MLB notes: Hisashi Iwakuma’s gem finally ends A.L. no-hitter drought
SEATTLE — After years of waiting, the drought finally ended thanks to the Seattle Mariners’ Hisashi Iwakuma.
No, not Iwakuma becoming just the second Japanese pitcher to throw a no-hitter in Major League Baseball — as important an accomplishment as that was — joining Hideo Nomo in exclusive company when he shut down the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday.
That ended the run of 12 straight no-hitters — 11 individual and one combined — thrown by National League pitchers. Almost three years to the day that teammate Felix Hernandez threw a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Iwakuma finally ended the drought for the American League.
It’s a rare stat and in many ways likely just an odd coincidence. But it also highlights the difficulty of pitching in the American League, where there simply are no free outs thanks to the designated hitter.
“I think the outs are tougher. Look, the lineups are deeper. The DH’s in the American League, the DH’s are animals,” Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon said. “Those are tough outs. There really are no easy outs in the American League.”
Four of the last five no-hitters in American League ballparks have come at Safeco Field. Prior to Hernandez’s perfect game, six Seattle pitchers combined on a no-hitter in June 2012 against the Los Angeles Dodgers and unknown Phillip Humber threw a perfect game for the Chicago White Sox against the Mariners that April.
The only other A.L. park to see a no-hitter since 2011: Angels Stadium, where Jered Weaver threw his no-hitter in May 2012, less than two weeks after Humber’s perfect game.
The N.L. streak was the longest streak of no-hitters in one league since the inception of the A.L. in 1901.
Iwakuma is the 17th pitcher since 1914 to have his first career complete game be a no-hitter and the first since Humber’s unlikely perfect game.
Clearing the bases
Texas Rangers OF Josh Hamilton still has soreness in his left knee. Hamilton was out of the lineup for the second straight game. Before the game against the Twins, Hamilton called his season “tremendously frustrating,” because of a number of lower-body problems. … Oakland Athletics RHP Sonny Gray has been scratched from his start against the Toronto Blue Jays because of back spasms. Gray is the A.L. ERA leader at 2.06 and will miss his start against the highest scoring offense in baseball. … All-Star OF Alex Gordon hopes to begin a rehab assignment in the next couple weeks and potentially rejoin the Kansas City Royals for their push toward an A.L. Central title. Gordon has been on the disabled list since July 9 with a severely strained left groin. … Los Angeles Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson will have season-ending surgery to remove bone spurs in his ailing left elbow. … Minnesota placed RHP Phil Hughes on the 15-day disabled list due to inflammation in his lower back.