Bailey no-hits Giants

Third Red with multiple no-nos is first to throw one in majors this year.

Homer Bailey throws the first no-hitter in the majors this season and his second in 10 months. The only runner was Gregor Blanco, who walked in the seventh,

CINCINNATI — Homer Bailey threw his second no-hitter in 10 months and the first in the majors this season, pitching the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-0 victory over the slumping San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night.

Bailey (5-6) became the third Reds pitcher with more than one no-hitter, joining Jim Maloney and Johnny Vander Meer — still the only big leaguer to toss two in a row. Bailey beat the Pirates 1-0 in Pittsburgh last Sept. 28 and got another 17 starts later.

The last pitcher to throw one no-hitter and then another before anyone else in the majors accomplished the feat was Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, according to STATS. Baseball’s career strikeout king did it for the California Angels on Sept. 28, 1974, against Minnesota, and June 1, 1975, vs. Baltimore.

Bailey walked Gregor Blanco leading off the seventh, the only Giants batter to reach base. First baseman Joey Votto threw out Blanco as he tried to advance from second to third on a grounder.

Bailey finished it off by getting Brandon Crawford on a high comebacker, striking out Tony Abreu and retiring Blanco on a grounder to third baseman Todd Frazier.

When Votto caught the throw for the final out, Bailey raised both arms in triumph, reminiscent of that grand moment in Pittsburgh last September, then hugged catcher Ryan Hanigan.

Teammates poured onto the field to celebrate and doused with a red sports drink.

It was the 16th no-hitter in Cincinnati history. No Reds pitcher had thrown a no-no at home since Tom Browning’s 1-0 perfect game against the Dodgers on Sept. 16, 1988.

Bailey became the third pitcher in the history of baseball’s first professional franchise to get more than one.

Vander Meer threw the only back-to-back no-hitters in major league history in 1938, beating Boston and Brooklyn. Maloney had a no-hitter at Wrigley Field in 1965 and one at home against Houston in 1969.

Bailey was facing a lineup in a deep funk - two runs or less in nine of San Francisco’s last 12 games. He didn’t need much help to keep the no-hitter going — the Giants went rather qui- etly.

Last year was the season of the no-hitter, with seven in all, which tied the modern record. By this point, five had been thrown. So far in 2013, there had been only two close calls.

Texas’ Yu Darvish was working on a perfect game when he gave up a two-out single in the ninth to Houston’s Marwin Gonzalez during a 7-0 win on April 2. Detroit’s Anibal Sanchez gave up a one-out single in the ninth to Minnesota’s Joe Mauer in a 6-0 win on May 24.

Bailey became the first to take one all the way this year.

Votto had a sacrifice fly off Tim Lincecum (4-9), and Brandon Phillips hit a two-run homer for all the help Bailey would need.

Lincecum had some of his best moments last season in Cincinnati. Relegated to the bullpen after losing 15 games during the regular season, he went 4 ⅓ innings in relief to help the Giants win Game 4 and, eventually, their division series, the first step toward a World Series title. But there was no stopping Bailey this time.

Shin-Soo Choo hit Lincecum’s fifth pitch deep to right. Hunter Pence jumped above the wall and had the ball deflect off the heel of his glove back into play. The umpires initially ruled it a home run, but overturned the call after a review and gave Choo a double. He scored on Votto’s sac fly.

Phillips hit a drive into the first row in left field in the sixth inning for a 3-0 lead.

AL BEHRMAN / AP Reds starting pitcher Homer Bailey hugs catcher Ryan Hanigan after Bailey completed his no-hitter against the Giants on Tuesday night. Bailey also threw the majors’ last no-hitter, last season.