Manaea makes a strong bid to join in on ’21 no-hitter act
A’s pitcher Sean Manaea flirted with perfection for most of the night Friday and then nearly joined the not-so-exclusive ’21 no-hitter club. Ultimately, the 29-year-old lefthander settled for another strong outing in Oakland’s walkoff win over Tampa Bay.
It certainly seemed Manaea was ready to complete the 14th no-hitter in franchise history. The A’s last no-hitter, Mike Fiers’ against the Reds in 2019, also occurred on May 7.
But Manaea, who threw a no-hitter against Boston in 2018, lost his bid for a perfect game after a seventh-inning walk, then saw his no-hitter disappear on a double by Mike Brosseau, his old Andrean High School teammate from Merrillville, Ind.
Manaea had visions early on at the Coliseum of throwing his second career no-hitter, telling reporters he was thinking it was possible after the third inning.
“Game was going by pretty fast, and I felt a little different today. Felt momentous, if that’s a word,” said Manaea, whose special evening featured 10 strikeouts and just two hits allowed in 7 1/3 innings.
In a year where no-hitters have been contagious, Manaea seemed headed for the majors’ fifth no-hitter this season and its second of the night after the Reds’ Wade Miley nohit Cleveland.
This is the earliest in a calendar year there have been four no-hitters since 1917, when the fourth was thrown on May 5 and the fifth on May 6. It’s no wonder, with hitters entering the weekend batting a record-low .233 this season.
Miley’s gem was baseball’s second no-hitter in three days — Baltimore’s John Means blanked the Mariners on Wednesday for the club’s first no-hitter in nearly 30 years. Longtime A’s fans may recall the last time the Orioles threw one. It was when four Baltimore pitchers no-hit an A’s lineup featuring Rickey Henderson, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and Harold Baines on July 13, 1991.
Miley joined the no-hitter club started by San Diego’s Joe Musgrove who threw the first in Padres’ history on April 9. Five days later, White Sox lefty Carlos Rodón no-hit the Indians after losing his perfect game when he hit a batter in the ninth inning.
And the list of gems doesn’t even include ex-Giants star Madison Bumgarner, whoh pitched a seven-inning nohitter for Arizona against Atlanta on April 25. Bumgarner’s “no-hitter” isn’t official because it didn’t go nine innings.