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5 Rays Pitchers Combine to Throw 7-Inning No-Hitter vs. Cleveland
July 7, 2021
Five Tampa Bay Rays pitchers combined to throw an unofficial no-hitter against Cleveland in Game 2 of a doubleheader between the two teams on Wednesday at Tropicana Field.
Pete Fairbanks closed out the 4-0 win by getting Harold Ramirez to fly out deep to right field in the top of the seventh.
Collin McHugh tossed two scoreless innings before giving way to the bullpen. Josh Fleming, who was credited with the win, went 2.2 innings. Diego Castillo and Matt Wisler also got in the game before Fairbanks took over for the seventh.
Tampa's pitching staff combined for eight strikeouts and just two walks to give the team its fourth straight win following a five-game losing streak.
Yandy Diaz and Taylor Walls provided all of the offense for Tampa Bay with two RBI each.
The Elias Sports Bureau, which serves as the official statistician of MLB, doesn't recognize seven-inning games as a no-hitter. That's good news for Cleveland, which is on its way to a historically-bad offensive season.
Cleveland's lineup has now been no-hit three times in 2021. The first two came in traditional nine-inning games (Apr. 14 vs. the Chicago White Sox, May 7 vs. the Cincinnati Reds).
Per Joe Rivera of the Sporting News, no MLB team has ever been no-hit three times in a single season.
Since Wednesday's game won't go in the official record book, Cleveland is able to avoid making history. The current trajectory of the franchise does suggest a third no-no isn't totally out of the question.
Cleveland's offense ranks 20th or worse in virtually every major statistical category, including runs scored (20th), batting average (26th), on-base percentage (29th) and total bases (27th).
The Rays pitching staff had a very good overall against Cleveland's inept lineup. They only gave up one run on four hits over the course of 14 innings between the two games of the doubleheader.