John Means threw the major leagues’ third no-hitter this season and came within a wild pitch on a third strike of a perfect game, pitching the Baltimore Orioles over the Seattle Mariners 6-0 on Wednesday.
Means (4-0) struck out 12. Seattle’s Sam Haggerty raced to first after he struck out swinging on a curveball in the dirt on a 1-2 count with one outs in the third inning that bounced away from catcher Pedro Severino.
Haggerty wasn’t on base long, getting thrown out attempting to steal second.
Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher John Means throws against the Seattle Mariners during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, May 5, 2021, in Seattle. (AP PhotoTed S. Warren)
Means threw 79 strikes among 113 pitches, including first-pitch strikes to 26 of 27 batters. When Seattle did make contact against the 28-year-old left-hander, it was weak and there were no threats to fall in for a hit.
Means lowered his ERA to 1.37 and became the first individual Orioles pitcher to toss a no-hitter since Jim Palmer against Oakland on Aug,. 13, 1969. It was the 10th no-hitter in franchise history — six in Baltimore after four as the St. Louis Browns.
In a season in which batters are on track to hit a record-low .232, Means joined a no-hit club that includes gems by San Diego right-hander Joe Musgrove at Texas on April 9 and by Chicago White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodón against Cleveland on April 14.
In addition, Arizona left-hander Madison Bumgarner pitched a seven-inning no-hitter against Atlanta on April 25, but that is not recognized as an official no-hitter by Major League Baseball because the game did not go at least nine innings, shortened under pandemic rules in effect for a second straight season.
Baltimore’s previous no-hitter came on July 13, 1991, when Bob Milacki, Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson and Gregg Olson combined for a 2-0 victory at Oakland,
Means had plenty of offensive support. D.J. Stewart and Ramón Urias both had RBI singles against Yusei Kikuchi in the third inning. Pat Valaika hit a solo home run off Kikuchi (1-2) in the sixth and Trey Mancini provided a three-run shot off reliever Aaron Fletcher in the eighth inning.
REDS 1, WHITE SOX 0, 10 INNNGS
Cincinnati’s Joey Votto fractured his left thumb in the Reds' victory over Chicago.
Votto was hit by Dallas Keuchel's pitch in the fourth inning. Votto remained in the game, but in the sixth was replaced at first base by Kyle Farmer. Votto is not expected to need surgery, but could miss up to a month.
Jesse Winker hit a winning single in the 10th inning after Chicago’s Leury García was caught stealing in the top half.
Cincinnati’s Sonny Gray and Keuchel both pitched shutout ball, allowing two hits each in seven innings.
Liam Hendriks (1-1) lost for the first time since signing a $54 million, four-year contract with the White Sox as a free agent. Lucas Sims (1-1) got the victory.
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Aaron Judge hit a pair of opposite-field home runs and threw out a runner from center field, leading the New York Yankees over Cleveland 4-1 Friday night in the first trip to the Bronx by the renamed Guardians.
Reliever Michael King helped keep New York ahead by striking out eight in three innings, fanning his last seven batters.
Judge put the Yankees ahead in the third inning against Eli Morgan (1-1) when he followed a two-out walk to DJ LeMahieu with drive into the right-field seats. Judge added a solo shot in the fifth.
Jameson Taillon (1-1) allowed one run and seven hits in five innings, giving up Franmil Reyes’ home run in the fourth.
BRAVES 3, MARLINS 0
Kyle Wright had a career-high 11 strikeouts in six dominant innings, Matt Olson doubled in two runs and Atlanta beat Miami.
Wright (2-0) allowed four hits with one walk. The right-hander has a 1.06 ERA after three starts.
Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his fourth save in four chances.
Trevor Rogers (0-3) allowed one unearned run on four hits in five innings.
CARDINALS 4, REDS 2
Paul Goldschmidt helped slow down rookie fireballer Hunter Greene, Steven Matz pitched one-run ball over five innings and St. Louis stretched Cincinnati's skid to 10 games.
Goldschmidt had three hits and two RBIs. Both runs were charged to Greene (1-2), who walked four and was charged with three runs over 3 1/3 innings.
Matz (2-1) and the bullpen made the lead stick. Giovanny Gallegos allowed a run in the ninth but finished for his fourth save.
PHILLIES 4, BREWERS 2
Alec Bohm hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the eighth inning, Bryce Harper got two key hits and Philadelphia stopped Milwaukee's four-game winning streak.
Harper started the Phillies’ rally in the eighth with a single, and Castellanos and Realmuto followed with singles to load the bases against Aaron Ashby (0-2). Bohm drove Brad Boxberger’s 2-2 pitch to right to score Harper and Castellanos and put Philadelphia in front 3-2. Johan Camargo followed with an RBI single.
Corey Knebel pitched a perfect ninth for his third save.
Nick Nelson (1-0) didn’t allow a run in the eighth.
GIANTS 7, NATIONALS 1
Austin Slater smacked a three-run homer as part of a seven-run second inning against Patrick Corbin, and San Francisco cruised past Washington.
Slater, hitting .105 coming into the game, lined Corbin’s 2-1 sinker to right-center with one out to make it 4-0.
Brandon Crawford capped the scoring with a three-run double to left-center. Corbin (0-3) allowed seven runs on seven hits and three walks while recording just five outs.
Jakob Junis (1-0), called up earlier in the day from Triple-A Sacramento, tossed five scoreless innings of relief in his Giants debut.
RED SOX 4, RAYS 3
Xander Bogaerts had three hits and scored twice in the first five innings and Boston beat Tampa Bay.
Michael Wacha (1-0) gave up two runs on three hits, including two homers by the Rays' Wander Franco, in five innings to get his first win for Boston.
Matt Barnes got Franco on a groundball for his first save after Jake Diekman walked the bases loaded with two outs in the ninth.
Corey Kluber (0-1) gave up four runs on 11 hits in five innings.
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