Biete » the loss after allowing six goals on 33 shots i

ST. LOUIS -- Cardinals rookie Michael Wacha lost his no-hit bid on Ryan Zimmermans infield single with two outs in the ninth inning, and St. Louis beat the Washington Nationals 2-0 Tuesday night to close in on the NL Central title. Making his ninth career start, Wacha came about as close as possible to finishing off the third no-hitter in the majors this season. Instead, the Busch Stadium crowd let out a loud, collective groan as he became the third pitcher to have a bid broken up with one out to go. Zimmerman hit a chopper just over the 6-foot-6 Wacha, and the ball bounced slowly toward shortstop. A charging Pete Kozma grabbed it with his bare hand and whipped a throw to first that was a little wide, pulling Matt Adams off the bag as Zimmerman arrived. "I think it nicked off my glove a little bit," Wacha said. As the ball left Zimmermans bat, several Cardinals started to climb the dugout railing, ready to pour onto the field to celebrate. Second baseman Matt Carpenter did a little hop, all set for the final out. But first base umpire Jeff Kellogg correctly called Zimmerman safe, and the Cardinals sagged right along with their fans. Third baseman David Freese sat crouched in the infield, stunned at how close his 22-year-old teammate had come. Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright put his hands on his head in disbelief. Wacha (4-1) was pulled after Zimmermans hit and walked off to a huge ovation. The right-hander struck out nine and walked two. "I guess I wasnt meant to throw one tonight," he said. Trevor Rosenthal got Jayson Werth to ground out for his second save. With anticipation building and fans on their feet in the ninth inning, Wacha retired pinch-hitter Steve Lombardozzi on a grounder to Kozma before throwing a called third strike past Denard Span. But on the next pitch, Zimmerman spoiled it. Texas Yu Darvish lost a perfect game with two outs in the ninth inning against Houston on April 2 and San Franciscos Yusmeiro Petit had his try at perfection end one out shy against Arizona on Sept 6. Cincinnatis Homer Bailey and the Giants Tim Lincecum threw no-hitters in July. The last two no-hitters by St. Louis pitchers came from rookies -- Bud Smith in 2001 and Jose Jimenez in 1999. It has been 30 years since there was a no-hitter in St. Louis. Bob Forsch finished off his second for the Cardinals on Sept. 26, 1983, against Montreal. Drafted 19th overall out of Texas A&M last year, Wacha has been up and down from the minors a couple of times this season. But he came up big for the Cardinals in the final week as they try to nail down their first division title since 2009. St. Louis, which already clinched a playoff berth, began the night with a two-game lead in the NL Central over Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. The Reds lost to the New York Mets 4-2, falling three games back with four to play. The Cardinals have won four of five. They remained a half-game behind Atlanta for the best record in the NL. Washington was eliminated from playoff contention with a 4-3 loss to St. Louis on Monday night. The Nationals have dropped three of four. Wacha retired his first 14 batters before Adam LaRoche reached on an error by Carpenter at second base with two outs in the fourth. Span tried to break up the no-hitter with a two-out bunt in the sixth. The ball rolled just foul near third base, and the crowd booed lustily. Left fielder Shane Robinson made a running catch of a tailing liner off the bat of Anthony Rendon to end the eighth. Robinson drove in Carpenter with a two-out single off Gio Gonzalez (11-8) in the third. Carpenter began the rally with his major league-leading 55th double. Yadier Molina pushed the lead to 2-0 with a run-scoring double in the fourth. Gonzalez came within inches of a no-hitter himself this month. He finished with a one-hit shutout against the Mets after pinch-hitter Zach Lutzs seventh-inning single landed right on the first base line behind the bag. This time, Gonzalez allowed two runs and six hits over seven innings. He struck out six. NOTES: Wacha was seeking the 11th no-hitter in Cardinals history. ... Nationals RHP Jordan Zimmermann (19-7, 3.18 ERA) gets his last scheduled shot at 20 wins on Wednesday when he faces RHP Shelby Miller (14-9, 3.12) in the finale of the three-game series. ... The Cardinals are 14-2 against NL East opponents at home. Cheap Jordans Ireland .C. -- Benn Ferrieros familiar with scoring important goals, just not in back-to-back games. Cheap Air Jordan 1 For Sale . - The New Orleans Saints have re-signed receiver Joseph Morgan for one year and have agreed to a four-year deal with free agent fullback Erik Lorig. http://www.airjordan1ireland.com/ . He left in the 4th inning of Saturdays game against the Tigers after experiencing tightness. Reyes and the team still hope that he will be ready for Opening Day in Tampa Bay in one week. Air Jordan 1 Ireland Online . The Austrian ski federation said Morgenstern was "conscious and well responsive" and his condition would be monitored in the intensive care unit of a Salzburg hospital for the next 72 hours. The federation said it was "way too early" to judge Morgensterns chances of competing in Sochi, and that an update on his condition was not expected before Monday. Air Jordan 1 Ireland Sale . Bryant underwent an operation in December to correct an irregular heartbeat. His season ended with four games left because of a rapid heartbeat, a condition he has known about for several years and had been treated for in the past.VICTORIAVILLE, Que. - Angelo Miceli scored three times and set up one more as the Victoriaville Tigres downed the visiting Gatineau Olympiques 5-2 on Sunday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.Gabriel Gagne and Jan Mandat also scored for the Tigres (2-1-1) while Micelis four-point outing gives him nine points in four games to open the season.Pascal Laberge and Louick Marcotte supplied the offence for the Olympiques (2-1-1).Victoriavilles Chase Marchand made 23 saves for the win as Nicolas Lachance turned away 25 shots for Gatineau.---WILDCATS 5 TITAN 4BATHURST, N.B. a€” Stephen Johnson broke a 4-4 deadlock at 15:55 of the third period as Moncton slipped past the Titan.Jacob Sweeney, Conor Garland, Chris Cobham and Kyle Tibbo also scored for the Wildcats (3-1-0) and Jason Rioux made 25 saves for the win.Andrew Ryan, Christophe Boivin, Gabriel Gosselin and Mark Simpson scored for Acadie-Bathurst (1-3-0). Jacob Brennan stopped 15 shots in defeat. ---VOLTIGEURS 7 DRAKKAR 2BAIE-COMEAU, Que. a€” Marc-Antoine Bouillon had a pair of goals and Alex Barre-Boulet scored one and set up three more as Drummondville crushed the Drakkar.Georgs Golovkovs, Christophe Lalancette and Michael Carcone each had a goal and two assists for the Voltigeurs (3-1-0) and Joey Ratelle added a single goal.dddddddddddd Joe Fleschler stopped 21 shots for the victory.Bokondji Imama and Maxime St-Cyr scored for Baie-Comeau (2-2-0). Philippe Cadorette took the loss after allowing six goals on 33 shots in 53 minutes of action. Reilly Pickard stopped 6-of-7 shots in relief.---CATARACTES 3 ARMADA 0BOISBRIAND, Que. a€” Marvin Cupper stopped 32 shots and Olivier Caouette scored twice as Shawinigan blanked the Armada.Sebastien Gauthier added an empty-net goal for the Cataractes (3-0-1).Marc-Antoine Turcotte turned aside 21-of-22 shots for Blainville-Boisbriand (0-3-1).---OCEANIC 5 FOREURS 4VAL-DOR, Que. a€” Anthony DeLuca had a goal and three assists and Rimouski scored four times on the power play to edge the Foreurs.Simon Bourque scored the eventual winner at 13:13 of the third period for the Oceanic (3-1-0) while Andrew Picco, Vincent Dunn and Samuel Laberge scored the others. Olivier Tremblay made 27 saves for the win.Val-dOrs (2-3-0) Julien Gauthier, Maxime Presseault and Anthony Beauregard had a goal and an assist apiece. Pierre-Maxime Poudrier also scored while Mathieu Belanger-Hudon stopped 31 shots.--- ' ' '