Lucas French Career Tracker

that's gotta be a bona fide mental condition! DSM-IV diagnosis, anyone?

French lesson: Luke schools O's with gem

By Jim Street / MLB.com

08/17/10 9:48 PM ET

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BALTIMORE -- Mariners left-hander Luke French, making his fifth big league start of the season, had a half-game flirtation with a no-hitter on Tuesday night.

He held the Orioles to a pair of leadoff walks through the first 5 1/3 innings before Josh Bell, the ninth-place hitter, drilled a sharp single into left field to end the no-hit bid.

French also issued a walk in the inning, but kept his shutout intact and ended with his second victory, a 4-0, decision at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Seattle's win was secured in the ninth inning, when Matt Tuiasosopo hit a three-run home run. He also drove in the Mariners' first run, in the fourth inning.

Adam Moore reached on a leadoff single and scored on Tuiasosopo's double into the left-center-field gap. Tuiasosopo was a last-minute starter, replacing Ryan Langerhans in left field.

That's what French gave the Orioles hitters.

The closest French came to surrendering a hit prior to Bell's single was on a grounder that Adam Jones hit down the third-base line leading off the fifth frame. Jose Lopez backhanded the ball behind the bag and made a strong throw to first base, beating Jones by about a step.

The inning ended with Ichiro Suzuki going to the wall in right field to catch a ball hit by Matt Wieters.

The only blemishes French had during the first five innings were leadoff walks to Luke Scott in the second inning and Nick Markakis in the fourth. Scott was stranded on first base and Markakis was erased on a double play.

There have been five no-hitters in the Major Leagues this season, the most recent by Rays right-hander Matt Garza, who tossed a no-no against the Tigers on July 26.

Athletics right-hander Dallas Braden pitched a perfect game against the Rays on May 9 in Oakland; Rockies right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez no hit the Braves on April 17; Roy Halladay tossed a perfect game against the Marlins on May 29 and right-hander Edwin Jackson, while with the Diamondbacks, no-hit the Rays on June 26.

Jones, who helped beat his former team with his brains in Monday night's series opener, laying down a walk-off bunt single in the 11th inning, used his glove to prevent the Mariners from scoring a run in Tuesday night's game.

Jones, shading Ichiro to left field, sprinted to the right field side of center field to catch a ball that appeared destined to become a run-scoring double. Josh Wilson, aboard on a one-out walk, was around second base when Jones reached out and caught the ball on the run.

By the time he pulled up, turned and threw the ball back to first base, Wilson had just enough time to get back to the bag safely. But the shortstop became the 827th runner stranded this season as second baseman Chone Figgins took a called third strike.

Former Mariners GM Bill Bavasi traded Jones, the Mariners' first-round Draft choice in 2003, and four others to the Orioles for left-handed pitcher Erik Bedard prior to the 2009 season, a swap that still ranks among the least successful in franchise history.

Jim Street is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.