History was made Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park. Houston Astros ace Framber Valdez no-hit the Cleveland Guardians (HOU 2, CLE 0) only a few hours after the defending World Series champions reacquired Justin Verlander in a trade with the New York Mets. Valdez is the first lefty in Astros history to throw a no-hitter.
Here is the final out:
All that stood between Valdez and a perfect game was a leadoff walk to Oscar Gonzalez in the fifth inning. He was erased later in the inning on a double play. Valdez faced the minimum 27 batters in the no-hit effort and needed only 93 pitches to do it. That is the fewest pitches in a no-hitter since David Cone needed only 88 in his perfect game on July 18, 1999.
Most no-hitters feature that one great defensive play to keep it alive, but not Valdez's. He was in cruise control all night. According to Statcast, the Guardians did not put a single ball on play with better than a 50/50 chance of going for a hit based on exit velocity and launch angle. Only five balls in play had even a 30% chance of going for a hit.
The no-hitter is the 16th in Astros history and their first single-pitcher no-hitter since Verlander no-hit the Toronto Blue Jays on Sept. 1, 2019. Houston threw two combined no-hitters last year: June 25 against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium and World Series Game 4 against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
Astros catcher Martin Maldonado has now caught three no-hitters, tied for the third-most ever. He was behind the plate for Houston's no-hitter at Yankee Stadium last year and also their combined no-hitter against the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 3, 2019. Only Carlos Ruiz and Jason Varitek have caught more no-hitters (four each).
This is the 15th time the Cleveland franchise has been no-hit in a nine-inning game and the first time since rebranding as the Guardians last season. They were last no-hit by the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 11, 2021. Corbin Burnes (first eight innings) and Josh Hader (ninth inning) combined for that one.
Valdez threw the third no-hitter in baseball this season. Yankees righty Domingo Germán threw a perfect game against the Oakland Athletics on June 28 and three Detroit Tigers pitchers combined to no-hit the Toronto Blue Jays on July 8.