No-Hitter
| Game 136: September 1, 2007 | |||
| Orioles | 0 | L: Garrett Olson (1-3) | 59-75, 1 game losing streak 17-24-2 series record |
 Red Sox |
10 | W: Clay Buchholz (2-0) | 81-55, 1 game winning streak 27-12-5 series record |
| Highlights: That was quite a way to break a four-game skid. Buchholz became the first rookie Red Sox pitcher to twirl a no-hitter. Unlike Curt Schilling’s flirtation with the same on June 7, Buchholz’s offense provided ample run support. | |||
David Ortiz stood at the rail of the dugout like a concerned father watching his Little Leaguer in the late innings of last night’s game. He had cleared the bases in the fourth with an arcing double off the farthest part of the left field wall.
Dustin Pedroia preserved the bid in the seventh by ranging after Miguel Tejada’s grounder. Just before it slipped by him, the second baseman tumbled, shot to his feet, and relayed to first. Kevin Youkilis went into a split as Tejada made a last-second dive for the sack. When Ed Rapuano signaled that the Orioles shortstop was out Pedroia pounded his fist into his glove and yelled, “Fuck yeah!” Tejada swatted in Pedroia’s direction as if he were killing a bug.
I half-expected Ortiz to come out and reprimand the infielder for his foul language.
Josh Beckett, usually the taunting older brother, was transformed by the event. After Joe West affirmed that the curveball to Nick Markakis did indeed paint the outside edge for the final out, Beckett charged the field and threw his arm around Buchholz.
“Better than what Curt Schilling did!” he teased.
Mike Lowell and Youkilis piled on more runs in the sixth. Jacoby Ellsbury came in as a defensive replacement in the top of the eighth and drove in two runs with fly ball tin-rattler. Jerry Remy was distressed that the lineup was keeping Buchholz from the mound, but I wonder if the breathers between innings didn’t help the young pitcher. He had never pitched more than 100 pitches and would not have been allowed past 120 pitches, no-hitter notwithstanding.
One-hundred and fifteen proved just enough for history. I published this earlier in 2007; who knew I would be updating it this season.
| Boston Americans and Red Sox No-Hitters | |||
| Pitcher | Date | Notable Facts | |
| Cy Young | May 5, 1904* | Against the Philadelphia Athletics at Huntington Avenue Grounds. The Americans won 3-0. The opposing pitcher, Rube Waddell, was notorious for having wrestled an alligator. Boston won the American League pennant that season, but no World Series was played that year. | |
| Jesse Tannehill | August 17, 1904 | The southpaw was opposed by the White Sox in South Side Park. Tannehill’s brother Lee started at third base for Chicago. | |
| Bill Dineen | September 27, 1905 | The White Sox were again victimized but this time at Huntington in the first game of a doubleheader. Chicago stormed back in the second game. Home plate umpire Francis “Silk” O’Laughlin called six no-hitters, more than any other official. O’Laughlin died in 1918 in the flu pandemic. | |
| Cy Young | June 30, 1908 | Young manhandled the Highlanders at Hilltop Park. New York ended the season with the second-worst season winning percentage in franchise history, going 51-103 for a .331 winning percentage. | |
| Joe Wood | July 29, 1911 | Wood no-hit the St. Louis Browns, a team that was the Milwaukee Brewers and would become the second incarnation of the Baltimore Orioles. The game was played at Sportsman’s Park, which would become the first Busch Stadium in 1953. The next year Wood would be the first pitcher to play the Yankees in their new pinstriped uniforms on April 11. He won 5-3. | |
| Rube Foster | June 21, 1916 | Again the Yankees are no-hit by a Boston pitcher. It was the first no-hitter at Fenway. | |
| Dutch Leonard | August 30, 1916 | The hapless Browns again were the paradigm of futility against the Red Sox. Leonard was one of the 17 pitchers who were grandfathered in 1920 when spitballs were ruled illegal. | |
| Babe Ruth Ernie Shore |
June 23, 1917 | The so-called “combined no-hitter;” it was called a perfect game until a rule change. Ruth had walked Ray Morgan and was ejected from the game for punching umpire Brick Owens. On two days rest, Shore caught Morgan stealing and proceeded to retire the next 26 Senators in order. | |
| Dutch Leonard | June 3, 1918 | The lefty notched his second and final no-hitter against the Tigers in Boston. He would not pitch the entire season due to World War I. | |
| Howard Ehmke | September 7, 1923 | Ehmke pitches the second no-hitter against the Philadelphia Athletics in four days. Sam Jones of the Yankees no-hit Connie Mack’s boys on September 4 without striking out a single batter. | |
| Mel Parnell | July 14, 1956 | The South Siders were blanked by southpaw Parnell at Fenway, breaking the 33-year drought of Red Sox no-hitters. Sadly Parnell’s career came to end in 1956 because of a torn muscle. | |
| Earl Wilson | June 26, 1962 | Wilson tossed the first no-hitter against Angels and helped his own cause in the third with a home run. Malzone crossed the dish in the fourth after reaching on an error. | |
| Bill Monbouquette | August 1, 1962 | In a 1-0 squeaker, Monbouquette walked one and struck out seven at Comiskey Park. White Sox third baseman Al Smith walked in the second. The single run came in the eighth. Gary Gieger reached on a base on balls but was caught stealing second. Carl Yastrzemski struck out. Pagliaroni, Runnels, and Clinton all singled, with Clinton’s driving in the winning run. | |
| Dave Morehead | September 16, 1965 | In an otherwise lackluster 100-loss season, Morehead dominated the Indians 2-0 at Fenway, allowing one base on balls to Colavito while striking out eight. The Red Sox were opposed by Luis Tiant, who twirled a complete game loss, allowed just two runs, and struck out 11. | |
| Matt Young | April 12, 1992** | Not technically a no-hitter since he pitched only eight innings to the Indians at Cleveland Stadium, but under the old rules this was once considered a no-hitter. Kenny Lofton scored in the first after walking, stealing second and third, and tagging up on an Albert Belle sac fly to right. In the third Mark Lewis led off with a walk, advanced on a free pass to Lofton, ran to third on a force play at second, and was plated on a fielder’s choice by Carlos Baerga. Boston managed just a single run in the fourth thanks to Ellis Burks. John Flaherty made his debut in this game. | |
| Hideo Nomo | April 4, 2001 | In his first appearance as a Red Sox pitcher, Nomo hurled a no-hitter at Camden Yards. He was the fourth pitcher to have no-hitters in both leagues. His first was on September 17, 1996 against the Rockies at Coors Field. | |
| Derek Lowe | April 27, 2002 | Lowe had carried a no-hitter into the eighth in the start against the Orioles just prior to this game. | |
| Clay Buchholz | September 1, 2007 | 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R , 0 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, 0 HR HBP: Markakis (1st inning) PO: Roberts (1st base by Buchholz) |
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| *Perfect game **Pitched eight innings |
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I very nearly witnessed a no-hitter yesterday, but not a major league one. In the first game of a double bill the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, led by a tandem of Matt DeSalvo and Scott Patterson, rendered the Paw Sox hitless through eight innings.
By the bottom of the fifth my friend Joe and I were determined to get into the heads of the Triple A Yankees. You may remember Joe from our greeting of Daisuke Matsuzaka at Hanscom. We were sitting on the first base side right above the visitors’ dugout (for want of a better term in the oddly configured McCoy).
We were surprised DeSalvo wasn’t given a chance to finish what he started in the sixth. We couldn’t get to Patterson, who pitched better than the starter by not giving up a single walk along with keeping the home team hitless.
He came up and in a left-handed Cory Keylor in the seventh, prompting Joe to holler, “Is your name Chamberlain?”
“That’s the Yankee way!” I added. Four Yankee fans who had commandeered the first row of our section glared at us.
Such heckling at McCoy drew undue attention. An usher who looked like Joel Zumaya drifted to our area. Once he realized what our plan was, he let us be and focused his attention on the opposition’s fans. The usher asked to see the foursome’s tickets and requested them to leave when it was revealed that they were not in the correct seats.
Charlie Manning took the mound in the ninth. He quickly racked up two strikeouts and a combined no-hitter seemed inevitable. We refocused to encourage the recently acquired Chris Carter.
The positivity helped, or at least we let ourselves believe it did. Carter cranked a ground ball single past a diving Andy Cannizaro. As Mannings are wont to do, Charlie became undone and walked the next two batters to load the bases. Keylor exacted a small measure of revenge with a two-RBI single into center.
Colter Bean was brought in to get the final out. The post-game spread must have been a motivating factor as the rotund Bean struck out Dusty Brown with three pitches. Even that small effort left Bean wheezing as he high fived his teammates.
