Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Tyler Gilbert threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres in a 7-0 win on Saturday night at Chase Field, becoming just the fourth pitcher in baseball history to accomplish the feat in his first career start.
Gilbert, 27, the 15th different pitcher to start a game this season for the Diamondbacks, had made three relief appearances after being called up to the majors earlier this month. He gave up several hard-hit balls and walked three batters, but he somehow managed to keep the Padres from finding holes.
He is just the third pitcher in Diamondbacks history to throw a no-hitter, joining Hall of Fame left-hander Randy Johnson in 2004 and right-hander Edwin Jackson in 2010. Johnson’s no-hitter was a perfect game.
"I was aware in, like, the fifth inning," Gilbert told MLB Network after the game, "but (Padres hitters) were hitting balls at (defenders) really hard, and other guys were missing it ... it was a rush."
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo agreed with Gilbert's assessment of the fortunate series of events that led to the historic result.
"We were in the right place at the right time and made the plays and it equaled a no-hitter," Lovullo said in his post-game interview.
The evening felt like a sort of reversal of the crummy fortune the Diamondbacks have endured this season: The Padres had 10 balls in play at 95 mph or harder, including six at 100 mph or higher. All were converted into outs.
In a sense, the game ended in fitting fashion. With two outs in the ninth, the Padres’ Tommy Pham hit a line drive to center field that looked like it had a chance to fall for a hit. Instead, it hung up long enough for Ketel Marte to make a running catch to seal it.
Gilbert struck out each of the first two batters of the ninth, freezing the Padres’ Trent Grisham on a cutter over the plate for the first out, then getting Ha-Seong Kim looking on a borderline pitch.
Gilbert needed just three pitches to record three outs in the eighth inning, with the Padres putting each pitch in play at 98 mph or harder. Austin Nola flew out just shy of the wall in left field; Eric Hosmer hit a sharp grounder to short, where Nick Ahmed made a nice pickup before first baseman Pavin Smith dug out a low throw; and Wil Myers flew out to deep right-center field to end the inning.
Gilbert, a former sixth-round pick in 2015 by the Philadelphia Phillies, was acquired by the Diamondbacks in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft.
Gilbert became the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter in his first career start since the St. Louis Browns’ Bobo Holloman did so on May 6, 1953. Two others also accomplished the feat, doing so in baseball’s dead-ball era: the St. Louis Browns’ Ted Breitenstein in 1891 and the Cincinnati Reds’ Bumpus Jones in 1892.
Gilbert's father Greg, caught on TV before the last out boisterously cheering on his son, was attendance. They exchanged a warm embrace in the post-game celebration.
"I told him to stop crying, but he's loving it," Gilbert told MLB Network of what he said to his father during the hug.
It's the eighth no-hitter in MLB this year, matching the record set way back in 1884 for most in a single baseball season. The Padres kicked off the no-hitter frenzy in 2021 as Joe Musgrove recorded the first one in franchise history. Other no-hitters this season came from: The White Sox's Carlos Rodon; the Orioles' John Means; the Reds' Wade Miley; the Tigers' Spencer Turnbull; the Yankees' Corey Kluber; and a combined no-hitter from the Cubs.
Source link
