A's pitcher Fiers tosses 2nd career no-hitter

Athletics starter Mike Fiers tossed his second career no-hitter, holding the Reds’ offense at bay on Tuesday night in Oakland. The right-hander yielded just two walks while striking out six on 131 pitches. Interestingly, the game was delayed due to a lightning malfunction in left field.

Fiers was in danger of losing his no-hitter with two outs in the sixth inning, when Joey Votto skied a fly ball to left-center field. Center fielder Ramón Laureano, however, jumped at the wall and caught the ball, robbing Votto of a home run. The A’s went on to win 2-0, with Jurickson Profar providing both runs. He knocked in a run with a double in the second inning and hit a solo homer in the seventh.

Fiers previously threw a no-hitter on August 21, 2015 for the Astros against the Dodgers. He’s the 31st pitcher with multiple no-hitters to his name. He has the first no-hitter of the 2019 season and the first since James Paxton — then a Mariner — no-hit the Blue Jays on this same day last year. Fiers is the first member of the A’s to throw a no-hitter since Sean Manaea on April 21 last year against the Red Sox. The Reds were last victims of a no-hitter on April 21, 2016, when the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta accomplished the feat.

After Tuesday’s performance, Fiers is 3-3 with a 5.48 ERA and a 34/13 K/BB ratio in 46 innings. The no-hitter aside, Fiers hasn’t quite pitched as well as the last-place A’s hoped when they inked him to a two-year, $14.1 million contract in December.

With a first-inning ground-rule double against the Padres on Tuesday evening, Mets second baseman Robinson Canó joined the 2,500 hit club. He is the 101st member and currently has the third-most career hits among active players, trailing Albert Pujols (3,106) and Miguel Cabrera (2,712).

Canó, 36, entered Tuesday’s action batting .240/.298/.380 with three home runs and 11 RBI in 131 plate appearances. Certainly disappointing numbers, but he had a .754 OPS after exiting an April 28 game when he was hit on the hand by a pitch. In the six games since, his OPS dropped 76 points after going 2-for-21.

Canó’s double helped lead to two runs in the first inning for the Mets, as Amed Rosario and Pete Alonso each hit RBI singles to stake starter Noah Syndergaard to an early lead.

source: nbcnews.com