Where were you on July 26, 2010, when Matt Garza tossed the Tampa Bay Rays’ first no-hitter in franchise history? Personally, I was at Three-Birds Tavern, where I watched Garza throw 120 pitches (110 fastballs) and nine no-hit innings against Miguel Cabrera and the Detroit Tigers. It was the third no-no the Rays had been involved in that season, yet the first with Tampa Bay on the winning side of the ledger. I regret not attending that game, but, as they say, it is what it is … such is life. Fast forward 11 years and 19 days to Wednesday, July 7, 2021, when Tampa Bay would notch its second no-no in franchise history — a combined no-hitter involving five pitchers. This time, I was fortunate enough to be in attendance.
To be clear, it wasn’t an “official no-hitter,” as the Rays held Cleveland hitless across the balance of a seven-inning contest, not a nine-inning ball-game, but if I’m being honest, I really couldn’t care less for baseball orthodoxy — Tampa Bay did not give up a hit in the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader, and that’s good enough for me, asterisk or otherwise.
Collin McHugh opened the contest and pitched two perfect frames while striking out three. The right-handed McHugh — who was snubbed for a spot on the All-Star roster — has been fantastic this season, maintaining a 1.77 ERA and a 1.24 FIP, with a 0.93 WHIP and a 7.57 K/BB across 35.2 innings. He now has allowed just one run in his last 30.1 innings of work.
Josh Fleming followed McHugh and allowed the first batter he faced to reach after Oscar Mercado hit a ground ball into the hole on the left side. Wander Franco and Taylor Walls collided while attempting to field the ball. And while it was originally ruled an infield hit, the play was later changed to an error on Franco.
Much to Terry Francona’s chagrin though, Mercado was erased after Walls started a terrific 6-4-3 double play on a diving stop to his left (swipe through the embedded Instagram post above for the video). It would be the only base runner the left-hander would allow over 2.2 frames until the fifth inning when he walked Owen Miller with two outs. Fleming lowered his ERA to 3.26 and his FIP to 4.10 with a 1.03 WHIP and a 2.47 K/BB across 69 innings this year.
After the walk, Rays Manager Kevin Cash called upon right-hander Diego Castillo, who got Mercado to ground out softly to second to end the inning.
Matt Wisler was the next man up in the sixth. The right-hander walked a batter while striking out two on 18 pitches (11 strikes, 61% strike rate). He also lowered his ERA to a hilarious 4.20.
Pete Fairbanks took over in the seventh inning staked to a four-run lead. Fairbanks fell behind pinch hitter José Ramírez before he worked the count even, then eventually coaxed a groundball out to second on a 97 mph fastball. Next up was Bobby Brady, who whiffed through an 84 mph slider at the bottom of the zone for the second out of the frame.
Finally, Harold Ramirez swung at the first pitch he saw — a center cut 96 mph fastball — and sent it to the track in right. Yet, Vidal Bruján made a nice leaping catch to secure the no-no and close out the win
On the offensive side of things, Tampa Bay scored all they’d need against Sam Hentges in the second inning. Francisco Mejía lashed a double to right-center with one out before Mike Brosseau walked. Walls capped the scoring in the inning on a broken-bat single to left, plating a run.
Tampa Bay doubled the lead in the fourth inning after Brosseau hit a two-out double down the left-field line before Walls drove him in on an RBI base hit to left-center.
The Rays capped the scoring in the fifth inning when they subsequently chased Hentges. Randy Arozarena walked before Franco reached on an infield hit after SS Ahmed Rosario and 3B Owen Miller brushed against one another. Let’s call it déjà vu, given what happened between Walls and Franco in the third. After Austin Meadows moved the runners up 90 feet on a groundout before Yandy Díaz greeted reliever Nick Sandlin with a two-run single to right, putting the Rays up by four.
The Rays ended the day with a 51-36 record — 15-games above .500 and 2.5 games behind the Red Sox in the division. Tampa Bay enters the upcoming series against Toronto in the midst of a four-game win streak, having won 19 of the last 23 home games.