When I arrived home from the Bernie Sanders rally (there will hopefully be a column on this Monday) I tuned into the MLB Network to see the Houston Astros-Arizona Diamondbacks game.
Instead, I see Max Scherzer on the mound pitching against the New York Mets with a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. It was right then and there I realized that Scherzer was one out away from his second no-hitter of the 2015 season. He got Curtis Granderson to pop out to Yunel Escobar and the Washington Nationals effectively ended their season on a positive note. It doesn’t quite make up for missing the post-season, but it is a feel good moment for the team and a triumph for Scherzer. He struck out 17 batters and at one point fanned nine consecutive hitters.
He becomes the first pitcher to throw two no-hitters in the regular season since Nolan Ryan threw his first two no-hitters in 1973. (Roy Halladay did throw two no-hitters in 2010, but his second one was in the NLDS.) In June, Scherzer no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates. It is the seventh no-hitter of the 2015 season. In addition to Scherzer’s two gems, the other pitchers to throw no-hitters this season are San Francisco Giants rookie Chris Heston (who also no-hit the Mets), Cole Hamels (in his final appearance with the Philadelphia Phillies), Seattle Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma, Mike Fiers of the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs Cy Young candidate Jake Arrieta.
Somehow I have a feeling this won’t be Scherzer’s last no-hitter.