Matt Reigle
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It’s rare, but it’s possible to throw a no-hitter and lose, as a minor league baseball team recently found out.
It happened in a Double-A game between the Reds affiliate the Chatanooga Lookouts and the Rocket City Trash Pandas (which, it must be said, is just a phenomenal name). It was the first game of a doubleheader and it looked like the Trash Pandas — an affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels — were going to win it handily.
Pitcher Coleman Crow through six scoreless innings and in that time he threw a pair of walks.
The Trash Pandas sent pitcher Ben Joyce to the mound in the seventh, probably with simple instructions to get through the inning. His club was up 3-0. They just needed a few outs then it was on to the second game of the doubleheader.
That was easier said than done. According to MLB.com, Joyce is known for throwing some serious heat, but of course.
That typically comes with some difficulties on the control front.
Chatanooga Loockouts Had The Most Bizarre Rally To Win Without A Hit
While the Trash Pandas managed to lock down two outs, Joyce loaded the bases with walks. Again, they only needed one out, but that last one proved to be difficult. Joyce walked another batter which allowed one run to score. Then, the Trash Pandas’ center fielder dropped a fly ball that would’ve ended the game. Three runs scored on that error.
The rest of the inning consisted of several batters getting hit by pitches, another walk, a wild pitch, and then, finally, a strikeout. In that inning, the Lookouts scored 7 runs, without registering a hit
In the bottom of the inning, the Trash Pandas looked to regain the lead but only mustered up a pair of runs. They lost the game 7-5, but with their combined no-no intact.
This has only happened 6 times in the Majors, 10 times in the Minors, and looks completely bizarre on a scoresheet. In most of those other instances, the team that won the game despite being no-hit scored 1 or 2 runs. Not 7.
On the off chance you were at that game, hang on to your ticket stub (or just take a screenshot of it since that’s how it works now). That game will be one to remember…
…unless you’re a Trash Pandas fan.
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When I was a kid, the Houston Colt 45’s, precursor of the Astros, lost a no-hitter pitched by Ken Johnson to the Cincinnati Reds 1-0. A Pete Rose bunt with one out in top of 9th would have failed if Johnson hadn’t thrown the ball away. Rose ended up on 2nd. Chico Ruiz hit one off Johnson’s shin that 3B Bob Aspromonte picked up and threw to first for 2nd out, Rose moved to third.
Next up, Vada Pinson hit a ground ball to some guy named Nellie Fox playing 2B for Colts and he muffed it, allowing Rose to score.
The top of the 9th ended when some guy named Frank Robinson flied out to some guy named Jimmy Wynn for the 3rd out.
Colt 45’s did nothing in 9th to seal the loss. Joe Nuxhall was the winning pitcher.