A little-known, fill-in starter for the Astros, Ronel Blanco, throws season’s first no-hitter
He may have been in the Houston Astros’ rotation only because of injuries to other starting pitchers, but Ronel Blanco made history in his first start of 2024, logging the first no-hitter of the season.
The 30-year-old right hander issued seven strikeouts and just two walks Monday in Houston, helping the Astros beat the Toronto Blue Jays 10-0. He threw 105 pitches, including 73 for strikes.
“I see it as a great blessing for me and my family,” Blanco told reporters. “I see it as a life-changing experience. I dedicate this to my family and my [newborn] daughter.”
Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker went 2 for 3 with two home runs and four RBI. Astros catcher Yandy Diaz went 2 for 4 with two solo homers.
Blanco, who was making his eighth career start, walked right fielder George Springer in the game’s first at-bat. Blanco retired the next 26 hitters in order. Blanco then issued another walk to Springer with two outs in the ninth inning. He ended the game by forcing Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. into a ground out.
Blanco made a kissing gesture toward the sky before Diaz jumped into his arms. Blanco was then swarmed by teammates as they celebrated the 17th no-hitter in Astros history and 323rd in MLB history.
Blanco, who made his MLB debut April 8, 2022, went 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA over 17 appearances last season. He is 3-1 with a 4.14 ERA over 25 career appearances.
ELSEWHERE
Rangers’ Jung out: Texas third baseman Josh Jung is out indefinitely with a fractured right wrist after being hit by a pitch in Monday night’s 9-3 win at Tampa Bay.
Jung hit .266 with 23 home runs and 70 RBI as an All-Star last season, although he missed 40 games with a broken thumb.
The Rangers are calling up minor-leaguer Justin Foscue to replace Jung, ESPN.com reported. Foscue, 25, was a first-round pick in 2020 and can play first, second and third.
Former Red Sox exec dies: Larry Lucchino, a longtime baseball executive who oversaw three World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox, has died at 78.
Lucchino was the president of the Baltimore Orioles (1988-93) and president and chief executive officer of the San Diego Padres (1995-2001) before serving as president and CEO of the Red Sox from 2002-15.
In addition to the World Series triumphs in Boston in 2004, ’07 and ’13, his legacy includes serving as a driving force behind trend-setting ballparks built in Baltimore (Camden Yards) and San Diego (Petco Park).
Lucchino, a Pittsburgh native who earned his bachelor’s degree at Princeton and a law degree at Yale, played basketball at Princeton and went to the 1965 Final Four.
He was a survivor of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He had surgery in 2019 to remove a cancerous blockage near his kidney.
East
New York Baltimore Boston Tampa Bay Toronto Central
Detroit Minnesota Cleveland Kansas City Chicago West
Texas Seattle
Los Angeles Houston Oakland
East
Atlanta Philadelphia Washington New York Miami Central
Pittsburgh Milwaukee Cincinnati Chicago
St. Louis West
W
5 3 3 2 2 W
4 2 3 1 0 W
3 3 2 1 1
W
3 1 1 0 0 W
5 3 3 2 2 W
L
Pct
0 1.000 1 .750 2 .600 3 .400 3 .400 L Pct
0 1.000 1 .667 2 .600 3 .250 4 .000 L Pct
1 2 2 4 4
L
1 3 3 4 5 L
.750 .600 .500 .200 .200
Pct
.750 .250 .250 .000 .000
Pct
0 1.000 0 1.000 1 .750 2 .500 3 .400 L Pct
GB WCGB
— — 11⁄2 — 2 — 3 1 3 1 GB WCGB
— — 11⁄2 — 11⁄2 — 3 11⁄2 4 21⁄2 GB WCGB
—
1 21⁄2 21⁄2
— —
2 2
GB WCGB
— — 2 2 2 2 3 3 31⁄2 31⁄2 GB WCGB
— — 1 — 11⁄2 — 21⁄2 1 3 11⁄2 GB WCGB
Los Angeles Arizona San Diego S.F. Colorado
WEDNESDAY INTERLEAGUE L.A. Angels (Sandoval 0-1) at Miami (Puk 0-1),1:10
Minnesota (Paddack 0-0) at Milwaukee (Ross 0-0),1:10 Atlanta (Strider 0-0) at Chi. White Sox,2:10 N.Y. Yankees (Rodon 0-0) at Arizona (Kelly 1-0),3:40
Detroit (Skubal 1-0) at N.Y. Mets (Quintana 0-1),7:10
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Kansas City (Ragans 0-1) at Baltimore (Burnes 1-0),1:05
Texas (Eovaldi 0-0) at Tampa Bay (Civale 1-0),1:10
Boston (Pivetta 0-1) at Oakland (Stripling 0-1),3:37
Cleveland (Allen 1-0) at Seattle (Kirby 1-0),4:10
Toronto (Bassitt 0-1) at Houston (Javier 0-0),8:10
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cincinnati (Montas 1-0) at Philadelphia (Wheeler 0-0),1:05
St. Louis (Thompson 0-1) at San Diego (Musgrove 0-1),4:10
Pittsburgh (Keller 0-0) at Washington (Williams 0-0),6:45
Colorado (Quantrill 0-1) at Chi. Cubs,7:40 S.F. (Harrison 1-0) at L.A. Dodgers (Miller 1-0),10:10
5 3 3 2 1
2 2 4 3 4
.714 .600 .429 .400 .200
TUESDAY
INTERLEAGUE
L.A. Angels at Miami
Minnesota at Milwaukee Detroit at N.Y. Mets Atlanta at Chi. White Sox N.Y. Yankees at Arizona AMERICAN LEAGUE
Kansas City at Baltimore Texas at Tampa Bay Toronto at Houston Boston at Oakland
— 1 2 2 3
—
11⁄2 11⁄2 21⁄2
MONDAY
INTERLEAGUE
L.A. Angels 7, Miami 4
Atlanta 9, Chi. White Sox 0, 8 inn. Detroit 5, N.Y. Mets 0 (10)
N.Y. Yankees 5, Arizona 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Baltimore 6, Kansas City 4
Texas 9, Tampa Bay 3
Houston 10, Toronto 0
Boston 9, Oakland 0
Seattle 5, Cleveland 4
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Chi. Cubs 5, Colorado 0
Pittsburgh 8, Washington 4 Cincinnati 6, Philadelphia 3 (10) St. Louis 6, San Diego 2
L.A. Dodgers 8, S.F. 3
LA Angels AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Rendon 3b 4 1 0 0 1 2 .000 Schanuel 1b 3 1 1 1 2 1 .231 Trout cf 4 2 2 2 1 1 .286 Ward lf 4 1 1 1 0 1 .250 Drury 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .214 A.Hicks dh 4 0 0 1 0 0 .000 Thaiss c 1 0 0 0 1 0 .000 O’Hoppe c 2 1 1 0 0 1 .444 Moniak rf 1 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Adell rf 2 1 1 1 0 0 .286 Neto ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 .154
Totals 33 7 7 6 6 7
Miami AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Arraez 2b 2 1 2 0 3 0 .200 Bell 1b 4 1 1 0 0 1 .278 Burger 3b 5 1 1 1 0 1 .381 Chisholm Jr. cf 4 1 1 1 0 0 .167 B.De La Cruz dh 4 0 1 0 0 1 .261 J.Sanchez rf 4 0 1 0 0 2 .250 Ti.Anderson ss 4 0 1 0 0 2 .200 Gordon lf 4 0 1 2 0 1 .200 Bethancourt c 2 0 0 0 1 1 .000 Av.Garcia ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .154 Fortes c 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 34 4 9 4 4 9 LA Angels 010 102 012 — 7 7 1 Miami 400 000 000 — 4 9 0
E—Thaiss (1).LOB—LA Angels 5, Miami 8.2B—Ward (1), B.De La Cruz (1), Gordon (1).3B—O’Hoppe (1).HR—Schanuel (1), off G.Soriano, Trout 2 (3), off G.Soriano , Meyer.RBIs—Adell (1), Burger (7),
Chisholm Jr. (5), Gordon 2 (3), A.Hicks (1), Schanuel (2), Trout 2 (3), Ward (5).SB— Adell 2 (2).CS—Neto (2).
GIDP—Bell, Burger 2.
DP—LA Angels 3 (Drury, Neto, Schanuel), (Rendon, Drury, Schanuel), (Neto, Drury, Schanuel).
Runners left in scoring position—LA Angels 3 (A.Hicks, Rendon, Trout); Miami 5 (Bethancourt 3, Chisholm Jr., Gordon).
LA Angels IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Silseth 3 5 4 3 2 5 76 9.00 Cisnero 1 2 0 0 0 0 15 10.12 J.Suarez 11⁄ 1 0 0 2 2 26 5.40 Cimber W, 12⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 16 2.45 1-0
Ma.Moore H, 1 0 0 0 0 1 10 0.00 1
Estevez S, 2-2 1 1 0 0 0 0 12 0.00
Miami IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Meyer 5 2 2 2 2 4 79 3.60 G.Soriano BS, 1 2 2 2 0 1 17 7.71 1-1
Nardi 1 1 0 0 0 1 16 20.25 Tn.Scott L, 1 0 1 1 3 0 27 3.00 0-2
Bender 2 2 2 0 1 20 6.75 B.Smith 0 0 0 1 0 11 7.71
Inherited runners-scored—B.Smith 1-1, Cimber 2-0.WP—B.Smith.
Umpires—Home, Jordan Baker; First, Stu Scheurwater; Second, Mark Carlson; Third, Dan Merzel.
T—2:52.A—9,411 (37,000).