Seattle Mariners right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma threw a no-hitter to beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-0, on Wednesday afternoon at Safeco Field in Seattle, the first no-hitter in the American League in three years.
Hisashi Iwakuma pitches no-hitter in Mariners’ 3-0 win over Orioles
Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Iwakuma retired the first nine batters of the game before walking Manny Machado to open the fourth inning. That was one of two walks in the inning for Iwakuma, the other issued to Chris Davis. But after the walk to Davis, Iwakuma retired his next 10 batters faced.
Jonathan Schoop walked to open the eighth inning, but was erased on a double play.
Iwakuma walked three and struck out seven, the latter one shy of his season high. It was the first major league complete game for the 34-year-old Japanese right-hander, now in his fourth major league season.
Iwakuma's no-hitter was the first by an American League pitcher since teammate Felix Hernandez threw a perfect game to beat the Tampa Bay Rays on Aug. 15, 2012. There have been 11 no-hitters in the National League since then, including three this season -- Chris Heston of the San Francisco Giants on June 9, Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals on June 20, and Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies on July 25.
Iwakuma missed over two months on the disabled list with a right lat strain, but has been solid of late. He is 4-1 with his last seven starts with a 2.47 ERA, with 43 strikeouts and eight walks in 51 innings.
This was the fifth no-hitter in Mariners history, joining Randy Johnson on June 2, 1990, Chris Bosio on April 22, 1993, a combined one on June 8, 2012, and Hernandez.
See More:
