My Kind of Math, 6 equals 0 for the M's Pitchers

Six Mariners Pitchers Combine for No-No

(Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

In one of the most unlikely of scenarios, the Seattle Mariners pitching staff tied a MLB record last night when six different pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers came into Safeco sporting the best record in baseball at 37-21, but missing their star Matt Kemp.  Early on, M's starter Kevin Millwood was dealing and had total command of his fastball, owning the Dodgers and striking out 6 through the first six innings.  He was perfect through four innings, before issuing a lead off walk to Juan Rivera in the 5th.  Rivera was quickly erased when Bobby Abreu hit into a 3-6-3 double play.

Heading to the top of the seventh, Millwood came out to begin his warm-ups, tossing one pitch before signaling to the dugout that something was wrong.  Mariners manager Eric Wedge, and team trainer Rick Griffin, headed out to the mound to see what had happened.  Soon after, Wedge signaled to the bullpen and Millwood headed for the training room.  It was later learned that Millwood had a strained right groin.

In came Charlie Furbush, who hadn't had a chance to get warm in the bullpen.  He quickly got Dee Gordon to fly out to center for the first out, no-hitter still intact.  The next batter, Herrera, hit a grounder that Furbush fielded cleanly but he hurried his throw, which got by Justin Smoak at first base.  The throwing error allowed Herrera to reach third and put a runner in scoring position, with the score still tied at zero.  Furbush settled himself down and struck out Andre Ethier swinging for the second out.  Wedge decided at that point to play the match-up and bring in his flame throwing rookie, Stephen Pryor.  Pryor made quick work of Rivera, striking him out to end the inning and continue the no-no into the eighth.

In the bottom of the seventh  the M's got two out rather quickly as both Carp and Kawasaki went down on strikes.  Up came Suzuki, who was already 2 for 3 on the night.  In true Ichiro fashion, he beat out an infield single for this third hit of the game.  He quickly stole second, with no throw from the catcher, putting the Mariners in scoring position.  Ackley followed with a walk, bringing up Kyle Seager.  Seager, the Mariners leading RBI man, quickly fell behind 1-2 before lacing a single into left field off the glove of Dodger shortstop Dee Gordon.  Suzuki raced around and scored from second giving the Mariners all the offense they would need in this one.

Pryor returned to the mound in the top of the eight but quickly showed signs of control issues, walking both Abreu and Hairston Jr. on nine pitches.  Lucas Leutge came in to relive Pryor to face James Loney.  Loney laid down a nice sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position with one out.  Wedge headed back out and wanted his former closer, Brandon League, to come in and shut things down.  He did just that, getting Ellis to line out and Gwynn to strikeout swinging.

The M's didn't do anything more in their half of the eighth, setting up one final half inning of history.  Without hesitation, Wedge brought in his new closer, Tom Wilhelmsen to finish off the Dodgers.  The Bartender, as he has been nicknamed, worked fast and quickly got Dee Gordon to bounce a grounder to short.  Mariners shortstop Brendan Ryan, who had just entered the game as defensive replacement, had to charge to make the play and made a quick throw to first the just got Gordon to keep the no-hitter going.  Dodgers manger Don Mattingly sprinted out to have a discussion with the first base umpire, Ted Barrett, but was quickly shot down and soon retreated back to his visiting dugout.  Herrera then stepped to the plate and quickly made the second out with a liner right to Ryan.  With he crowd on their feet, flashes going off all around the stadium, in stepped Ethier with one last chance to break up history.  After fouling off the first pitch, Ethier hit a hard grounder to Ackley at second, where ho tossed the ball softly to Smoak for the final out of the game.

Mariners rookie catcher, Jesus Montero, sprinted to the mound and jumped into the waiting arms of Wilhelmsen to celebrate.  Montero would later tell the media that Wilhelmsen had to be told why they were celebrating so much, apparently not fully aware of what had just happened.  The Mariners as a team actually looked as though they didn't know how to celebrate and quickly moved their excitement into the clubhouse, where they had the opportunity to catch up with starter, Millwood, and finish their celebration.

The Mariners have seen their ups and downs so far this season, but a game like this can potentially spark something great in the long run.  Time will tell how they react to what they accomplished and how it carries them through the rest of their season.


Interesting Facts About the No-Hitter
No-hitters happen almost every year, this was the fourth one so far in 2012, but combined no-hitters are a rare occurrence.  In fact, this was only the tenth combined no hitter in MLB history.  The last time a team combined on a no-hitter was almost 9 years prior, when the Houston Astros also had six pitchers combine to no-hit the New York Yankees.  There were a couple other rarities with this one as well.  This was only the third time in history that a team threw a no-hitter to have also been no hit during the same season.  The Mariners fell victim to the Phil Humber's perfect game nearly seven weeks prior.  Kevin Millwood also became only the fourth pitcher in history to throw no-hitter by himself and be part of a combined no-hitter in his career.