Well, what do you know? It turns out that one pitcher CAN throw an actual no-hitter. On Wednesday, that pitcher was the Angels’ 22-year-old rookie Reid Detmers — he threw the no-hitter against Tampa Bay.
This was one weird and wild game.
Detmers became the sixth rookie this century to throw a no-hitter. The other five are:
The Diamondbacks’ Tyler Gilbert vs. the Padres, Aug. 14, 2021.
The Giants’ Chris Heston vs. the Mets, June 9, 2015.
The Red Sox’ Clay Buchholz vs. the Orioles, Sept. 1, 2007.
The Marlins’ Anibal Sanchez vs. the Diamondbacks, Sept. 6, 2006.
The Cardinals’ Bud Smith vs. the Padres, Sept. 3, 2001.
Detmers did it earlier in the year than the others — you have to go back to Steve Busby in 1973 (April 27) to find a rookie who threw a no-no this early in his rookie season.
Detmers struck out only two batters. That’s pretty mind-boggling in today’s game, with strikeouts rampant. Only one pitcher since 1980 — the often-magical Francisco Liriano back in 2015 — had thrown a no-hitter striking out that few. Detmers became only the fifth pitcher in the Expansion Era to throw a no-hitter while striking out two or fewer batters.
Can you name the only pitcher in that time period to throw a no-hitter with zero strikeouts? Fun trivia! (Answer below.)
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