Kyle Linton on no-hitter: I tried to keep it out of my mind as much as possible
On Tuesday afternoon, British pitcher Kyle Linton turned in a masterful pitching performance against Belgium. He pitched the full seven innings, giving up no runs on no hits and walked only one batter, while striking out 17 of the 22 Belgian batters who came to the plate. Every pitcher´s dream, a no-hitter. His teammates were thrilled for him, and managed to recover the game ball for him as a memento to this special occurrence.
To start with, at what point did you start to think about the fact that you had a no-hitter going?
I tried to keep it out of my mind as much as possible, but I started thinking about it in the sixth inning. I left a fat one over the plate there with two outs and our center fielder, Joshua Peat, made a nice catch. It woke me up a bit and I really concentrated after that.
With 17 strikeouts, you didn´t have to rely on your defence too much, but I guess a pitcher always likes to get help like that.
Absolutely. They all put forth a great effort and rallied behind me when there was a hit.
Have you ever pitched a no-hitter before?
Yes I have, but not internationally. This was the first one for Great Britain.
Before this, what was the highest level that you´d ever pitched a no-hitter in?
I threw a perfect game earlier this season back at home for my team in Toronto (Canada).
This was a close game, which meant no mercy rule -- you actually had to pitch the full seven innings.
Yeah, we were trying to push for those extra two runs there in the sixth inning, which would have ended it early, but we just couldn´t do it.
You still havent played some of the top teams in this tournament. How are you going to pitch against those teams?
Yeah, we´ve got Denmark tonight, which will be a good game although I won´t be pitching that one. And the Netherlands tomorrow, which will be another big battle, and the Czechs later. Against teams like that, I´ve just got to make sure I hit my spots and focus on every pitch, because if you make a mistake against some of those hitters it can cost you.
Well, congratulations on your accomplishment today and good luck in the rest of the tournament!
Thank you very much!
