Absolutely classic Hunter Pence moment – loses fly ball by 30 feet to blow Johnny Cueto's no-hitter pic.twitter.com/tXaxDlOdcW
— CJ Fogler #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) August 9, 2020
LOS ANGELES — Unbelievable.
With Johnny Cueto shimmying his way toward a no-hitter on Friday at Dodger Stadium, Kike Hernandez lofted a lazy fly ball to left field. At least, Hunter Pence was pretty sure it went toward left field.
The Giants’ left fielder — playing in the spot a day after Darin Ruf made an error in left — could not find the ball, lost in the Los Angeles skies, and the first batter of the sixth inning ended up on third with a triple that should come with an asterisk.
The no-hitter was gone, and the lead was being threatened. Cueto kept pitching, and the first and only legitimate hit he surrendered Justin Turner deposited into the left-field seats for a three-run homer.
The Giants had entered the inning with a no-hit bid and a 5-0 lead. They exited the frame disheartened and clinging to a 5-4 lead.