On the final day of the first half of the regular season, Rockies rookie Kyle Freeland came two outs away from making history. On Sunday afternoon, the 24-year-old lefty held the White Sox hitless over 8 1/3 innings, only to see his hopes of throwing the second no-hitter in franchise history go up in smoke on a line-drive single off the bat of Melky Cabrera.
Freeland may have come up short—literally; Cabrera’s hit went just over the glove of a leaping Nolan Arenado at third base—but his near no-no was still one of the best moments of the season’s first half. As MLB settles into the All-Star break, let’s look back at the rest of the best from April, May, June and early July.
• Ideal 25-man AL All-Star roster | Ideal 25-man NL All-Star roster