Parker Messick’s no-hit bid for Guardians brings magic to MLB night originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Parker Messick magic.

The Cleveland Guardians‘ young left-handed pitcher isn’t a household name. Or, well, he wasn’t before Thursday night.

Advertisement

Now? There are a heck of a lot more baseball fans who will know all about him.

Messick was dominant against the Baltimore Orioles at Progressive Field, threatening a no-hitter in the process.

The Orioles didn’t get a hit in the first inning. Or the second. Or the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, the seventh or the eighth.

It wasn’t perfection — Messick walked the first batter he faced, and a few more.

But it was spotless. That hit column on the scoreboard had a 0 in it, and it wasn’t changing.

Advertisement

MORE: This second-generation relief pitcher is on an absurd wins pace

Messick’s fastball was working on the corners and up in the zone. His changeup was filthy. His breaking stuff was sharp.

No matter what Austin Hedges called for from behind the plate, Messick delivered it.

The point of concern came with his pitch count — Messick was at 106 pitches after eight innings. That was already a career high.

These days, teams don’t love to take chances — Messick is 25 years old with a long baseball future ahead of him. Pitcher arm injuries are so, so common. It’s a scary proposition to push a guy so far past where he’s been before.

Advertisement

But Messick was truly in a place he hadn’t been before. He had thrown eight no-hit innings in a Major League Baseball game. It was just his 11th MLB start, and he was in a zone a Cleveland pitcher hadn’t found himself in in a long time.

When he walked off after eight, there were no handshakes. He went to sit by himself. He was coming back for the ninth.

The Cleveland crowd got to its feet when Messick ran out of the dugout to warm up for the ninth.

Advertisement

Rain was coming, too. The grounds crew was behind the tarps, just in case.

And then on the first pitch of the ninth inning, Leody Taveras grounded a single into right field.

That was it — well, Messick actually faced one more hitter to allow Cade Smith to warm up. Blaze Alexander added a single of his own to chase Messick.

He got a second standing ovation as he walked off the field.

The magical story didn’t quite finish. But it was quite the night.

Advertisement

More MLB news: