Beckett’s career has always been fairly bi-polar but seemed to had come to a final demise after being traded from Boston in 2012 while his ERA was ballooning to 5.23. After struggling to finish out the year following his trade to the Dodgers, Beckett opted to have surgery to remove a rib that was pressuring a nerve causing numbness in his fingers. It was a hopeful cure for his condition labeled as ‘thoracic outlet syndrome,’ and there were no guarantees. Given the rare success rate of the surgery, there was not only a chance Beckett would never pitch again, it was likely.
Beckett did pitch again.
And Sunday was a metaphor of paramount proportions after Beckett threw just the 21st no-hitter in Dodgers history while shutting out the Phillies 6-0.
The game ended on a Chase Utley strikeout. It’s the first Dodgers no-no since Hideo Nomo in 1996.
And this dominance doesn’t seem to be a fluke. While Beckett’s peripheral numbers suggest some slight luck this season, he now has an ERA of 2.43, the lowest of the 34-year-old’s 13-year career thus far.
Beckett told the LA Times, “I was just, ‘Oh my God, I just threw a no-hitter,'” Beckett said. “I don’t know what else to say. I mean, I was excited. I was glad it was over. It was fun.”
Beckett had 6 Ks and 3 walks while throwing a career high 128 pitches Sunday.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of CraveOnline Sports.
