Cleveland – rookie left-hander parker messick came within three outs of ending cleveland45 years of drought without any relief.
Instead, he became the second Guardians pitcher in eight months to fall behind in the ninth inning.
After Cleveland, Messick said, “I did my best. Maybe next time.” 4-2 victory over baltimore orioles On Thursday night.
Messick, 25, was bidding to complete the first no-hitter in the majors since September 4, 2024, when shota imanaga and two chicago cubs relievers beat together pittsburgh pirates 12-0 at Wrigley Field.
Making his 11th major league start, Messick (3-0) faced a minimum of one batter over the first eight innings leody taveras Lead off the ninth with a grounder that missed the diving second baseman. juan brito And went for a single into right field.
blaze alexander The rookie left-hander was dispatched with a line-drive single to center before receiving a standing ovation from the crowd of 14,748.
“What we saw tonight was very special,” said Guardians manager Stefan Vogt. “This is an incredibly talented lineup that they took a no-hitter into the ninth. Just continued to attack, continued to give them different looks throughout the game.”
taylor wardalmost single cad smith loaded the bases, and Gunnar HendersonThe sacrificial fly flew in Tavera. pete alonso Hit an RBI double that moved runners to second and third with one out.
After this Smith retired the pinch hitter Colton Cowser On a fly to the center and Samuel Basal On a grounder for his fourth save.
“I mean, it sucks, but it’s baseball,” Messick said. “That could happen to me one day, God willing. I’ll have several more years to pitch some baseball games, so, you know, it could happen again, so my only thought is to just lock back in and get the next guy out.”
It was the first time in 11 career starts that Messick pitched more than seven innings. He was the 54th overall pick in the 2022 amateur draft out of Florida State and made his big league debut last year.
Messick threw 112 pitches, 78 of which were strikes. The 69.6% strike rate was the third highest in his career. He walked twice and tied a career best with nine strikeouts. He was charged with two runs over eight innings.
Messick quickly led hitters with 21 first-pitch strikeouts while facing 27 batters. The 18 swings and misses also tied a career high.
Cleveland has the longest current gap between no-hitters. The team’s last match was on May 15, 1981. Lane Barker’s best game toronto blue jaysThe 7,055-day span is the fourth-longest in MLB history.
Thursday marked the franchise’s sixth consecutive unsuccessful no-hit bid after reaching the ninth inning, which is tied for the second-longest streak by a team in the expansion era (since 1961). The Boston Red Sox had nine straight between Dave Morehead’s no-hitter in 1965 and Hideo Nomo’s no-hitter in 2001.
Information from the Associated Press and ESPN Research was used in this report.
