Jered Weaver yesterday tossed a no-hitter against the Minnesota Twins, which raises the question – Which is more surprising?
1) That the Angels’ ace no-hit the 6-18 Twins (who were shut out on 3-hits by Jerome Williams the day before and now haven’t had a hit in 15 innings);
2) That the Angels remain in last place despite the three-game sweep of the Twins;
3) That Albert Pujols (of the 11 consecutive 30+ homer seasons) is hitting .208 with no home runs and only 5 RBIs after 25 games in the American League?
We’ll go with “3” and send our congratulations out to Weaver, who walked one and struck out nine in his 9-0 win.
BBRT likes to provide a little history in each post, so here some factoids for today – which, as you will see later, are only one degree of separation from Jered Weaver.
While Weaver’s no-no was the classic complete game, there have been 9 “combined” no-hitters in MLB history, including 2 in 1991 (when there were a total of 7 no-hitters). 1991’s seven no-hitters is the record for a single season, tied with 1990, when there were also 7 no-hitters, including one combined effort. For historic reference, 1990-91 saw as many no-hitters as 1927-44.
The most pitchers used in a combined no hitter was six, on June 11, 2003, when a parade of Houston Astros’ hurlers shutdown the Yankees 8-0 at Yankee Stadium. It all started out normally enough as the Astros’ Roy Oswalt sent the Yankees down 1-2-3 in the first (Alfonso Soriano-fly out, Jeter- strikeout swinging, Jason Giambi-strikeout swinging). Things took a turn toward baseball history two pitches into the Yankee second, as Oswalt aggravated a groin injury and the Astros were forced to go to the bullpen. In succession, Pete Munro tossed 2.2 innings; Kirk Saarloos 1.1; Brad Lidge 2.0 (for the win); Octavio Dotel (1.0); and Billy Wagner 1.0. When it was over 13 Yankees had gone down on strikes, there Bombers had no hits and had put only 5 runners on base (3 walks, an error and on a wild pitch strikeout.)
And, the game was both unusual and meaningful. The Yankees came into the game with a 36-27 record, just ½ game ahead of the Red Sox, while the Astros were 36-28 and tied for first place with the Cubs. Oh, and that one degree of separation? The Yankees’ starting (and losing) pitcher was Jered Weaver’s brother Jeff, whose major league pitching career spanned 1999-2010. Jeff went 6.1 innings, giving up 5 runs on ten hits in the loss.
How did the Yankees take the unusual no-hitter?
“We should be embarrassed,” Jeter said after the contest. “If you’re not embarrassed something’s wrong with you.”
The Yankees did take the loss with class. When they got to the clubhouse after the game, each of the six participating pitchers found a bottle of champagne, courtesy of the Yankees, at his locker.
