A coming-out party

Sporting News, The, Sept 20, 1999

In throwing the majors' third no-hitter of the season (joining the Yankees' David Cone, who tossed a perfect game, and the Cardinals' Jose Jimenez), the Twins' Eric Milton has edged his way onto the brink of becoming one of the league's top pitchers.

Milton's gem against the Angels was his fourth complete game and second shutout of the season. He faced only one batter over the minimum, walking two and fanning a career-high 13.

"He was spotting his fastball and moving it on both sides of the plate," says rotation mate Joe Mays. "Whenever you are able to spot a ball like that and can ride it up a little bit to get guys chasing, right then you know the pitcher is locked in."

The only hard-hit ball against Milton was a liner to left by Todd Greene. Torii Hunter temporarily lost the ball in the lights, but recovered to make the catch.

Milton's results have been inconsistent, spanning from allowing one run in eight innings against the Yankees and eight shutout innings vs. the Royals to giving up seven runs in 4 2/3 innings against the Devil Rays in his start before the no-hitter. But his performance the past four months--which coincides with the development of a slider, and his improvement against lefties--has the Twins salivating at the prospects of Milton as the team's ace in the near future.