I've just seen the last few innings of a combined no-hitter by four Los Angeles Dodgers' pitchers - Walker Buehler, Tony Cingrani, Yimi Garcia and Adam Liberatore. Buehler, in his third big league start, tossed six innings while Cingrani, Garcia and Liberatore pitched an inning apiece en route to a 4-0 victory over the Friars.
The no-hitter comes less than an hour after Albert Pujols collected his 3,000th hit. This is the first time a no-hitter occurred the same day a player collected his 3,000th hit. It is also the second no-hitter of the 2018 season. Less than a fortnight ago, Oakland A's pitcher Sean Manaea tossed one against the Boston Red Sox. It is the first combined no-hitter in MLB since 2014 when Philadelphia Phillies' pitcher Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman, Ken Giles and Jonathan Papelbon tossed one against the Atlanta Braves.
But perhaps the most unique aspect of this no-hitter is that it took place in Monterey, Mexico for the first regular season game south of the border since 1999. An evening which began with Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela (who had a no-hitter of his own to his credit) throwing out the first pitch. Not quite like Don Larsen and Yogi Berra being present at David Cone's perfect game at Yankee Stadium in 1999, but very, very close.
I do wish Buehler had been allowed to complete his no-no. But that's a no-no with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. He notably lifted Ross Stripling after 7.1 IP of no-hit ball in his MLB debut in April 2016. I suspect there will be less of a backlash since we know Roberts' modus operandi, the near death of complete games and the fact the game not only didn't take place at Dodger Stadium, but took place in Mexico which is just happy to see big league action of any kind.
A no-hitter just doesn't have the same drama with multiple pitchers. Nevertheless, the San Diego Padres did not collect a hit tonight. Buehler, Cingrani, Garcia and Liberatore are to be congratulated on a job well done.
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