High frequency: 10 incredible no-no facts
Sarah Langs
@SlangsOnSports
Andrew Simon
@AndrewSimonMLBAfter the Tigers¡¯ Spencer Turnbull threw a no-hitter at Seattle on Tuesday night, the baseball world waited less than 24 hours to see someone repeat the feat.
That pitcher was the Yankees¡¯ Corey Kluber. The two-time Cy Young Award winner dominated the Rangers at Globe Life Field, issuing just one walk and striking out nine while throwing the Yanks¡¯ first no-hitter in more than 20 years.
This was the eighth time there have been multiple no-hitters thrown in a two-day span or shorter, and the first time since Dave Stewart (A¡¯s) and Fernando Valenzuela (Dodgers) each threw one on June 29, 1990. The last time there was a no-no on consecutive days? April 30-May 1, 1969, when Jim Maloney (Reds) and Don Wilson (Astros) threw them against each other¡¯s teams.
Here are 10 more stats and facts about Kluber¡¯s no-hitter.
- There have been six no-hitters this season, the most we¡¯ve ever seen before June in a single season. Four of them have come this month, tying June 1990 for the most no-hitters in a calendar month in MLB history -- and there are still 12 days remaining before the calendar flips.
Another milestone to watch: The record for most no-hitters in a season is eight (1884), and the modern-era record (since 1900) is seven (1990, 1991, 2012, 2015).
- The last four no-hitters have all come in the last 15 days. That¡¯s tied for the most no-hitters in any 15-day span in MLB history, with 1917 -- when there were four in a 13-day stretch from April 24 through May 6, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
- There has been a definite pattern to the no-hitters this season -- namely, the teams they have come against. Two pitchers have no-hit Cleveland (Carlos Rod¨®n, Wade Miley). Two pitchers have no-hit Seattle (John Means, Turnbull). And now two pitchers have no-hit Texas as well, with the Padres¡¯ Joe Musgrove having beaten Kluber to the punch, on April 9, also at Globe Life Field.
This is the first time we¡¯ve had three teams no-hit twice in a season. Before 2021, there was only one other season in which two teams were no-hit twice. That was 2015, with the Mets and Dodgers. No team has been no-hit three times in a season.
- Coming into 2021, only five teams had ever been no-hit twice at home in the same season: the 2015 Mets, 2001 Padres, 1973 Royals, 1971 Reds and 1923 A¡¯s. Less than two months into this season, two more teams have joined that list: the Mariners and the Rangers.
- Kluber¡¯s no-hitter was the 12th in Yankees history, including the postseason, but the team hadn¡¯t thrown one since July 18, 1999, when David Cone threw a perfect game against the Expos. That was the eighth longest drought of any team entering the night. In fact, the Yankees had not even come close to a no-no in recent years. According to YES Network, Phil Hughes (April 21, 2010, at Oakland) was the last Yankee to even carry a bid through the seventh inning.
- That¡¯s not the only connection to Cone. At 35 years and 39 days old, Kluber became the first pitcher to throw his first career no-hitter at age 35 or older since Cone in 1999, according to STATS.
- Kluber threw 101 pitches, tied for the third-fewest in any individual no-hitter since 2015. Lucas Giolito also threw 101 pitches in his no-no last season against the Pirates. The only pitchers with fewer pitches in a no-hitter in that span were Edinson Volquez (98 in 2017) and James Paxton (99 in 2018).
- Kluber, of course, is one of the most accomplished pitchers of his generation. Despite being a late bloomer -- he debuted at age 25 and didn¡¯t pitch his first full season until 27 -- he entered Wednesday with two Cy Young Awards to his credit. Kluber, who won with Cleveland in 2014 and ¡®17 (and finished third two other years) is one of 21 multiple-time Cy winners in history. He¡¯s now one of 14 to also throw a no-hitter, an illustrious list that includes three other active pitchers: Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.
- While this was Kluber¡¯s first no-hitter, it was hardly his first gem. The righty has 18 career complete games (most in MLB since 2014) and eight shutouts (tied with Kershaw for the most). This was his 11th complete game allowing three hits or fewer, the most in MLB over that span. That includes a one-hitter, when the Twins¡¯ Joe Mauer homered to spoil a potential no-no on Aug. 14, 2015.
- It¡¯s a little hard to remember, but Kluber actually was with the Rangers in 2020, following a December 2019 trade from Cleveland. But Kluber¡¯s tenure in Texas lasted just one inning on July 26 before an injury shelved him for the rest of the season.
Still, Kluber counts as a former Ranger, which makes him only the third pitcher, per Elias, to no-hit a team he pitched for in the previous season (or earlier in that same season). The others were the Phillies¡¯ Terry Mulholland against the Giants on Aug. 15, 1990, and Cleveland¡¯s Ray Caldwell against the Yankees on Sept. 10, 1919.