the Astros\u2019 four-pitcher World Series no-hitter<\/a>)<\/p>\nSo that comes to 23 no-hitters in the previous five seasons \u2014 putting MLB on pace for 46 in the 2020s. And that would have broken a record set way back in \u2026 the 2010s, which produced 40 of them. Here\u2019s the rundown by decade, back to 1960:<\/p>\n
2020s \u2014 23
2010s \u2014 40
2000s \u2014 15
1990s \u2014 31
1980s \u2014 13
1970s \u2014 31
1960s \u2014 34<\/p>\n
(Source: NoNoHitters.com)<\/p>\n
So once again, let\u2019s all ask: Who saw this coming?<\/p>\n
The Late Late Show![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2234406017-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Guardians pitcher Slade Cecconi reacts after losing his no-hit bid against the Royals in the eighth inning on Monday. (Jason Miller \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s one more reason this no-hit drought has been so strange. If we count combined no-hit bids that went off the rails \u2014 and how can we not (more on that shortly) \u2014 we\u2019ve now had 11 games this season in which a team had its no-hitter dreams blown up in the eighth or ninth. Does that seem like a lot? Let\u2019s go with yes.<\/p>\n
We asked our friends from STATS Perform to look into how this season\u2019s late-inning no-hit wipeouts stack up against the other seasons in the divisional era (1969-present) with zero no-hitters. Check it out.<\/p>\n
SEASON8TH\u00a0OR LATER\u00a0\u00a09TH\u00a0OR LATER<\/p>\n
2025<\/p>\n
11<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
2005\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
2000\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
1989<\/p>\n
16<\/p>\n
7<\/p>\n
1985<\/p>\n
6<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
1982<\/p>\n
6<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
(Source: STATS Perform)<\/p>\n
In that 1989 season, Ryan had two no-hit bids slip away in the ninth by himself.\u00a0But that year is a clear outlier. How crazy is it that the last time we saw a full season without a no-hitter, nobody even took one into the ninth?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
See you in September<\/p>\n
But let\u2019s not wave the white flag on this season yet. There have been seven seasons since 1900 in which baseball got to September with no no-hitters \u2014 and then somebody threw one. Here are those seven:<\/p>\n
YEARDATE\u00a0\u00a0PITCHER<\/p>\n
2006\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sept. 6<\/p>\n
An\u00edbal S\u00e1nchez<\/p>\n
1988\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sept. 16<\/p>\n
Tom Browning<\/p>\n
1986<\/p>\n
Sept. 19 <\/p>\n
Joe Cowley<\/p>\n
1945<\/p>\n
Sept. 9<\/p>\n
Dick Fowler<\/p>\n
1934<\/p>\n
Sept. 21 <\/p>\n
Paul Dean<\/p>\n
1925\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sept. 13<\/p>\n
Dazzy Vance<\/p>\n
1923<\/p>\n
Sept. 4<\/p>\n
Sam Jones<\/p>\n
(Source: NoNoHitters.com)<\/p>\n
And here\u2019s a reminder of just how random no-hitter droughts can be: In that 1923 season, the sport was no-hitter free until September \u2026 whereupon Sad Sam Jones and Howard Ehmke then threw two of them\u00a0in four days\u00a0\u2026 because of course they did.<\/p>\n
September song<\/p>\n
Say, have we mentioned lately that Yamamoto, Glasnow and Cecconi have all taken no-hit bids into the late innings in the past few days? You sure don\u2019t see that every year.<\/p>\n
The Dodgers just became the first team in history to lose two no-hitters in three days, both in the ninth inning or later. (Hat tip: the great Sarah Langs, of MLB.com). And if we add in Cecconi\u2019s seven hitless innings Monday for the Guardians, those three no-hit bids that made it into the eighth are the most in any September in the division-play era \u2014 among seasons in which nobody completed a no-hitter.<\/p>\n
SEASON8TH\u00a0OR LATER\u00a09TH\u00a0OR LATER<\/p>\n
2025\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
2005\u00a0<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
2000\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
1989\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
1985\u00a0<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
0<\/p>\n
1982\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
(Source: STATS Perform)<\/p>\n
Get back to us in 4,000* games![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2170268346-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
From left, Shota Imanaga, catcher Miguel Amaya, Porter Hodge and Nate Pearson. The three Cubs pitchers combined for the last major-league no-hitter. (Quinn Harris \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve now gone more than a full calendar year since the last no-hitter. That was twirled by the Cubs on Sept. 4, 2024 \u2014 a three-pitcher extravaganza featuring Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge.<\/p>\n
We hate when that happens. But just so you know, we\u2019re not even close to historic territory for longest droughts without a no-hitter to celebrate.<\/p>\n
Going into Tuesday night, there had been about 2,500* games played since the most recent no-hitter. That\u2019s a big number. But it\u2019s miles from being an unprecedented number.<\/p>\n
Back in 2004-05-06, this sport played 6,364 games in a row without a no-hitter \u2014 in between Randy Johnson\u2019s perfect game on May 18, 2004, and An\u00edbal S\u00e1nchez\u2019s no-hitter on Sept. 6, 2006. So 6,364 stands as the all-time record, according to NoNoHitters.com, if you calculate it by games played.<\/p>\n
Or if we do this by counting up days, you\u2019ll have to get back to us in 2027. That record is 535 consecutive no-hitter-free days with at least one game scheduled, between a Bobby Burke no-hitter on Aug. 8, 1931, and Paul Dean\u2019s no-no more than three full calendar years later,\u00a0on Sept. 21, 1934. Keep in mind that we now have nearly twice as many teams as we did then. (Hat tip on both of those tidbits: NoNoHitters.com.)<\/p>\n
The Gong Show<\/p>\n
You know what seems to happen every week nowadays? A manager stomping to the mound to take out his starting pitcher despite the slight inconvenience that the pitcher hasn\u2019t given up a hit yet.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s obviously a product of the pitch-counting world we live in now. But is it OK to suggest it\u2019s also a factor in why we haven\u2019t seen any no-hitters lately?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard enough to find one unhittable pitcher hanging around your locker room on any given day. Think how hard it is to find two or three or four of them.<\/p>\n
So we asked STATS to dig into this trend. Here\u2019s what they found:<\/p>\n
Since 2018 \u2026\u00a0we\u2019ve seen an incredible\u00a097 starting pitchers\u00a0who were hooked from one of their starts, in the sixth inning or later,\u00a0before they\u2019d allowed a single hit.\u00a0(That includes the postseason, as Blake Snell could attest.)<\/p>\n
Our guess was that it was more than we\u2019d seen in all of modern history previously. So STATS checked. And how does that compare with \u2026<\/p>\n
Life before 2018 \u2026\u00a0thanks for asking. We were right! Before these last eight seasons, there had only been 94 starters who got gonged mid-no-hitter, in the sixth inning or later, in the entire modern era combined.\u00a0We\u2019re talking\u00a0118 seasons,\u00a0from 1900-2017.<\/p>\n
Wow. Baseball! (In the 21st century.)<\/p>\n
Under new management<\/p>\n
When we watched Dave Roberts pat Glasnow on the shoulder Monday night and inform him he would\u00a0not\u00a0be finishing the no-hit business he\u2019d started, we had a thought:<\/p>\n
Hmmm, that looked kinda familiar!<\/p>\n
Oh, there\u2019s a reason for that. It was the\u00a0seventh\u00a0time in Roberts\u2019 career he\u2019d hooked a starting pitcher who had gone at least five innings and neglected to allow any hits. That seemed like it had to be a record.<\/p>\n
Nope!<\/p>\n
Turns out, it wasn\u2019t even the most of any active manager. It also wasn\u2019t even close to a record. Surprise, it\u2019s Dusty Baker who holds that one \u2014 with 12.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the all-time managerial leaderboard, according to STATS, for most games in which that manager pulled a starter before he\u2019d given up a hit, including the postseason (minimum of at least five innings pitched).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Manager Games <\/p>\n
Dusty Baker<\/p>\n
12<\/p>\n
Craig Counsell<\/p>\n
9<\/p>\n
Kevin Cash <\/p>\n
7<\/p>\n
Dave Roberts <\/p>\n
7<\/p>\n
Brian Snitker<\/p>\n
5<\/p>\n
Derek Shelton<\/p>\n
5<\/p>\n
Bob Melvin<\/p>\n
5<\/p>\n
Don Mattingly<\/p>\n
5<\/p>\n
How safe is Dusty\u2019s record? Not very safe, the way this sport is going. But how safe is it to assume we won\u2019t be seeing any no-hitters in 2025, even though we have less than three weeks remaining in the regular season? Not as safe as you\u2019d think, according to Lammers.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, we\u2019ve had a decent number of no-hitters pitched on the last day of the season,\u201d he said. \u201cSo that could happen, certainly. And you never know now about the postseason. It used to be unprecedented, where you\u2019d never see a playoff no-hitter \u2014 but they happen now, too. So you can\u2019t rule that out.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I wouldn\u2019t go to Vegas and put a bet down on no no-hitters for 2025,\u201d Lammers said. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s \u2026 baseball!\u201d<\/p>\n
(Top photo of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who lost a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning against the Orioles: Jess Rapfogel \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was the most dominating pitching performance of 2025. So who could possibly forget it \u2026 except for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[371,2320,1230,2321,2323,363,99],"class_list":["post-146316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-baltimore-orioles","tag-cleveland-guardians","tag-colorado-rockies","tag-kansas-city-royals","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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