August 31, 2008: Brewers’ CC Sabathia narrowly misses no-hitter in shutout of Pirates

In pursuit of their first postseason berth in 26 years, the Milwaukee Brewers traded for reigning American League Cy Young Award winner CC Sabathia in July 2008. Sabathia made an immediate impact in Milwaukee, winning his first nine decisions as a Brewer. Win number nine came in the most dominant start of his 19-season Hall of Fame career, as Sabathia allowed only one hit – a controversial infield single – and struck out 11 in a 7-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 31 at PNC Park.

The Brewers won the AL pennant in 1982, their 14th season of existence.1 The next quarter-century brought many changes – a transfer to the National League, a move from County Stadium to Miller Park, and owner Bud Selig’s ascent to baseball’s commissionership – but no postseason play. Milwaukee had two divisional near-misses within a decade of their seven-game defeat against the St. Louis Cardinals in the ’82 World Series,2 then 14 seasons – from 1993 through 2006 – without a winning record. Cracking .500 at last in 2007, the Brewers led the NL Central Division for 138 days but came in second, two games behind the Chicago Cubs.3

The 2008 Brewers awakened from a sluggish start and the loss of starting pitcher Yovanni Gallardo to a knee injury to win 26 of 38 games from May 26 through July 6, drawing within striking distance of the Cubs’ division lead and into a tie with the Cardinals for the NL’s wild-card spot.4 “We lost the division by two games last year,” general manager Bob Melvin remarked during the surge. “One player could make the difference in two or three games.”5

One of the trade market’s biggest potential difference-makers was Sabathia, a pillar of the Cleveland Indians’ rotation ever since his 2001 major-league debut at age 20. The 6-foot-7 left-hander was at his best in 2007: a 19-7 record, the most innings pitched in the majors (241), and Cleveland’s first AL Cy Young Award in 35 years.6 During the 2007-08 offseason, as Sabathia entered the final season of his contract, he had rejected the Indians’ offer of a four-year extension, then announced that contract discussions were on hold until after the season.7

The Indians came within one game of the World Series in 2007, but by June 2008 they were well off the AL Central Division pace. Trade rumors were widespread. A June 18 Cleveland Plain Dealer article listed five potential destinations for Sabathia – none of which was Milwaukee.8 Days later, however, ESPN’s Buster Olney identified the Brewers as the favorites for Sabathia.9

Olney’s sources proved accurate: On July 7 Sabathia went to Milwaukee in a five-player trade. Brewers’ 2007 first-round draft pick Matt LaPorta and Double-A player-to-be-named-later Michael Brantley highlighted the Indians’ return. “We’re going for it,” Melvin said.10

Sabathia’s Brewers debut was a win over the Colorado Rockies on July 8, a sold-out Miller Park happening that provoked the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to declare, “[t]he culture of mediocrity that surrounded the team before Mark Attanasio bought the team [in 2004] was officially gone.”11 In his first nine starts with Milwaukee, Sabathia had an 8-0 record.12

His 10th start was a Sunday home game against the Pirates on August 24. Sabathia had a 2-1 lead after Gabe Kapler hit for him in the sixth and drove in the go-ahead run with a single. Pittsburgh tied the game against the Brewers’ bullpen, but Milwaukee won on J.J. Hardy’s walk-off single in the 12th, completing a three-game sweep.13

A week later the Brewers and Pirates rematched in Pittsburgh, and the 28-year-old Sabathia again took the ball on Sunday afternoon with intent to close out a sweep. Milwaukee’s wins in the series’ first two games set the Brewers’ August record at 19-7 and pushed their wild-card lead to 5½ games over the Cardinals. 

The Pirates, nearing their 16th consecutive losing season,14 had taken the opposite deadline approach from the Brewers, trading veterans for younger players in two package deals. A six-player trade with the New York Yankees had brought 25-year-old right-hander Jeff Karstens to Pittsburgh.15 In his second appearance with the Pirates, on August 6, Karstens had a perfect game until Chris Young of the Arizona Diamondbacks doubled with two outs in the eighth inning; he settled for a two-hit shutout win over Randy Johnson.16 Since then, however, Karstens had lost all three of his decisions, while Pittsburgh had dropped 20 of 27 games in August.

Rickie Weeks led off the August 31 game by hitting a full-count pitch over the left-field wall for his 11th homer of the season. Karstens then stiffened, retiring the next 10 Milwaukee batters. Ryan Braun – whose three-run, first-inning home run provided all runs necessary for Dave Bush’s 3-1 win in the series opener – broke the string with a one-out bunt single in the fourth, but Pittsburgh catcher Raúl Chávez threw him out stealing.

Sabathia struck out six Pirates in the first four innings while scattering three walks. Jack Wilson’s leadoff walk in the first was negated when Bill Hall turned Freddy Sánchez’s grounder to third into an around-the-horn double play. Brandon Moss was stranded after a two-out walk in the second. Sánchez drew a leadoff walk in the fourth, but Sabathia grabbed Nate McLouth’s broken-bat liner with his bare hand and doubled up Sánchez.17

“It wasn’t hit all that hard,” Sabathia said. “I put my hand out there and it just kind of stuck.”18

Milwaukee bid for breathing room in the fifth. Hall and former Pirate Jason Kendall had two-out singles. Sabathia – with two homers already in 2008 – hit a deep fly to the opposite field that left fielder Jason Michaels hauled in at the warning track for the third out.19

With Pittsburgh still hitless, Andy LaRoche, a 24-year-old third-base prospect and July trade acquisition from the Los Angeles Dodgers, began the bottom of the fifth by working the count to 2-and-2. The next pitch was a slider, and LaRoche started to swing, then tried to stop.20 The ball hit his bat and dribbled between the pitcher’s mound and the third-base line.

Sabathia took about six steps off the mound, reached down with his bare hand, and positioned his feet to throw to first. But he bobbled the ball, and LaRoche was safe without a throw.21

Scoreboards swiftly changed the “0” in Pittsburgh’s hits column to a “1.” Bob Webb, in his 20th season as an official scorer, ruled it a hit for LaRoche.22

LaRoche moved up to second on Chris Gomez’s groundout. A steal of third put the potential tying run 90 feet away, but Sabathia set down Chávez on a comebacker for the third out.

The Pirates never came any closer. Karstens and Sabathia traded one-two-three innings in the sixth. Webb reviewed video of LaRoche’s hit at the Brewers’ request and stuck with his call.23 In the top of the seventh, Corey Hart doubled down the left-field line with one out. On Karstens’ 110th pitch of the game, Kapler – starting because manager Ned Yost wanted to give regular center fielder Mike Cameron a day to rest24 – drew a full-count walk. Pirates manager John Russell summoned Tyler Yates from the bullpen.

Hall greeted Yates with a double to right-center, bringing home Hart and Kapler. The Brewers had a 3-0 lead.

The Pirates went down in order in the seventh; Michaels’ lineout to Hall was one of Pittsburgh’s few hard-hit balls of the day.25 Milwaukee quashed any lingering drama by tacking on four eighth-inning runs against Yates and Sean Burnett, as Prince Fielder had an RBI single, Braun scored on a wild pitch, and Kapler made it 7-0 with a two-run double.

All that remained was for Sabathia to wrap up his shutout. He put up two more perfect innings, reaching the finish on a streak of 15 Pirates retired in a row. Sánchez, the NL’s 2006 batting champion, flied to right on Sabathia’s 117th pitch for the final out.

Afterward, many in the Brewers’ clubhouse were irate about the call that stood between Sabathia and his quest for the second no-hitter in franchise history.26

“That’s a stinking no-hitter that we all got cheated on,” Yost fumed.27

“Twenty-nine out of 30 scorekeepers would have called that an error,” Braun added.28

“CC just got cheated out of a beer shower,” Hall said.29

Sabathia himself took the outcome in stride.

“The ball was rolling,” he said. “I probably should have picked it up with my glove.”30

Three days later, MLB’s scoring review committee upheld Webb’s call, and the game went into the books as a one-hitter.31

Milwaukee lost 15 of its next 19 games after sweeping Pittsburgh, and Yost was fired on September 15.32 With third-base coach Dale Sveum as interim manager, the Brewers recovered to clinch the NL’s wild card on the season’s final Sunday, beating the Cubs on Sabathia’s 17th win and 10th complete game of the season.33

Sabathia’s August 2008 gem in Pittsburgh turned out to be the only one-hit complete game of his career. His game score of 93 was a career best.34

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Carl Riechers and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photo credit: CC Sabathia, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information, including the box score and play-by-play.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT200808310.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2008/B08310PIT2008.htm

Notes

1 The franchise began in 1969 as the expansion Seattle Pilots, then relocated to Milwaukee in 1970.

2 In 1988 the Brewers remained in contention for the AL East Division title until the final Friday of the regular season and finished third, two games behind the Boston Red Sox. The 1992 Brewers were eliminated on the season’s next-to-last day and came in second, four games behind the Toronto Blue Jays.

3 The Brewers finished with an 83-79 record. The NL wild card went to the Colorado Rockies, who were 89-73 and defeated the San Diego Padres in a tiebreaker game.

4 Tom Haudricourt, “Brewers Pin Hopes on Pitcher,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 7, 2008: 8A.

5 Tom Haudricourt, “Talking in Riddles: Melvin Won’t Stoke Gossip About Trade for Sabathia,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 1, 2008: 1C.

6 Gaylord Perry won the AL Cy Young Award with Cleveland in 1972.

7 Paul Hoynes, “C.C. on Contract: ‘Hush’: Sabathia Leaves Door Open for Talks, but Won’t Join in,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 20, 2008: D1.

8 The article suggested the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and Cubs as trade candidates. Paul Hoynes, “Where’s C.C. Going to Be? Indians Not Ready to Trade Sabathia Yet,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 18, 2008: D1.

9 Tom Haudricourt, “Talking in Riddles: Melvin Won’t Stoke Gossip About Trade for Sabathia,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 1, 2008: 1C.

10 Tom Haudricourt, “Sabathia Mania Hits Brewer Nation: Teammates, Fans and the Pitcher Himself Excited About Trade,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 1A. The Indians also received minor-league pitchers Zach Jackson and Rob Bryson.

11 Anthony Witrado, “Fans Know Brewers’ Time Is Now: New Ace Sabathia Creates Ballpark Buzz,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 9, 2008: 1A.

12 Sabathia had a no-decision against the Cubs on July 28, when he left with the Brewers trailing 4-3 in the top of the seventh inning. Milwaukee rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the inning, only to lose when its bullpen allowed two ninth-inning runs.

13 Tom Haudricourt, “Hardy’s Winning Hit Follows Escape by Oft-Maligned Mota,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, August 25, 2008: 1C.

14 Pittsburgh’s 67-95 finish in 2008 tied the 1933-1948 Phillies for the longest stretch of losing seasons in a major North American professional sports league. The Pirates eventually extended their losing stretch to 20 seasons before winning 94 games in 2013.

15 The Pirates traded relief pitcher Dámaso Marté and outfielder Xavier Nady to the Yankees for four players on July 26. They also traded outfielder Jason Bay to the Red Sox in a three-team deal, also involving the Los Angeles Dodgers, on July 31.

16 Dejan Kovacevic, “The Brink of Perfection: Jeff Karstens Comes Within Four Outs of First Perfect Game in Pirates History,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 7, 2008: D-1.

17 ESPN SportsCenter, “2008 MLB Highlights August 31 – September 1,” YouTube video (SW561), 16:38, accessed July 27, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ueqNpSOh8o (play at 1:03 of video).

18 Tom Haudricourt, “One-Hit Wonder: Disputed Ruling Dents Excellent Outing by Sabathia,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 1, 2008: 1C.

19 Gene Collier, “Sabathia a Big Part of Brewers’ Success Story,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 1, 2008: C-1.

20 Rob Biertempfel, “Brewers Await No-Hitter Decision,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 1, 2008, https://www.newslibrary.com/newspapers/news/122F301D47DBFE50.

21 ESPN SportsCenter, “2008 MLB Highlights August 31 – September 1.”

22 Dejan Kovacevic, “Brewers Say That Scorer’s Call Was an Error: Will Appeal Ruling on Pirates’ Lone Hit,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 1, 2008: C5.

23 Kovacevic, “Brewers Say That Scorer’s Call Was an Error.”

24 Tom Haudricourt, “Report: Brewers 7, Pirates 0,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 1, 2008: 5C.

25 Haudricourt, “One-Hit Wonder: Disputed Ruling Dents Excellent Outing by Sabathia.”

26 Juan Nieves had no-hit the Baltimore Orioles in April 1987.

27 Kovacevic, “Brewers Say That Scorer’s Call Was an Error.”

28 “Brewers Say That Scorer’s Call Was an Error.”

29 Haudricourt, “One-Hit Wonder: Disputed Ruling Dents Excellent Outing by Sabathia.”

30 “One-Hit Wonder: Disputed Ruling Dents Excellent Outing by Sabathia.”

31 Brian O’Neill, “A Tangled Webb of Baseball Scoring,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 4, 2008: A-2; Tom Haudricourt, “Review Panel Denies No-Hitter Appeal: But Sabathia Earns NL Pitcher Award,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 4, 2008: 3C.

32 Vic Feuerherd, “He’s Outta Here: With Playoff Hopes Fading, Brewers Fire Manager Yost,” Wisconsin State Journal (Madison), September 16, 2008: B1.

33 Vic Feuerherd, “Octoberfest: Brewers in Playoffs for First Time Since 1982,” Wisconsin State Journal, September 29, 2008: B1. The Brewers lost the NL Division Series to the eventual World Series champion Phillies, three games to one. Sabathia was the losing pitcher in Game Two of the NLDS, his only appearance of the series. He signed a seven-year, $161 million free agent contract with the Yankees in December 2008. Anthony McCarron, “The Real CC: New Yank an Ace off Field,” New York Daily News, December 11, 2008: 67.

34 The Game Score formula, developed by pioneering baseball researcher and SABR member Bill James, awards starting pitchers points for positive achievements such as strikeouts and outs recorded, while docking points for negative events like hits, walks, and earned runs allowed. At the time of Sabathia’s one-hitter, the Brewers’ franchise record for Game Score was 94, by Jim Colborn (1974), Teddy Higuera (1987), and Ben Sheets (2004). As of 2025, Corbin Burnes held the franchise Game Score record with a 95 – when he and Josh Hader combined to throw the Brewers’ second-ever no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles in 2021.