A Homer Bailey no-hitter sinks the Pittsburgh Pirates' 2012 hopes

Until Friday night, Homer Bailey was most famous as a Cincinnati Reds super-prospect who had never quite harnessed his big fastball and equally big curveball like people expected back in 2007. Now he's got a no-hitter—and he'll be most famous in Pittsburgh Pirates circles, until the day he dies, as the guy who ended their latest quest for a winning record while earning lasting personal glory for himself.

Which is to say that he's finally got some enemies, if nothing else. Bailey's no-hitter comes amid what appears to be a perfecto bubble, but the occasionality of it—sniping an NL Central rival as the capper goes to a season that's gone from once-in-a-lifetime to once-again-in-a-lifetime in two months—gives this one a little kick the last few haven't had. In this particular case, it's a kick to the groin.

Meanwhile, the St. Louis Cardinals—sandwiched between these two NL Central clubs—were ruining Edwin Jackson's day. The Pirates had long since receded as their primary concern for the second Wild Card spot in the National League, but after spending most of the summer chasing Andrew McCutchen and company it still must have come as a strange shock to see that Bailey, 3-7 against St. Louis all time, had handcuffed them so thoroughly.