Craig Kimbrel closed out the Chicago Cubs’ no-hitter. He just didn’t realize it.
Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel crouched down and got the sign just as he always does, then threw a pitch that Dodgers pinch-hitter Will Smith swung at and missed.
Catcher Willson Contreras secured the ball for the final out of Thursday’s game in his glove, pumped his fist and went out to greet Kimbrel.
Teammates soon joined the duo with many running from the dugout to celebrate what was unknown to Kimbrel: the Cubs had just no-hit the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
Kimbrel finished the game Zach Davies had started. Two other relievers (Ryan Tepera and Andrew Chafin) also threw a hitless frame as the Cubs won 4-0.
“When Willie gave a big fist bump, I knew something was up,” Kimbrel told reporters after the game, per MLB.com. “And Tepera ran out there and whispered and he’s like, ‘You have no idea what happened.’ And then (Javier Báez) put me in a headlock. I had no clue when I came into the game that we had a no-hitter.”
It was the first combined no-hitter in Cubs history.
“I was just locked in to the game and was just going out there to do my job,” Kimbrel said in an on-field interview.
Here is the final out and Kimbrel’s muted reaction:
