Mariners lefty James Paxton has joined an exclusive club, as he hurled a no-hitter in Toronto on Tuesday night in his team's 5-0 win over the Blue Jays.
Obviously, the no-hitter marks the best start of Paxton's career, but he had never even previously gone for a complete game. Thus, in Paxton's 82nd career start, he netted his first complete game, shutout and no-no. Quite the career night, eh?
Normally a high-strikeout guy -- Paxton entered the game leading the majors with 14 K/9 -- Paxton actually pitched more to contact on Tuesday. He only struck out seven hitters en route to making history. He did walk three, preventing him from joining the even more exclusive group to throw a perfect game.
Still, a no-hitter is a great accomplishment.
Paxton was efficient and excellent in this one. He only needed 99 pitches and was still throwing 100 miles per hour in the ninth inning. He was just locked in and nasty throughout.
There was but one big, late scare, though third baseman Kyle Seager took care of business on that one:
Paxton joins the following Mariners in throwing a no-hitter:
- Randy Johnson; June 2, 1990
- Chris Bosio; April 22, 1993
- Committee**; June 8, 2012
- Felix Hernandez; Aug. 15, 2012
- Hisashi Iwakuma; Aug 12, 2015
** Kevin Millwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League and Tom Wilhelmsen combined
Paxton's previous career high in innings pitched was 8 1/3. His best outing was probably on April 15, 2015 when he worked eight scoreless innings, allowing only two hits while striking out nine. He also just threw a 16-strikeout game in his last start, conjuring up an eerie similarity to another recent no-hitter:
James Paxton, back-to-back starts
— Devan Fink (@DevanFink) May 9, 2018
May 2, 2018: 16 strikeouts
May 8, 2018: no-hitter
Max Scherzer, back-to-back starts
June 14, 2015: 16 strikeouts
June 20, 2015: no-hitter
Tuesday's gem works as the best, though. A no-hit shutout.
Paxton's always had excellent stuff, and on some nights it looks like no-hit stuff. He just needed time to pull it off.
A fun nugget: Paxton is Canadian, and he pulled it off in Canada against the lone Canadian team in MLB. He's also the first Canadian-born pitcher to throw a no-hitter in Canada. Good for him.