Braves no-hitter history

During the Braves' 12-year stint in Milwaukee from 1953-66, the club put together four no-hitters. Since moving to Atlanta, the Braves have added three more to that list.

MLB.com takes a look back at those pitching feats -- two solo no-hitters and one combined effort -- as well as a few close calls.

April 8, 1994: Kent Mercker
Braves 6, Dodgers 0

It was only fitting that Kent Mercker would field the last out himself in his no-no vs. the Dodgers in LA in front of a crowd of 36,000. Eric Karros rolled over Mercker’s changeup with two outs in the ninth inning to hit a ground ball right back to the left-handed pitcher who snagged the ball on a hop.

Racing to first base, Mercker flipped the ball to Fred McGriff to end the game, clearing the Braves’ dugout in the process.

"I had a sense after the sixth inning that something could happen," Mercker told the LA Times after the game. "I had two no-hitters going in the past, but that's when I was in the bullpen and I didn't have the endurance to keep going after six innings. … Tonight, I had to prove that I had the endurance."

Mercker struck out 10 while walking four, all before the sixth inning. The Braves’ southpaw retired the final nine Dodgers to make a stand on the mound.

"You have to give him credit,” Dodgers’ Mike Piazza said. “He pitched a good game, he caught us at a time when we weren't swinging the bats very well.”

Sept. 11, 1991: Kent Mercker (6 IP), Mark Wohlers (2), Alejandro Pena (1)
Braves 1, Padres 0

Three seasons before Mercker’s solo no-hitter, he combined with Mark Wohlers and Alejandro Pena to throw a game Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium had never seen before.

In just his second start of the season, Mercker went six innings, striking out six before manager Bobby Cox pulled him for Wohlers. The reliever tossed two perfect innings before Pena made quick work in the ninth to close out the combined no-hitter.

"There was some hard throwing out there tonight," Cox was quoted after the game. "I mean, really hard. I wanted the no-hitter, but it was really, really secondary. We had a one-run lead. I wanted the win first."

The no-no, however, wasn't without a bit of intrigue.

With two outs in the ninth inning, Darrin Jackson hit a slow ground ball down the third-base line. Braves third baseman Terry Pendleton charged the ball, but a big hop got the best of him. The play was ruled an error.

"Pendleton could have had the ball," official scorer Mark Frederickson told the Associated Press. "He let it go by. Pendleton committed on the ball, and, if he would have gone ahead and made the play, he would have thrown him out."

Despite the ruling, there were no hard feelings from San Diego manager Greg Riddoch, who said it didn’t bother him because he would “want an E-5 for my pitcher, too.”

The combo no-hitter by the Braves in 1991 was only the sixth combined no-hit bid in the Majors since 1967.

Aug. 5, 1973: Phil Niekro
Braves 9, Padres 0

Phil Niekro threw the Braves’ first no-hitter since the organization moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1966.

The 34-year-old faced 32 batters at Atlanta Stadium, striking out four while walking three. Niekro used his defense in the history-making outing, inducing nine groundouts and seven popups.

“It's possible in any ball park,” Niekro said after the game. “But it's not too probable, especially in this ball park, the way balls have been flying out of here the past week.”

The no-hitter couldn’t have come at a better time for the four-time All-Star selection. The New York Times reported that Niekro’s father, Philip, was in critical condition due to blood clots in his lungs at the time of the pitcher’s no-hitter.

Niekro told the newspaper that the game “came at the best time of my life”.

Braves’ catcher Paul Casanova caught his first no-hitter that night, saying he was “worried about catching the ball” on account of Niekro’s knuckleball that Casanova recalled he threw roughly 95 percent of the time.

“It was pretty hard to hit a ball that Casanova can't even catch,” Padres manger Don Zimmer said. “He pitched a heck of a game. We only hit one ball hard off him.”

Close calls

May 11, 2024: Max Fried (7 IP), Joe Jiménez (1), Raisel Iglesias (1)
Braves 4, Mets 1

The Braves came within one out of their first no-hitter since Mercker’s solo effort in 1994. Less than two weeks after tossing six no-hit innings against the Mariners, Fried completed seven hitless frames at Citi Field. Jiménez worked around two walks in the eighth inning, and Iglesias retired Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso to start the ninth.

But J.D. Martinez launched an opposite-field solo homer with two away in the ninth, breaking up the no-hit bid and the shutout. The Mets even brought the tying run to the plate before Iglesias recorded the final out.

Fried struck out five batters and issued three walks, including back-to-back free passes in the third inning before he worked out of the jam. He got some help from center fielder Michael Harris II, who tracked down a line drive off the bat of Martinez on the warning track for the second out of the seventh.

The Braves’ 30-year drought since their last no-hitter still ranks as the fourth longest in MLB.

July 29, 2018: Sean Newcomb
Braves 4, Dodgers 1

Newcomb came oh so close to no-hitting the Dodgers in 2018 at Truist Park. The left-hander was dominant over 8 2/3 innings in Atlanta, allowing just one walk and getting a pair of flyouts for the first two outs of the ninth. Newcomb retired the first 15 batters he faced before walking Yasiel Puig to start the sixth inning. He worked the count to 2-2 against L.A.’s Chris Taylor, one strike away from history.

On his 134th pitch of the game -- easily a career-high -- Newcomb allowed a single through the left side to Taylor, who snuck the baseball past third baseman Johan Camargo and into left field. Newcomb left the game for reliever Dan Winkler, who allowed a run but preserved the Braves’ victory. Newcomb finished with eight strikeouts, just one hit allowed and a career-high game score of 85.

July 1, 2017: Mike Foltynewicz
Braves 3, A’s 1

Mike Foltynewicz's no-hitter and shutout against the A’s was wiped away with just one swing of Matt Olson’s bat. With a 3-2 count leading off the ninth inning, Olson launched a solo home run off Foltynewicz’s 93.8-mph fastball.

“Fourth time through the lineup it gets a little tougher, they start to see you a little better,” Foltynewicz said after the game. “Just got to tip your hat to him. He put the barrel on the ball and put it out of the park.”

Foltynewicz kept the A’s off the basepaths until the fifth, when he gave up a lead-off walk. Foltynewicz, who was removed after Olson's homer, struck out eight on a career-high 119 pitches.

“He looked like a totally different pitcher up there today,” Braves second baseman Brandon Phillips said. “He was zoned in, man.”

May 17, 2015: Shelby Miller
Braves 6, Marlins 0

This is the closest a Braves pitcher has gotten to a no-hitter since Mercker accomplished the feat in 1994.

Miller was just one out away from going down in Braves lore as the franchise's third pitcher to toss a solo no-no. After getting Adeiny Hechavarria and Jhonatan Solano to fly out for the first two outs in the ninth inning, Justin Bour stood between Miller and a no-hitter.

But on a first-pitch fastball, Miller’s bid was ended when Bour lined a single to center field. Dee Gordon followed with a single of his own before Martin Prado popped out to end the game and keep Miller’s shutout intact.

May 28, 1990: John Smoltz
Braves 6, Phillies 1

It wouldn’t be a list of pitchers without the addition of a Braves great. Like Foltynewicz and Miller, Smoltz took a no-hit bid into the ninth.

With one out, Len Dykstra ripped a 1-0 pitch down the right-field line for a single. One out later, Von Hayes singled to right field to plate Dykstra and end the shutout bid.