After an 0-4 start, the Houston Astros earned their first win of the 2024 season last night by way of a no-hitter by Ronel Blanco besting the Toronto Blue Jays 10-0.
Aside from two walks to former Astro George Springer, Blanco was perfect in only his 8th big league start. It is only the 3rd career big league win for the 30-year-old Dominican born right-hander.
The Astros, on the other hand, are becoming quite familiar with no-hitters with the team tossing four of the last seven pitched since 2022. On June 25, 2022, Astros pitchers Cristian Javier, Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly combined on a no-hitter against the New York Yankees. In that year's World Series, Javier and Pressly would be joined by Bryan Abreu and Rafael Montero in no-hitting the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 4 of the Fall Classic. On August 1, 2023, Astros starter Framber Valdez tossed a no-no against the Cleveland Guardians. Overall, Blanco's no-hitter is the 17th in Astros franchise history. Only the Boston Red Sox (18), Chicago White Sox (20) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (26) have more no-hitters as a team.
Not bad for a fellow who was washing cars as he was turned down by the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Tampa Bay Rays' Dominican baseball academies. Even if Blanco does nothing else, nobody can take away the fact he made it to the show and that he threw a no-hitter.
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