Ervin Santana Dominates Indians, Throws 9th Angels No-Hitter

It was a 9:05 AM start time for those on the West Coast, but by the time the Angel faithful were able to open their eyes and adjust to the early-morning game in Cleveland, they were already witnessing history in the making.

Ervin Santana allowed an unearned run on a wild pitch in the first inning, yet threw a masterful performance striking out ten Indian batters allowing only one walk and throwing only 105 pitches to complete the first Angels solo no-hitter since 1984, and the first since 1990.

The Angels right-hander seemed to get stronger as the game went on and, despite being in a tight game through the first eight innings, was able to avoid any major trouble.

As always seems to be the case, all no-hitters seem to be accompanied by great defensive plays. No spectacular plays were made, but second baseman Howie Kendrick preserved kept the Indians hitless in the sixth inning with a diving backhand grab on a ground ball up the middle off the bat of Jason Kipnis.

Proof that Santana got stronger late in the game is evidenced by the fact that during a stretch between the seventh and ninth innings, five Indians struck out consecutively matching half of the ten he struck out as a whole.

Oddly enough, the victory was the first Santana has earned in his career against Cleveland.in 11 starts.

Game Notes: The Indians became the first team to score a run while being no-hit since the New York Mets did it against the late Darryl Kile in 1993. Santana improved his record to 6-8 on the season. The Angels play another morning game for those in the Pacific Time Zone on Thursday after traveling to Detroit. The last time the Angels franchise threw a no-hitter was April 11, 1990 when Mike Witt and Mark Langston combined to hold Seattle hit-less for the then-named California Angels.