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Diamondbacks' Tyler Gilbert Throws No-Hitter vs. Padres in 1st Career MLB Start
August 15, 2021
Arizona Diamondbacks rookie Tyler Gilbert joined one of the most exclusive clubs in baseball Saturday, throwing a no-hitter in his first career MLB start—just the fourth player in league history to do so and the first since Bobo Holloman in 1953.
The eighth no-hitter of the 2021 season required just 102 pitches as Gilbert, 27, struck out five and walked three in a 7-0 victory against the San Diego Padres and starter Joe Musgrove—who tossed a no-hitter himself earlier this season.
It's the third no-hitter in Diamondbacks history and the first since Edwin Jackson's epic 149-pitch outing in 2010.
With his family in attendance, Gilbert primarily used a cutter-fastball combination to mow down a Padres lineup desperately trying to stay alive in the race for the National League West.
Per Baseball Savant, Gilbert earned 12 called strikes and whiffs with the cutter, 11 from the fastball and used a good combination of luck and defense to keep San Diego from collecting a hit. Manny Machado's 112.2 mile-per-hour liner straight to left field in the fourth inning was the perfect example of that intersection.
Statcast noted the expected batting average on that type of contact is .810. Left fielder David Peralta only had to take a few steps to his left in order to reel it in. It was one of six exit velocities over 99 mph on Saturday. The other five resulted in four ground outs and a pop fly.
Even Tommy Pham's game-ending lineout was scorched off the bat at 91.5 mph with an xBa of .750 required only a minor adjustment from Ketel Marte in center to end the game. By that point, Gilbert had already begun celebrating on the mound with his teammates.
He joins Carlos Rodon, John Means, Wade Miley, Spencer Turnbull, Corey Kluber and a combined effort by the Chicago Cubs in completing a no-hitter this season—the most since 1884 and one away from setting the all-time MLB record.
The 2020 Rule 5 draft pick of the Diamondbacks began the season with the Reno Aces. No matter what happens the rest of the year, he'll end it having etched his name in baseball history in multiple ways.