Paxton’s no-no sinks Jays
James Paxton of the Seattle Mariners became the first Canadian to pitch a nohitter in his home country, shutting down the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-0, last night.
Paxton joined Dick Fowler of the 1945 Philadelphia Athletics as the only Canadians to throw a no-hitter.
Paxton, who’s from British Columbia, pointed to a giant tattoo on his right forearm of a maple leaf — a national symbol of Canada — as he celebrated to a standing ovation at Rogers Centre.
“Of all places, to do it in Toronto, it’s pretty amazing,” he said. “The fans were great. They were giving me some trouble in the seventh inning, but once I got past that, they started kind of cheering me on. It was cool.”
The 29-year-old lefty nicknamed “The Big Maple” threw 99 pitches in tossing the third no-hitter in the majors this year. All three have come in different countries.
Oakland’s Sean Manaea pitched one against the Red Sox on April 21 in California. Four Los Angeles Dodgers combined to nohit San Diego in Mexico last Friday.
Coming off a careerhigh 16 strikeouts in his last start, Paxton (2-1) was electric once again, hitting 100 miles per hour with his fastball while retiring Josh Donaldson on a grounder to end it.
Paxton struck out seven, walked three and benefited from an outstanding play by third baseman Kyle Seager. With two outs in the seventh, the former Gold Glover made a full-length diving stop on speedy Kevin Pillar’s grounder down the line, then slung an off-balance throw that first baseman Ryon Healy snagged on one hop.
Russell Martin led off the Toronto eighth with a long drive that left fielder Ben Gamel caught near the wall.
“What a defense tonight. That was amazing. Those guys were making every play,” Paxton said.
Anthony Alford fouled out on the first pitch to begin the ninth and Teoscar Hernandez struck out swinging. Donaldson ended it with a hard onehopper to Seager. Healy pumped his fist after catching Seager’s throw, and the Mariners streamed out of the dugout, dousing their pitcher with a cooler as the crowd of 20,513 cheered.
After his teammates had left the field, Paxton came back out and waved to the fans as they clapped in appreciation of his feat.
Royals 15, Orioles 7 — Kansas City scored 10 runs in the first inning, matching a franchise record, and combined for a season-high 20 hits in a victory over host Baltimore.
National League
Phillies 4, Giants 2 — Aaron Nola struck out a career-high 12 batters in seven stellar innings, Odubel Herrera had two hits to extend his career-best onbase streak to 37 games, and host Philadelphia beat San Francisco.
Aaron Altherr, Carlos Santana and Jorge Alfaro hit solo home runs for Philadelphia.
Reds 7, Mets 2 — Catcher Devin Mesoraco made the short walk between clubhouses shortly before the first pitch as New York dealt for help at its neediest position, and Mesoraco watched the Mets lose to host Cincinnati with Eugenio Suarez driving in four runs.
The Mets traded former ace Matt Harvey to the Reds — he’ll join them in Los Angeles tomorrow for the start of a series against the Dodgers — and had Mesoraco on their bench for the first pitch. He pinch hit in the ninth and took a called third strike as the Mets lost for the seventh time in eight games.
Interleague
Twins 7, Cardinals 1 — Led by a strong pitching performance from Jake Odorizzi and a two-run home by Eduardo Escobar, Minnesota beat host St. Louis for a season-high fifth straight victory.
Braves 1, Rays 0 — Ronald Acuna Jr. hit the third home run of his sensational rookie season and visiting Atlanta beat Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Brewers 3, Indians 2 — Reliever Brent Suter homered off AL Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber and threw 42⁄3 innings of two-run ball to lead host Milwaukee to a win over Cleveland.
Cubs 4, Marlins 3 — Kris Bryant slid home safely with the go-ahead run on Victor Caratini’s grounder to the right side in the eighth inning, and host Chicago beat Miami.