John Means records ninth Orioles no-hitter in franchise history

MLB: Baltimore Orioles at Seattle Mariners

John Means of Olathe, KS recorded the ninth no-hitter in Baltimore Orioles history on Wednesday. Means threw 113 pitches in blanking the Seattle Mariners 6-0. Means threw 79 strikes and 34 balls over nine innings of work at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, WA.

Means had outstanding control throughout the game. He had 12 strikeouts and zero walks. The only time a Mariners player reached base was in the third inning. Mariners left fielder Sam Haggerty of Phoenix, AZ, who was batting eighth in the lineup, struck out but reached first base after a Means wild pitch. Interestingly, he was not on base for long, as he was caught stealing second base.

The first time an Orioles pitcher threw a no-hitter was on October 6, 1886. That is when Matt Kilroy of Philadelphia, PA accomplished the feat in a 6-0 Orioles win over the Pittsburgh Alleghenys. Kilroy was followed by Bill Hawke of Elsmere, DE, in a 5-0 Orioles win over the Washington Senators on August 16, 1893; Jay Hughes of Sacramento, CA, in a 8-0 Orioles win over the Boston Beaneaters on April 22, 1898; Hoyt Wilhelm of Huntersville, NC, in a 1-0 Orioles win over the New York Yankees on September 20, 1958; Steve Barber of Takoma Park, MD, and Stu Miller of Northampton, MA, in a 2-1 Orioles loss to the Detroit Tigers on April 30, 1967; Tom Phoebus of Baltimore, MD in a 6-0 Orioles win over the Boston Red Sox on April 27, 1968; Jim Palmer of New York City, NY in an 8-0 Orioles win over the Oakland Athletics on August 13, 1969; and Bob Milacki of Trenton, NJ, Mike Flanagan of Manchester, NH, Mark Williamson of Corpus Christi, TX, and Gregg Olson of Scribner, NE in a 2-0 Orioles win over the Athletics on July 13, 1991.

This was the third no-hitter of 2021. On April 9, San Diego Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove of El Cajon, CA beat the Texas Rangers 3-0, and on April 14, Chicago White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon of Miami, Florida beat the Cleveland Indians 8-0.

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