Facts, figures from Astros' combined no-hitter
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Aaron Sanchez¡¯s first start with the Astros couldn¡¯t have gone better. The right-hander was unhittable, and so was Houston.
Sanchez, acquired from the Blue Jays at Wednesday's Trade Deadline, started a combined no-hitter against the Mariners on Saturday at Minute Maid Park. He threw six hitless innings before giving way to Will Harris, Joe Biagini and Chris Devenski, who finished off the 9-0 victory.
Here are 11 facts and figures to know about the Astros¡¯ combined no-hitter:
? This is the first no-hitter the Astros have thrown since Mike Fiers threw one against the Dodgers on Aug. 21, 2015. It¡¯s the team¡¯s 12th no-hitter overall.
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? This is the Astros¡¯ second combined no-hitter. They also threw one at the Yankees on June 11, 2003 -- a game started by Roy Oswalt, who had to leave after an inning with an injury. Peter Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner finished the game off, still hitless. The Astros join the Angels and Orioles as the only teams with multiple combined no-hitters. Watch >
? This was the 14th combined no-hitter in Major League history, out of more than 300 total. It¡¯s the second combined no-hitter this season, along with the Angels¡¯ combined no-hitter on July 12, also against the Mariners. This is the second season in Major League history with multiple combined no-hitters -- there were also two in 1991. Watch >
? Sanchez, who was acquired by the Astros just three days prior, threw the first six hitless innings in his Houston debut. He's the only pitcher in Astros history to throw six-plus no-hit innings in his first game with the team.
? Sanchez is the second pitcher to throw the first leg of a combined no-hitter in his first start with a team. Mark Langston threw seven no-hit innings in his Angels debut on April 11, 1990, before Mike Witt closed out their combined no-no ¡ also against the Mariners.
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? Sanchez wasn't the only new Astros pitcher who chipped in on Saturday. Biagini, Sanchez's teammate in Toronto who came over in the same trade, also made his Houston debut, pitching the eighth inning. Before Sanchez and Biagini, only one pitcher had participated in a no-hitter in his first game for a new team following a midseason swap, per the Elias Sports Bureau: Don Cardwell, all the way back on May 15, 1960.
Cardwell was traded from the Phillies to the Cubs two days prior on May 13. He did it all himself in his Cubs debut, no-hitting the Cardinals in the second game of a doubleheader at Wrigley Field -- including a strikeout of pinch-hitter Stan Musial in the eighth inning.
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? The last pitcher to be traded during a season and then throw six or more no-hit innings in his first game with his new team? You might recognize the name. It was Greg Maddux, per STATS, who was traded from the Cubs to the Dodgers at the 2006 Trade Deadline and proceeded to toss six no-hit innings against the Reds in his Los Angeles debut.
Maddux's hitless debut also came on Aug. 3, exactly 13 years before Sanchez's. The Dodgers didn't finish their combined no-hit bid, though, as Joe Beimel allowed a hit in relief of Maddux.
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? The Mariners have been no-hit twice this season. They¡¯d been no-hit three times in their 42-season history entering 2019. They¡¯re the first team to be on the losing end of three combined no-hitters in their franchise history.
? The most recent teams to be no-hit twice in a year were the Mets and Dodgers in 2015. The Mets were no-hit by the Giants' Chris Heston on June 9 and by Max Scherzer on Oct. 3 in the second-to-last game of the regular season.
The Dodgers, like the Mariners, were the victims of consecutive MLB no-hitters. They came within 10 days of each other in 2015. First came Fiers' aforementioned no-hitter on Aug. 21, then another at the hands of Cubs ace Jake Arrieta on Aug. 30.
? There have been three combined no-hitters since the start of the 2018 season. There were three combined no-hitters total in the two previous decades, from 1998-2017.
? Sanchez came into his Astros debut having lost 13 decisions in a row. The last time he'd won a game was on April 27, a span of 17 starts before he got to Houston. But, hey, that's what the Astros do best -- they fix pitchers.