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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Fiers fires no-hitter for Astros

Astros starting pitcher Mike Fiers’ is fired-up after throwing no-hitter. (Associated Press)
Kristie Rieken Associated Press

HOUSTON – Mike Fiers has pitched the second no-hitter in the major leagues in nine days, leading the Houston Astros to a 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

Fiers (6-9) struck out Justin Turner on his 134th pitch to end it and threw his glove high into the air for his first career complete game and the fifth no-hitter in the big leagues this season. Seattle’s Hisashi Iwakuma tossed a no-no on Aug 12.

Astros executive Nolan Ryan, who threw a record seven no-hitters, applauded from a suite as Fiers was mobbed by his teammates near the mound after finishing the 11th gem in Astros history.

“Oh man, this crowd was going insane,” Fiers said. “It got me pumped up. I felt great.”

Cole Hamels with Philadelphia, San Francisco’s Chris Heston and Washington’s Max Scherzer also have thrown no-hitters this season.

A night earlier the Astros were on the wrong end of a gem, getting just a fifth-inning single against Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer.

Acquired by the Astros at the trade deadline to help with their playoff push, Fiers was stellar in his first two starts for Houston.

This was something else, though.

Having never even gotten an out in the ninth inning in his five-year career, Fiers was dominant. He struck out 10 and walked three, retiring the final 21 batters.

Fiers (1-0) needed little help from his defense until Jake Marisnick had to sprint to catch a long fly ball by Jimmy Rollins just in front of the bullpen in right field for the first out of the ninth inning.

Fiers crouched in relief then pointed out to his teammate.

The closest the Dodgers came to breaking it up was in the sixth inning when Turner’s towering shot to left with two outs hooked foul.

The 30-year-old right-hander allowed a walk in each of the first three innings, but didn’t allow a baserunner after walking Joc Pederson to start the third.

It was the first no-hitter by one Astros pitcher since Darryl Kile blanked the Mets on Sept. 8, 1993. Six Houston pitchers combined to throw one against the Yankees on June 11, 2003.

Fiers was acquired with Carlos Gomez from Milwaukee on July 30.