Tyler Gilbert of Santa Cruz, CA became the fourth Major League Baseball pitcher to throw a no-hitter in his very first MLB start on Saturday. The 27-year-old had pitched three times in the past for the Arizona Diamondbacks, but all prior appearances came in relief.
Gilbert’s no-hitter came in a 7-0 Arizona win over the San Diego Padres in a National League West Division battle. In all, Gilbert threw 102 pitches, of which 64 pitches were strikes. He also had five strikeouts and three walks.
According to R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports and Sarah Langs of mlb.com, the last pitcher to throw a no-hitter in his very first Major League Baseball start was Bobo Holloman of Thomaston, GA on May 6, 1953. In nine shutout innings, Holloman had five walks and three strikeouts in a 6-0 St. Louis Browns win over the Philadelphia Athletics.
The first Major League Baseball pitcher to throw a no-hitter in his first Major League start was Theodore Breitenstein of St. Louis, MO. On October 4, 1891, Breitenstein only gave up one walk in an 8-0 Browns win over the Louisville Colonels.
The second Major League Baseball pitcher to throw a no-hitter in his first Major League start was Bumpus Jones of Cedarville, OH. Jones accomplished the feat on October 15, 1892 in a 7-1 Cincinnati Reds win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Jones had three strikeouts and four walks, and an error by the Reds led to an unearned run. The 1892 season is also known as the last year pitchers threw from a pitcher’s box rather than off the mound.
Gilbert meanwhile is the eighth pitcher in Major League Baseball this season to throw a no-hitter. That ties the MLB record for most no-hitters, as there were also eight no-hitters in 1884.
The Padres meanwhile came back to beat the Diamondbacks 8-2 on Sunday. San Diego leads Cincinnati by two and a half games for the second wildcard spot in the National League.
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