Francisco Córdova

Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=#000000
bgcolor2=#EAC117
textcolor1=#EAC117
textcolor2=#000000
name=Francisco Córdova
position=Pitcher
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1972|4|26
debutdate=April 2
debutyear=by|1996
debutteam=Pittsburgh Pirates
finaldate=August 8
finalyear=2000
finalteam=Pittsburgh Pirates
stat1label=Win-Loss
stat1value=42-47
stat2label=ERA
stat2value=3.96
stat3label=Strikeouts
stat3value=537
teams=
*Pittsburgh Pirates (by|1996-by|2000)
highlights=
* 1 combined no-hitter

Francisco Córdova (born April 26, 1972 in Veracruz, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, Mexico ) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1996-2000.

Career

On January 18, 1996, Córdova was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent. He made his major league debut on April 2, 1996. The following year, on July 12,1997, at a sold out Three Rivers Stadium, he pitched nine innings of a combined 10-inning no-hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Ricardo Rincón pitched the 10th inning. The Pirates won the game on a dramatic three run, pinch hit home run in the bottom of the 10th by Mark Smith. This game pitched by Córdova and Rincón is recognized as the only combined, extra-inning no-hitter in modern MLB history and is the last in Pirates history to date. [ [http://archive.sportingnews.com/baseball/ballparks/threerivers.html "Sporting News" description and assertion of first combined extra-innings no hitter] ; [http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT199707120.shtml Box score via Baseball Reference] ] [ [http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1137746/11/26/index.htm Most Recent No-hitters By Team] ] Córdova would go on the post an 11-8 record that season. He would post a 13-14 record in 1998, his most wins in a season, to go with a 3.31 ERA, also a career best. His career was shorted by arm troubles, and he retired after the 2000 season with a 42-47 record. Cordova now pitches in his native Mexico with the Diablos Rojos del México (Mexico City Red Devils) where he is 9-4 with a 4.73 ERA in 83.2 IP.

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