The Houston Astros came two outs away from recording the fifth no-hitter of Major League Baseball's season on Wednesday night against the Oakland Athletics.
Five Astros pitchers -- starter Hunter Brown and relievers Rafael Montero, Hector Neris, Bryan Abreu, and Ryan Pressly -- combined for 8 1/3 hitless innings. Oakland first baseman Ryan Noda then rapped a single back up the middle to break up the bid with one out in the top of the ninth.
The Astros later surrendered a pair of runs, dashing their shutout efforts. Nevertheless, the Astros won by a 6-2 final. Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman, and Kyle Tucker each homered and combined for five of Houston's six runs.
Here are three things to know about Houston's flirtation with history.
1. Would've been Astros' second no-no of season
We mentioned in the introduction that there've been four no-hitters thrown by MLB pitchers this season. Those were by Yankees' right-hander Domingo Germán; a combined effort by three Tigers pitchers; Phillies right-hander Michael Lorenzen; and Astros left-hander Framber Valdez.
Valdez's no-hitter came against the Guardians on Aug. 1. Oddly enough, all of MLB's no-nos this season have occurred within a confined period of time: between June 28 and Aug. 9.
2. Astros have been recent kings of no-hitter
Valdez's aforementioned no-no represented the 16th no-hitter in franchise history. Houston has done well to pad that number in recent years.
Indeed, the Astros are responsible for three of the last six no-hitters in the majors, including Valdez's and two combined efforts -- one against the Yankees last June, the other against the Phillies in Game 4 of the World Series.
Here are the most no-hitters thrown by a team in a two-season span, according to CBS Sports HQ's research staff:
- 2022-23 Houston Astros 3
- 2014-15 Washington Nationals 3
- 1973-74 California Angels 3
- 1971-72 Chicago Cubs 3
- 1960-61 Milwaukee Braves 3
- 1916-17 Boston Red Sox 3
- 1904-05 Boston Americans 3
Four no-hitters over a two-season span would've represented a new MLB record. Additionally, this would've been the first time a team had multiple regular-season no-hitters in a single year since -- guess who -- the 2019 Astros.
3. A's avoid one indignity, not another
The A's might've recorded a hit on Wednesday night, but it didn't prevent them from losing their 100th game of the season. The A's lost 102 games last season, making this the first time since the 1964-65 Kansas City Athletics that the franchise has suffered 100-plus losses in consecutive years.