Paxton throws season’s 3rd no-hitter

TORONTO — James Paxton of the Mariners became the first Canadian to pitch a no-hitter in his home country, shutting out the Blue Jays 5-0 Tuesday night.

Paxton joined Dick Fowler of the 1945 Philadelphia Athletics as the only Canadians to throw a no-hitter.

Paxton, of British Columbia, pointed to a tattoo on his right forearm of a maple leaf 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 threw 99 pitches in tossing the third nohitter in the majors this year. All three have come in different countries. Sean Manaea of the Athletics pitched one against the Red Sox on April 21 in California. Four Dodgers combined to nohit the Padres on Friday night in Mexico.

Coming off a career-high 16 strikeouts in his last start, Paxton (2-1) was electric once again, hitting 100 mph 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, Seager 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.

“What a defense tonight,” Paxton said. “That was amazing. Those guys were making every play.”

This was the sixth no-hitter for the Mariners franchise.