Curt, ‘sup. Good game. Way to stop the skid. Nicely done.

Oh, and that no-hitter you were one out away from?

I blew it.

See, I let myself get swept up in all the madness–kinda like the way I took leave of my senses when Pedro was just a couple outs away from one in Tampa Bay–and I texted one, simple word to my bud Amy: “SCHILLING!”

And that was it. I broke the rule. Because the first rule of Fight Club is that you don’t talk about Fight Club and when there’s a goddam no-hitter on the line, you hang your head and hold your tongue and keep that beer on ice until the last out’s put away. End of story.

But I just can’t help myself. I get so carried away. This was gonna be the lost road trip. The Oakland Chokehold. The trip they’d point back to and say, “Well, there’s where the wheels came off this f–kin’ wagon.” And then you came out of nowhere, serving up this majestic bit of work, making us all forget about who’s not hitting and who’s not fielding and who needs to get shipped outta town on the next train. I was trapped in a goddam car on route 128 with EEI cranked and no one to shake. No one to turn to and say, “Holyf–kingsh-tishegonnadoit?” No one to wax rhapsodic with about Mike Lansing’s brilliant catch to preserve Hideo Nomo’s no-hitter many moons ago.

So I sent the text to Amy. And in her defense, she says she didn’t even look at it til after the game was over.

But it doesn’t matter. I broke the rule. I let you down. And although you’re a proud dude by trade, I can’t imagine that pitch you served to Shannon Stewart isn’t gonna haunt you for the rest of your days. Because for every pitcher, I’m guessing, the Holy Grail is represented by a World Series trophy and a no-no. You’ve already got a couple trophies. But this… man, this was so close you could taste it. I could taste it. Every horrified driver swerving outta my way as I barrel-assed my car down 128 could taste it. You don’t get that close that often in a lifetime. But you did.

On the bright side, the losing streak is stopped. You came up huge when we most needed it. You kicked copious amounts of ass and reminded us all why you’re still one of the best pitchers to ever don the red hose.

So, yes. Good job. Just… sorry about the text.

Also: My favorite comment from the game thread: “If Lugo hadn’t made that error, Curt wouldn’t have had to face Stewart this last time. I blame Lugo.”

Priceless.