Cristian Javier, Hector Neris, and Ryan Pressly combined for the 14th no-hitter in Astros history, as Houston earned a 3-0 win over the Yankees today in the Bronx. Javier handled much of the work over seven innings, with Neris and Pressly each contributing an inning of hitless pitching to stifle the lineup of the league-leading Yankees. It was the first time in over 19 years that New York had been no-hit, also at hands of the Astros — six Houston pitchers blanked the Yankees on June 11, 2003.
More from both the Astros and Rangers, as we run down baseball news from the Lone Star State….
- Jeremy Pena is likely to return to Houston’s lineup on Sunday, as the rookie shortstop took batting practice today. Left thumb discomfort sent Pena to the 10-day injured list on June 15, though an MRI didn’t reveal any damage. It thankfully looks like only a minor injury for Pena, and he’ll now get to resume his outstanding rookie season. Making his MLB debut earlier this year, Pena has hit .277/.333/.471 with nine homers over his first 211 plate appearances, though his hot bat had been cooling off in the two weeks prior to his IL stint.
- Lance McCullers Jr. was the pitcher throwing to Pena, with McCullers tossing around 20 pitches during the overall BP session. McCullers told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart and other reporters that his repertoire included changeups, sinkers, and a slider, and he was throwing as hard as 93mph. Since suffering a flexor tendon strain during last year’s postseason and then a rehab setback in January, McCullers has been slowly working his way back, and is still likely a month or so away from a minor league rehab assignment.
- After today’s 3-2 win over the Nationals, the Rangers optioned left-hander Taylor Hearn and infielder Ezequiel Duran to Triple-A. Corresponding moves will be made prior to tomorrow’s game. Hearn was the bulk pitcher in today’s bullpen game, allowing only two walks over four scoreless innings, though it was a rare quality outing an otherwise rough season for the southpaw. Even with today’s game on his ledger, Hearn still has a 5.86 ERA over 63 innings, starting 13 of his 14 games. Texas called Duran up to the majors for his MLB debut earlier this month, and the top-100 prospect hit .258/.281/.435 with two home runs over 64 PA. Duran had been seeing most of the playing time at third base, but with Josh Smith now back from the IL, Duran will continue his development with an everyday role at Triple-A rather than part-time duty in the Show.
- Mitch Garver went 0-for-2 with a walk against the Nats today, dropping the veteran’s slash line to .201/.288/.383 for the season, over 170 PA. Garver has been trying to play through a damaged flexor tendon in his throwing forearm, but he told reporters (including Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News) that he would make a decision by the All-Star break whether or not to undergo season-ending surgery. With a 7-8 month recovery time required for the surgery, Garver would miss little to none of Spring Training by getting the procedure relatively soon. It is possible Garver could instead try to rehab the forearm problem without surgery, but Grant writes “that route is more uncertain” in terms of a recovery timeline or what it might mean for Garver’s 2023 season. Since suffering the flexor injury, Garver hasn’t been able to play catcher, so the Rangers have been limiting him to DH or pinch-hitting duty.
Congratulations Goastros! Happy for you, brother.
Ok, I’ll go for the bait. Why are you happy for the Astros? They are a very talented team, but…….aren’t you a Yankee fan?
Is it wrong to be happy for fans of other teams?
Yes
Considering the Astros intentionally tanked for over a decade to get high draft picks and cheating along the way that was orchestrated by the league… you’re right, fans should cheer on the astros
Considering that we can all move on, it is ok to cheer for a no hitter as it is a rare occurrence
The sign of a classy fan is when you can applaud the other team’s achievement, or have you never seen “For Love of the Game”?
There are plenty of folks around who are baseball fans first and local team fan second. Whenever I’m in NYC, I go to Mets games as much as I attend Yankees’.
Well said, bleachercreature. We’re all baseball fans here and shutting down a red hot team like the Yankees is remarkable.
Very classy of you clipper. Good job, I’m being sincere here
Most combined no hitters I feel come with a bit of an asterisk, but when you can no hit a top shelf team, combined or not, you’ve earned it. Really impressive pitching performance today
Thank you, StoneCold, I appreciate it, man. I told you I’m not that bad, bro…lol. Just trying to keep it loose, man, but you all did one hell of a job. Nobody no-hits the Yankees lineup, and I know that’s a great feeling for the diehards, man. Goastros is a class act.
Thought gallo had all of it and we were going to see a repeat of the first game. Def going to be fun if they meet in the postseason
Only one team has no-hit the Yankees since 1958: the Astros, and they did it twice.
“ Only one team has no-hit the Yankees since 1958: the Astros, and they did it twice.”
Okay, now I take it back! Hahaha
The last time the Astros did it was 2003 and it took 6 pitchers. It was also in Yankee Stadium. The Yankees also went to the world series that year, just like they did in 1958. Foreshadowing?
No, I hope not because they lost!
But they won in 1958.
Thanks, Clipper!
If McCullers can come back healthy and anywhere where he was last year, the Astros pitching staff will be crazy good. I don’t buy Javier being this type of pitcher until he can cut down on his walks but a rotation of Verlander, McCullers and Luis Garcia (2nd in ROY voting last year and having another great year) can go against most teams in baseball. Now just need Bregman and Yuli to start hitting like they’re capable of and at minimum Astros will make it to 6 straight championship series
Javier proved himself tonight. He’s also having a better season than Garcia.
Did you forget about Framber Valdez?
He will be at worst the #3 whether McCullers returns or not.
Am I the only one that doesn’t really care about “combined no hitters” at all? Maybe I am too old school, but it just isn’t the same for three guys to do it.
It seems like Syndergaard agrees with you.
It’s different today. A complete game or shutout aren’t notable stats anymore unlike the baseball card stats I grew up with.
A complete game would be very notable since no one has them any more.
That’s the point. There is no emphasis today on a CG by a pitcher or manager. The goal is to go out and get a quality start. One can argue that the bar has been lowered. Pitching management has changed. Can you name the last pitcher to go a full nine? I can’t since the media doesn’t care. ESPN would rather show a guy go 7 innings striking out 12.
I’m fairly certain Framber did it for Houston not that long ago against the A’s… might have been the latest one pitched
Detmers in his no no, Alcantra at least once this year iirc
Hiflew: You’re right with one exception here, imho: it’s the 2022 NY Yankees and they’re on a record pace. They’re crushing teams’ pitchers, running up crazy offensive run differentials, and their lineup is just insane to pitch through.
The fact that multiple pitchers were able to do it without giving up a hit, let alone a run in Yankee Stadium, when the Yankees have made most pitchers look like they’re throwing batting practice at times, including great pitchers, like Manoa & Ohtani, is very notable to me.
There have now been 18 combined no-hitters and half of them have come over the last 10 years. As for being too “old school”, the very first combined no-hitter happend in 1917 when Babe Ruth (with the Red Sox) started a game against the Washington Senators and was ejected for arguing with (and then punching) the Home plate umpire after walking the Senators leadoff hitter. The Sox brought in Ernie Shore, after the Sens leadoff hitter was thrown out trying to steal second, Shore proceeded to retire the next 26 hitters for what was called the “imperfect game”.
Interestingly there would be no other combined no-hitters until 1967, and there would be three between 1967-1976 and then none until 1990.
RSox: Awesome history, man, thanks! Babe was tremendous, and some of the stories of actions he got away with were incredible.
The goal is to win the game. Whether that’s a single pitcher over 9 innings or a dozen pitchers, a win is a win.
Pitchers put much more strain on their arms these days throwing 95 plus against a lineup of nin batters who all can do damage. Fifty or 60 years ago, the bottom third of most lineups was comprised of inept hitters who could field, so pitchers could take it easy and save some of their bullets for the tougher parts of the lineup.
15 teams win a game every single day. No hitters are much rarer and should be sought after.
And I call BS on pitch counts. There are FAR more injuries to pitchers today than there ever used to be when pitchers would routinely pitch 10+ complete games a year. Sure there were SOME catastrophic injuries in the past, but not nearly as many as now.
There are more pitchers placed on the Injured List these days. How many players in the past were simply released, especially before free agency, so their injuries were noted as often? And again, when pitchers could lighten up for the last few weak hitters in the lineup, complete games were easier. These days, because nearly every hitter can rip a ball over the fence, pitchers are throwing their fastest or hardest-breaking pitches every pitch. The body isn’t designed to withstand that, but that’s the requirement to pitch in the majors.
Trash cans to distract Yankee hitters
Just can’t let it go, can you?
The Garver trade does not look good at all. His value to a roster is as a C and not as a full time DH. He should get the surgery and begin rehabbing to prepare for going back to a C in ’23 .