Astros fill-in tosses unlikely no-hitter
It might have been April Fool’s Day, but Ronel Blanco was no joke, as the Toronto Blue Jays quickly found out on Monday night.
Blanco, who had only made a handful of starts for the Houston Astros and never pitched more than six innings in a major-league game, tossed the eighth nohitter against the Blue Jays in Toronto’s franchise history — and the second in as many seasons after three Detroit Tigers pitchers no-hit the Jays in 2023 — surrendering only a pair of walks to George Springer in a remarkable performance.
Multiple home runs were launched in Space City off Jays starter Bowden Francis, while Blue Jays batters were not cleared for liftoff.
The Houston offence went off for five home runs in a 10-0 win.
In only his eighth career major league start, the 30-year-old Blanco set down every Jay in order after walking Springer off the bat until he walked him again with two outs in the ninth.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grounded out to complete the feat for Blanco, one of the more unlikely pitchers to hurl such a gem.
Blanco — part of the rotation with veterans Justin Verlander and Jose Urquidy on the injured list — made seven starts in 17 appearances for Houston last season, going 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA, but has made his mark in the minors (41-23 record, 3.54 ERA) and in the Dominican Winter League, where he has dominated.
Houston started the season with four straight home losses against the rival New York Yankees, blowing some of those games late, but came in firing on all cylinders.
The Astros pounced on Francis, making his first career start, early for three home runs in the first two innings. Kyle Tucker hit a tworun, first-inning homer and Yainer Diaz hit a moonshot in that inning, while Jeremy Pena had a solo home run in the second.
Meanwhile, Blanco used a change-up masterfully, keeping the Jays completely offbalance.
Toronto turned to infielder Isiah Kiner-falefa to pitch the eighth.
The Blue Jays were no-hit seven times prior to Monday, most recently last July 8 by the Tigers, who became the first team to use multiple pitchers to combine for a no-no against the Jays. Houston starter Justin Verlander no-hit Toronto twice, including as an Astro in 2019 in Toronto.
Len Barker (1981), Dave Stewart (1990), Nolan Ryan (1991) and Canadian James Paxton (2018) were the others to no-hit the Jays.