Johan Santana Makes History for the New York Mets with First No-Hitter

Johan Santana has thrown the first *no hitter in New York Mets history. Or maybe the 36th one-hitter in Mets history. Either way.

Aided by an incredible catch out in left by hometown hero Mike Baxter and a blunder by the third base umpire, the 33-year-old lefty managed to squeeze out an 8-0 no-hit victory over the St. Louis Cardinals Friday night.

Carlos Beltran, who was enjoying his first game back at Citi Field since the Mets traded him last July, hit a liner over third base in the sixth that hit the foul line and probably should have been called fair, but whoopsie, it was ruled foul... and the rest is literally history.

Santana, who was more or less just hoping to stay healthy this season, wound up striking out eight and walking five while credited with the first no-hitter in the entire 51-season, 8,020 game-history of the New York Mets. Pretty special... and fortunate that there's not more instant replay involved in the game.

[Amazin' Avenue]

Ervin Santana No-Hits the Cleveland Indians

Congratulations to Ervin Santana on pitching his first career no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians Wednesday for a 3-1 Halos victory.

It wasn't pretty, but he struck out 10 and allowed only two base runners all day. Erick Aybar committed an error on the very first batter, totally screwing up the perfecto, but Santana walked Lonnie Chisenhall in the eighth anyways so I guess it wouldn't have mattered. He never did give up a hit, though. Pretty big deal.

Congratulations Justin Verlander!

The Toronto Blue Jays were no match for Justin Verlander Saturday afternoon, as the Detroit Tigers righty tossed his second career no-hitter and the second of the 2011 season for a 9-0 victory.

Minnesota Twins lefty Francisco Liriano pitched a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox Tuesday evening for the first one of the season. His was not as pretty.

Congratulations Francisco Liriano!

Talk about night and day.

It wasn't pretty. In fact, it was down right ugly. Either way, Francisco Liriano tossed the seventh no-hitter in Minnesota franchise history Tuesday night against the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. The 1-0 victory, thanks in part to a fourth-inning solo shot off the bat of Jason Kubel, marked the fifth no-hitter for the Twins and the first of the 2011 baseball season.

Don't beat yourself up too bad. The fact you decided against starting Liriano on your fantasy team Tuesday (if you haven't dropped him yet) may be a good thing after all...

Continue reading Sooze's article on The Star Tribune.

Roy Halladay is a Beast

At 6:26 pm, Central time, I texted Sooze and said "Halladay has a fucking no-no going with 2 outs in the 8th. One walk. Holy Shit." (Yes, I'm a bit of a sailor when it comes to my vocabulary.) At 6:27 pm, Central time I thought to myself "Oh shit. I really hope I didn't just jinx Doc's no-no." Luckily for Doc, my bad luck with jinxing post-season games doesn't extend to the National League because at 6:43 I then texted Sooze again and said "OMFG he did it".

Halladay, who had a perfect game earlier this season, pitched the second postseason no-hitter in MLB history. Wow. This came as a welcome distraction to me while I'd been pacing back and forth waiting for the Twins/Yankees game to start. Doc also knocked in a run in the 4-0 victory over the Reds. NLDS MVP anyone? Finally escaping from Toronto this year, Doc gets to make his postseason hopes and dreams come true. It's about time.

Congratulations, Doc, on firmly cementing your place in postseason history. Your badassery knows no bounds.

Way To Go, Matt Garza!

After being on the losing end of TWO no hitters this season (one being a perfect game, no less!), the Rays have reason to celebrate. Matt Garza tossed the first no hitter in Rays history on Monday Night, shutting down the Tigers.

The contest started out as quite the pitchers duel, as Detroit's Max Scherzer kept the Rays hitless into the sixth inning. He ended up loading the bases without a hit, giving up two walks plus an error by catcher Gerald Laird, and then Matt Joyce hit it out for a grand slam. So much for Scherzer's no-no.

Way to Go, Edwin Jackson!

Edwin Jackson just finished tossing the second no-hitter in Arizona Diamondbacks history, against his former team, the Tampa Bay [Devil] Rays.

It may have taken the right-hander 150 pitches through a sloppy performance that included eight walks and six strikeouts at Tropicana Field, but he shut down a tough Rays line-up by a score of 1-0. Adam LaRoche provided the offense with a solo shot in the top of the second off Jeff Niemann, who threw a two-hitter a couple weeks ago against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Ricky Romero: Almost Perfect

Ricky Romero took a no-hit bid late into his Toronto Blue Jays' 4-2 win over the Chicago White Sox Tuesday night, but one of his former teammates -- Alex Rios -- blew it for him.

The lefty was absolutely crushing it up until the eighth inning, striking out a career-high 12 batters until "hitting" A.J. Pierzynski with a pitch to start off the inning. The big whiner was awarded first base when the ball hit the dirt near his right toe.

Rios followed by smashing a 2-1 changeup to deep left field for the White Sox only hit, but all it takes is one to ruin a no-hitter.

Romero knew it was gone the minute it hit the bat, turning toward center field, resting his hands on his knees and lowering his head as Rios trotted around the bases amidst a chorus of boos.

Mark Buehrle Makes History. Again.

Mark Buehrle's badassery knew no bounds for quite a while there. The Chicago White Sox ace set a major league record Tuesday night by retiring 45 straight batters. In a row.

Right on the heels of his perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Buehrle sailed through the first five innings against the Minnesota Twins. He retired the first 17 batters he faced, breaking Jim Barr's 1972 record of 41 which was tied by White Sox reliever Bobby Jenks back in 2007.

His bid for a second consecutive perfect game, which no man has ever done, ended with a walk to Alexi Casilla with two outs in the sixth inning. I found this rather funny, since Casilla is batting like .162 and has no business even being in the big leagues.

Holy Breaking Ball, Jonathan Sanchez

First complete game? Check. First shut out? Check. A career-high in strikeouts? Crank it up to eleven. Really, no one can describe Jonathan Sanchez's no-hitter -- baseball's first of 2009 -- better than San Francisco Giants fans themselves...

A Giant Blog: A Giants No-Hitter!

Raising Matt Cain: History!

MCovey Chronicles: Jonathan Sanchez Pitches a No-Hitter!

Giants Win: Sanchez Stunner

Was Zack Greinke Jinxed?

At what point do we bring up a pitcher's scoreless streak without jinxing him? Do we keep it to ourselves? Whisper it to the dude sitting next to us? Write a giant cover story about it? That is, if you believe in that sort of thing.

The same question arose when reading about Kansas City Royals ace Zack Greinke's long string of goose eggs all over the internet this week, just days before he gave up his first earned run in 43 innings on Wednesday. It took only two batters: a double by Marco Scutaro before Vernon Wells singled him home with two outs in the first to produce the first earned run off the righty since last September, a streak that spanned six incredible starts.

Continue reading this story at Fantasy Pros 911.

You Suck, ESPN Boy!

Just kidding. But really, Dock Ellis can throw one while tripping balls and you can't even throw five in a row stone cold sober?

Patrick Schuster, mentioned earlier today, lost his bid for a fifth-straight no-hitter in the third inning when Gaither's Drew Doty doubled over the right fielder's head.

On March 19th, his team defeated Gaither 13-2 while Schuster pitched six solid innings of one-hit ball. The only hit in the game? A double by Doty, his new nemesis.

Nice try, Patrick!

[USA Today] | [MAX Preps]

No Pressure, Patrick Schuster

Florida high school pitcher Patrick Schuster goes for no-hitter #5 today in the state playoffs.

The 18-year-old lefty has struck out an impressive 60 batters during his state-record string of no-no's, and if he's not getting them with his 90 mph fastball, he relies on a nasty slider and a nifty curve.

Two dozen major league scouts attended his last start, along with TV crews and a crowd somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 people, which his dad Roger estimated to be around 900 more than attended the home opener. The jerks in the opposing dugouts have tried to distract the young hurler by chanting, "Hey, ESPN boy!"

After not throwing even one no-hitter through his first three years of high school, Schuster is two short of the national prep record of six consecutive set by Chris Taranto of Mississippi back in 1961 and tied by Tom Engle of Ohio in 1989. Best of luck, Patrick!

[NY Times] | [CBS Sports]

That's a No on the No-No

In the bottom of the seventh inning of the Milwaukee Brewers' game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, official scorer Bob Webb ruled Andy LaRoche's hit a single rather than an error.

Turns out, he was right.

Webb explained that when Brewers ace CC Sabathia tried to bare-hand LaRoche's soft grounder before dropping the ball, the runner was already 2/3 of the way down the first baseline, therefore ruling it a hit.

This became the difference between a no-hitter and a one-hitter, which is why the Brewers' so passionately lobbied for the ruling to be changed. However, MLB agreed with Webb, and after further review, the play stands.

The end.

[ESPN] | [The Fanhouse] | [Cute Sports]

High Five Jon Lester

Lefty Jon Lester became the 18th pitcher in Boston Red Sox history to keep an entire team hitless over nine innings, shutting out the Kansas City Royals 7-0 Monday night for his first career no-hitter.

Yeah. He totally beat cancer, too.

[SOX & Dawgs]

A.J. Most Likely the Jinxer

Chicago White Sox righty Gavin Floyd almost pitched a no-hitter for the second time in less than a month. This time, it came against the Minnesota Twins Tuesday night. Ozzie Guillen thinks this is [bleeping] horse[bleep].

No cigar, know what I mean?

But seriously, as a baseball fan -- and I'm being TOTALLY SERIOUS HERE -- no-no's are super exciting to watch. Too bad Joe Mauer had to spoil Floyd's evening with one down in the ninth.

[Baseball Musings]

Gavin Floyd: Almost Awesome

Chicago White Sox righty Gavin Floyd (2-0) was riding a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Detroit Tigers Saturday afternoon, until being jinxed by some guy a few innings prior.

"Not until like maybe the fifth inning, I didn’t realize," Floyd said. "Some fan was like, 'Yeah, you got a no-hitter going.' And I was like, 'Oh, thanks."'

Yeah. Way to go, pal.

More importantly, the other end of the spectrum is rather disturbing. The Motor City Kittens were just about no-hit by the big bad South Siders. Shortstop Edgar Renteria singled with one out in the eighth to salvage what little dignity this team has left, but they were still dominated 7-0.

Orlando Cabrera, who hit his first homer of the season Saturday, was nailed in the left earflap by a Justin Verlander fastball in the eighth inning.

He actually stayed in the game to score a run -- tough -- and is going to be just fine after being examined by team doctors after the shutout.

To top things off, our friend Tuffy attended the almost no-no, soaked and dressed like an OCD boy scout.

[AP]

Saturday's Babelicious Scoreboard: No-No Edition

We don't want to hear any of that crap like, "Oh, it was against a horrible team."

This was no piece of cake. A no-hitter is not just handed to you on a silver platter. It takes focus, spectacular pitching and great defense.

Rookie Clay Buchholz had all three when he led his Boston Red Sox in a 10-0 blanking of the Baltimore Orioles Saturday night.

The 23-year-old righty -- pitching in just his second career big league game -- threw an assortment of fastballs, changeups and a pretty nasty curve for 115 pitches. He struck out nine and walked three in the 17th no-no in Red Sox history to lower his ERA to 1.80 and better his record to 2-0. Awesome. How's he supposed to follow that up?

Let's not forget the 6th-inning pickoff of the sneaky Brian Roberts (39 SB) at first, which had the crowd going nuts already.

"It's amazing. That's all I can say," he said. "I'm in a blur right now.

Opposing pitcher Garrett Olson lasted only 5.1 innings, in which he walked five and surrendered 4 earned runs on 7 hits with 4 strikeouts.

Coco Crisp kicked off the scoring with a forceout in the second that sent Kevin Youkilis home and David Ortiz smoked a 3-run double in the fourth to make it 4-0.

This is where the newly acquired porn star by day/pitcher by night, Rocky Cherry comes in. He could only get one batter out, but managed to give up four runs of his own with 3 hits and a walk. Mike Lowell had an RBI double off him before Youk blasted a 3-run bomb to chase Cherry off the hill altogether.

Another Orioles reliever, Brian Burres tried to clean up the disaster area, but gave up a pinch-hit double to rookie sensation Jacoby Ellsbury, instead. The 23-year-old lefty is batting .350 with 3 RBIs and a stolen bag in his 8 games with Boston this season.

The 81-55 Sox now lead the AL East by 5 games over the New York Yankees. The two clubs won't see eachother again on the road to the post season until September 14th when they open a three-game set at Yankee Stadium.

[The Boston Channel]

Anibal is not an Animal Anymore

Before everyone in our fantasy baseball league gives me a collective "I told you so" let me just state for the record, in my defense, Anibal Sanchez threw a no-hitter last year.

After being dumped on the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes on Friday, Sanchez was placed on the 15-day DL three days later with shoulder tendinitis and was scratched from his first start on Tuesday against the Memphis Redbirds.

He is currently in a 7-to-10 day no-throw period and will rehab at the Florida Marlins' Minor League complex in Jupiter.

[MLB] | [Deep Fried Fish]

Holy Crap, Mark Buehrle Tossed a No-Hitter

The quote of the day goes to Mark Buehrle:

What just happened?

It was 42 degrees outside and nearly 9:15 at night. Chicago White Sox starter Mark Buehrle (1-0, 2.08 ERA) had just polished off the first no-hitter of his career against the Texas Rangers, ending in a 6-0 victory.

The 28-year-old lefty allowed only a fifth-inning walk to Sammy Sosa, before promptly picking him off at first.

Amid the ninth inning chaos, with no one daring to utter the N-word, Buehrle zeroed in on the outside corner for a 90-mph fastball to freeze Matt Kata looking for the first out. Then he pulled the string on Nelson Cruz for the second out, his eighth K of the evening. Gerald Laird's soft grounder ended the game and the beer-shower from his teammates was imminent.

Jim Thome went 2-for-2 with 2 RBIs, So Taguchi had a 2-for-4 evening with a run scored and Jermaine Dye hit a Grand Slam in the fifth... completely overshadowed by Buehrle's spectacular pitching performance.

[MLB]