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Friday, May 25 3:20pm ET
Wood loses no-hitter in 7th to Loretta single

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

CHICAGO (AP) -- Kid K is at it again.

Looking like the pitcher he was in 1998, Kerry Wood allowed only one hit and struck out 14 Friday to lead the Chicago Cubs past the Milwaukee Brewers 1-0.


	Cubs catcher Joe Girardi talks with Kerry Wood after Mark Loretta broke up the no-hitter leading off the seventh.

"Just one of those days everything was working for me from the start of the game," Wood said. "Even in the bullpen I had good stuff, and we just stuck with it."

"Good" stuff? Try "outstanding."

Wood (3-4) took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning before giving up a leadoff single to Mark Loretta. Wood allowed only two walks.

The crowd of 26,526 rose to its feet as Geoff Jenkins, the last batter, came to the plate. After Wood threw two strikes, fans started chanting, "Ker-ry! Ker-ry!"

There was a huge roar as Jenkins swung mightily for the third strike and final out.

"When he's on, he's as good as anyone in baseball. And that's what he was today," said Joe Girardi, who caught Wood on Friday and also was behind the plate for David Cone's perfect game in 1999 and Dwight Gooden's no-hitter in 1996.

It was the second one-hitter in as many days for the Cubs. Jon Lieber needed only 78 pitches to one-hit Cincinnati on Thursday, breaking the Reds' streak of games without a shutout at an National League-record 208.

Back-to-back one-hitters

National League
Providence (Charlie Sweeney, Old Hoss Radbourn) vs. New York, June 17-18, 1884
Brooklyn (Jerry Nops, Frank Kitson) vs. Cincinnati, July 5-6, 1900
New York (Ferdie Schupp, Rube Benton) vs. Boston, Sept. 28-30, 1916
Milwaukee (Wade Blasingame, Tony Cloninger) vs. New York, Sept. 10-11, 1965
New York (Gary Gentry, Tom Seaver) vs. Chicago, May 13-15, 1970
Houston (Jerry Reuss, Larry Dierker) vs. Philadelphia, June 18-19, 1972
Chicago (Jon Lieber, Kerry Wood) vs. Cincinnati/Milwaukee, May 24-25, 2001

American League
Cleveland vs. New York, Sept. 25-26, 1907
Washington vs. Chicago, Aug. 10-11, 1917
Texas (Ken Hill, Roger Pavlik) vs. Detroit, May 3-4, 1996

It's only the seventh time since 1900 that a team has had back-to-back complete game one-hitters. The last team to do it was Texas in 1996, with Ken Hill and Roger Pavlik on May 3-4.

The last NL team was Houston in 1972, with Jerry Reuss and Larry Dierker.

"Two amazing days," Cubs manager Don Baylor said. "Truly amazing."

It was Wood's second one-hit shutout. The other one, of course, was his 20-strikeout game against Houston on May 6, 1998, just his fifth major league start. The 20 strikeouts were an NL record.

He's had three career complete games, his last one coming Sept. 12, 2000, at Cincinnati.

"That one meant more to me than this one," said Wood, who's had 16 double-digit strikeout games in 59 career starts. "That was my rehab year, I was trying to prove to myself I could still go deep in the games and still pitch at this level.

"This one, it's just a great win for the team."

Rondell White gave Wood all the offense he needed, homering in the fourth inning off Allen Levrault (1-1). Levrault allowed four hits in six innings, walking one and striking out three.

"He threw a great game," Levrault said. "I was up there and it was going 95 mph, 96 mph. Girardi said, 'Can you catch up to that?' And I said no."

Ever since his 20-strikeout game, Wood has been considered one of baseball's best pitchers. Certainly one of the most exciting. He went 13-6 with a 3.40 ERA in 1998, and won NL Rookie of the Year honors.

He missed the entire 1999 season after blowing out his elbow in spring training, and had "Tommy John" reconstructive surgery that April.

Since returning to the majors on May 2, 2000, he's showed flashes of his rookie brilliance while occasionally struggling with his location and control.

But this year, he's looked like a more mature pitcher. He's been working on his focus, making sure he keeps his eyes on the batter rather than looking around like he used to.

On Friday, all he saw were bull's-eyes.

"Sitting back there, just watching him pitch, was amazing," said Cubs shortstop Ricky Gutierrez, the only Astro to get a hit off of Wood in the 20-strikeout game.

"He's a great pitcher. He's like a master at work. Just sit back and watch him do his thing."

He retired his first five batters, striking out three of them. His bid for a perfect game ended in the second inning, when he walked Tyler Houston.

He retired the next 13 batters before giving up the single to Loretta.

"It was a slider I hung, tried to make it too nasty," he said. "It just spun up there and he was able to lob it into left field. ... I knew I had (a no-hitter), but I wasn't expecting to get one.

"If I'd gotten through the seventh, I think it would have been a little bit more on my mind and I would have tried to get it."

Loretta's shot landed in the gap between third base and left field. With the Cubs playing deep to protect their 1-0 lead, there was no way White could have reached the ball.

"If you're up 5-0, 6-0, maybe Rondell might make an attempt to dive and catch that ball," Baylor said. "A 1-0 game, you let that ball get by you, we have all kinds of problems. No outs, man on second, maybe third.

"He didn't have a good, legitimate shot."

Wood struck out Jenkins and then gave up his second walk, this one to Jeromy Burnitz. But he struck out Richie Sexson and Tyler Houston to end the inning, drawing a standing ovation as he walked off the field.

"I don't know what to say," Loretta said. "He had everything working. He had four pitches that were above average. It was no-hit stuff."

Game notes
White's homer broke a 2-for-29 slump. It was his fifth homer of the year, but his first since April 27. ... The Brewers have been shut out five times this year. ... The defeat dropped the Brewers to 7-14 on the road. They're 18-8 at Miller Park. ... Cubs catcher Todd Hundley was scratched from the lineup with tightness in his lower back.