Random no-hitter tidbits

Mike Snow · June 8, 2012 at 10:33 pm · Filed Under Mariners 

Soon-to-be division mates, the Houston Astros used six pitchers in a combined no-hitter on June 11, 2003. Soon-to-be division mate (with the Rangers) Roy Oswalt started that game, but only lasted 1 inning, so Millwood outdid him easily. After that you had Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel, and Billy Wagner. Curiously, just like this game, it was in interleague play (against the Yankees). Since the Astros were up 2-0 before Oswalt even left and 4-0 in the third, it was a little more like a bullpen day for manager Jimy Williams, and it took Eric Wedge using his relievers like Tony LaRussa to catch up.

It’s interesting to think about who the Astros, 87-75 that year, had in the bullpen together. Lidge, Dotel, and Wagner, all closer material then or later, with two of the three being truly ace relievers for at least a year or so. At that point, though, Lidge was just a rookie. Out of Furbush, Pryor, Luetge, League, and Wilhelmsen, well there’s a decent chance that three guys out of that group get a run as closers, and again one of them is a rookie. I suppose you can take Dotel’s record-tying 4 strikeouts in one inning and set it up against Pryor being credited with his first big-league victory in a no-hitter.

The other random tidbit concerns Millwood. He joins Vida Blue and Kent Mercker in managing to start a combined no-hitter while also having his own no-hitter outright. Blue in the AL, Mercker in the NL, and Millwood crossing leagues in between (that is, his complete game no-hitter was in the NL, and he was pitching for an AL team this time, though again, interleague play).

Did somebody mention that combined, the Mariners and their AAA and AA affiliates only gave up 4 hits tonight in 3 games? Unfortunately, after Erasmo Ramirez had a no-hitter for 7-2/3 innings, the only two hits he gave up were a single and a home run in a 2-0 loss (Delabar retired the side in order in the ninth). Meanwhile for Jackson, Danny Hultzen lost his “no-hit bid” in the first inning, but only gave up one other hit, one walk, and struck out 8 before giving way to Carter Capps for a perfect ninth.

Comments

23 Responses to “Random no-hitter tidbits”

  1. henryv on June 8th, 2012 10:41 pm

    Did anyone else notice that Seager and League both had the same shirt on?

  2. henryv on June 8th, 2012 10:44 pm

    Also, 2 out of the 3 no-hitters have been in Seattle. Move the fences out!

  3. Mike Snow on June 8th, 2012 11:10 pm

    Considering that Erasmo Ramirez was pitching at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, I wonder how much of it was the fences and how much was the damp marine air and 50-degree temperatures in June. As some people are aware, Cheney was remodeled before the 2011 season with, among other things, lower walls than before, although its park factors for last year were still just neutral for home runs. However, since the league context for that is the PCL, I suppose you might say neutral is still pretty hitter-friendly. I’d be curious to know Mike Curto’s professional opinion as to whether that home run off Ramirez would have cleared the old walls.

  4. just a fan on June 8th, 2012 11:18 pm

    A magnificent performance behind the plate for Jesus Montero! What a game he caught tonight!

    If he doesn’t lead this team in CERA, I don’t know who does.

  5. henryv on June 8th, 2012 11:36 pm

    Any AL East team want a pitcher who just threw (part of) a no hitter?

    You can have any of them for a good prospect.

  6. MrZDevotee on June 8th, 2012 11:44 pm

    Mike-
    I also came across the juicy nugget that after giving up 5 runs in his season premiere, in just 4 innings… Hultzen has given up just 5 MORE EARNED RUNS over his next 66 1/3 innings. With 75 K’s.

    Damn. That’s XBOX silly.

  7. Ichirolling51 on June 9th, 2012 12:40 am

    All the no hitters are tied together this season which is strange. Mariners throw a no-no, Phil Humber threw a perfect game vs the M’s, Humber was traded for Johan Santana who threw a no-no last week, and Humber pitched for the Twins who also got no-hit.

    Again, it’s pretty strange how things work their way out.

  8. 300ZXNA on June 9th, 2012 12:43 am

    I must say that I was as confused and disappointed as anyone when GMZ took Hultzen over Rendon, but did he ever make the right call. 2014 is starting to look really interesting.

  9. island city denis on June 9th, 2012 7:57 am

    How did the 6x no-no happen without Olivo? Sign of better things to come?

  10. thurston24 on June 9th, 2012 9:12 am

    300ZXNA, I think GMZ has earned the right to be trusted with the draft. He was really good in Milwaukee and has done pretty well here too with Walker, Franklin, Ackley, Seager, Pryor, etc. We need to have faith and to exercise patience with the draft picks and enjoy the fruits of the draft. The farm system is getting better all the time and soon may be the best in the bigs.

  11. gerrythek on June 9th, 2012 10:12 am

    FINALLY!!!

    After 56 years of watching thousands of games, I saw my first start-to-finish no-hitter last night. Way to go Ms!

  12. PinedaExpress on June 9th, 2012 10:37 am

    “After 56 years of watching thousands of games, I saw my first start-to-finish no-hitter last night. Way to go Ms!”

    I stuck around after the game last night and was talking to a father and son, it was all of our first times seeing a no hitter live in the majors. Kid saw his first at 9. The father was telling me that he has a friend that’s been at 2 of the 21 perfect games in history. That’s insane.

  13. The Nickster on June 9th, 2012 11:50 am

    Is anyone going to give Wedge any credit at all for his great defensive moves and handling of the pitching in this game? Or do we only criticize the guy?

  14. MrZDevotee on June 9th, 2012 12:32 pm

    So, I got a call from Nostradamus yesterday and we were talking about the rarity of a team no hitting someone and then being no-hit themselves the very next day, by the same team that they victimized 24 hours earlier.

    Gonna be cool.

    (I kid, hopefully)

    ps- Nickster, of course not, we’re too stupid/ignorant to be able to give credit to people when they deserve it. Duh. I guess you got us on that one. Darn.

  15. Tony C on June 9th, 2012 1:37 pm

    To Mike Snow:
    I was at Cheney last night. The HR was by the #9 hitter (lefty). It was a line shot to the right of RF Peguro. It hit the netting. It was not ‘cheap’ HR.
    My seat is behind the plate, and it was the only pitch that Erasmo left up all night. His pitch count at the time was just over 100.

    Salt Lake also had a no hitting going until L-Rod singles with 2 outs in the 6th. Rainiers only had 3 hits.

  16. 300ZXNA on June 9th, 2012 1:42 pm

    Thurston-
    What I am curious about now, and hoping that Dave or Jeff may have any insight, is whether or not the M’s intend to build payroll back up once the nucleus is put together. I know it is a huge leap of faith to assume that the top prospects in our system will all pan out, but if they were to increase payroll back to the $120M that they gave Bavasi and pair that with the young talent, we may be looking pretty incredible for 2014.

  17. bubbles. on June 9th, 2012 2:22 pm

    “Out of Furbush, Pryor, Luetge, League, and Wilhelmsen, well there’s a decent chance that three guys out of that group get a run as closers, and again one of them is a rookie.”

    Aren’t Pryor and Luetge both rookies?

  18. Westside guy on June 9th, 2012 3:02 pm

    Nickster – how many defensive moves are you talking about? I know he put Figgins in for Carp, and Ryan for Muni… are you of the opinion most managers wouldn’t have done that? His pitching moves last night all made sense, in my opinion.

    If you read the game thread, you’d know Wedge was hardly mentioned at all – except by me. And my posts were A) I like the lineup (an indirect compliment, perhaps); B) Hey I saw Wedge laughing; and C) I used to blame Wedge for Ackley’s problems but now I don’t. So it’s kind of a weird time for you to trot your “do we only criticize the guy” comment.

  19. Mike Snow on June 9th, 2012 4:45 pm

    Tony C – thanks for satisfying my curiosity.

    bubbles – in the context of talking about the Astros and the Mariners both using three present or future closers in their no-hitters, I was pointing out that one of each was a rookie (Lidge and Pryor). Luetge’s a rookie, yes, but a lefty specialist, and I doubt anyone anticipates him becoming a closer.

  20. The Nickster on June 9th, 2012 10:58 pm

    Westy and Mr. Z,

    Based on the comments I read on here day in and day out, about 90 percent of people posting belong to the FEW club. It’s pretty typical of this blog (which I like a lot, btw), where one person starts harping on a theme (e.g, Eric Wedge makes incredibly poor decisions such that any one of us could be a better major-league manager) and then everyone else beats it to death with a Louisville Slugger. Miguel Olivo, anyone? (I was at the game today–nice homer by Olivo. Second Ms game I’ve been to in the three weeks where we’ve had four hits or less. Barf.)

    I’m not suggesting Eric Wedge is a genius or even a great manager, and I’m not saying that Olivo is the best option at catcher. I’m saying you armchair managers tend to be extremely heavy on the criticism and “told you so” comments and very light on the, “Hey, nice game there, Wedgie” nods (or other admissions that contradict a theme here). Just my .02.

  21. island city denis on June 10th, 2012 9:43 am

    Wedge was a genius as far as the no-no went. This Mariner team shows alot of promise down the line, give Wedge some credit. Montero and Ryan showed some of that chemistry you all talk about. Olivo’s HR was in a losing cause and came with a .200 ba. Wedge just might be a great manager and a genius
    , just do not understand the Olivo fixation.

  22. stevemotivateir on June 10th, 2012 9:46 am

    @nickster
    It’s not that one person throws out a gripe and everyone jumps on the bandwagon. It’s that the people who frequent this site, generally seem to be on the same page, and share the same views. You’ll find plenty o’ debates within the game threads when there’s a disagreement.

    You’ll find credit given wherever it’s deserved. You’ll find criticism in the same manor. Wedge doesn’t get credit often, for moves he gets right, because they’re often the moves 99% of all managers would have made in the first place… the moves we expect him to make.

  23. stevemotivateir on June 10th, 2012 10:44 am

    Let me add to my last comment, so my point is more clear. Wedge does get credit when he gets it right, just not a lot of it, because it tends to be what we expect in the first place. Westy’s comment about liking the line-up is a perfect example. Managers will rarely get special recognition because it’s the players that ultimately get the job done in a game. Maybe that isn’t completely fair, but wins will eventually speak for everybody.

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