Pirates' Bubba Chandler Nearly Perfect vs. Nationals

While it's taboo for people to discuss a perfect game when it's happening, Chandler knew he was in that situation and he credited catcher Henry Davis for the strong beginning to his outing.

He also was most happy with after he gave up the hits in the sixth inning that he stayed focused and kept the Pirates in the game, allowing them to comeback for the late win.

"I knew what was going on," Chandler said. "It was cool. It felt like I made some good pitches, got lucky a little bit. Me and Hank (Davis) were on the same page for a lot of things today. Can't complain with the outing I had. Of course you never want to give up the hit, the walk, whatever, and you definitely don't want to give up any runs.

"But I have spiraled before in the past after having a really strong outing. Kind of just some unlucky hits that I gave up. Kind of spiraled in the minor leagues with that and happy that I didn't today. Finished that inning. It was a really cool experience playing in the nation's capital, a major-league field. It's awesome. Glad we got the win today and yeah, no complaints."

Pirartes manager Don Kelly had confidence in Chandler that he would get back to what has made him such a strong pitcher early on in his career, but didn't think he'd potentially throw a perfect game.

Kelly sees a great competiotr in Chandler and that he's always showing up ready to go, even after poor outings.

“It’s hard to expect that," Kelly said. "Perfect through five innings and I’m sitting there thinking it’s going to be hard to take him out of the game. Coming off of 2 2/3 [innings] and sixty-something pitches, he pitched so well. We see the competitor that he is and how he gets after it and whether good, bad or indifferent, he’s always showing up the same guy, intense and ready to go.”

Chandler is just the fourth pitcher in Pirates history that has thrown a perfect games through five innings in the expansion era (since 1971), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

This includes Bruce Kison, who threw 5.2 perfect innings on July 23, 1971, Nick Kingham, who threw 6.2 perfect innings on April 29, 2018, and most recently Max Kranick, who threw five perfect innings on July 27, 2021.

Chandler has now done three bullpen outings and two starts, but most importantly, he celebrated an early 23rd birthday, knowing that he got his confidence after a strong start, giving him the chance to finish 2025 strong.

"Every time I threw today, I felt really confident. Testament to [assistant pitching coach Brent Strom] and [Oscar Marin]. Worked through some things in my bullpen a couple days ago. Felt super confident every time Hank [Davis] put it down.”