he hit it right to me, but I didn’t know I had the ball. When I felt it in my glove, I wanted to run it over to first base before I threw it to make sure it would get there.”

Smith and Pujols hugged, then the pitcher was mobbed by the rest of his teammates.

This was the first time Smith pitched beyond the seventh inning. He walked four--including all-time walks leader Rickey Henderson twice--and struck out seven.

The Padres are the first team since the 1996 Colorado Rockies to be no-hit twice in one season. Florida’s A.J. Burnett walked a record nine batters in his 3-0 no-hitter in San Diego on May 12.