On June 25, 1999, a 25 year old rookie by the name of Jose Jiminez walked into Arizona with a 3-7 record, an E.R.A. over 6, and he was about to face one of the most dominant pitchers of the era, Randy Johnson... no problem. Jiminez struck out eight, walked two, and hit a batter on the way to tossing the first no hitter for the Cardinals since 1983. It was a true duel, Johnson was dealing and held the Redbirds hitless until the 4th and would keep them off the board until the 9th. That is when Thomas Howard came through with a two out rbi single to put the Cardinals on top 1-0. After picking up the first out in the bottom on the 9th, David Dellucci stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter and he nearly broke up the no-no as he shot one into right that was snagged by a diving Eric Davis, it was Davis' second spectacular defensive play of the ballgame. Before the game started the 45,000+ thought they were going to witness a dominant outing by Randy Johnson and they did, The Big Unit struck out 14 and picked up the 2,500th strikeout of his career in what was a true gem for both pitchers. The no hitter was the first for a Cardinals rookie since Paul Dean in 1934, and the first for the club since Bob Forsch accomplished the feat in 1983.Check out the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ARI/ARI199906250.shtml
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