Cleveland's Parker Messick joined a long line of Guardians pitchers to fall short in the ninth inning.
Cleveland Guardians rookie left-hander Parker Messick was three outs away from history. He ultimately felt short as a grounder from Baltimore Orioles’ Leody Taveras snuck past Guardians second baseman Juan Brito who dove for it to preserve the historical feat for the rookie. Messick would become the second Cleveland pitcher in an eight month span to drop a no-hit bid in the ninth inning. Not just that, but also the sixth straight failed attempt after reaching the ninth. Despite the heartbreaking miss for the rookie, the Guardians were victorious in a 4-2 defeat over the Orioles. With the near-miss by Messick, the franchises no-hitter drought will continue to drag on as it’s done for 45 years.
The 25-year-old lefty was looking to complete the first no-hitter in baseball since Shota Imanaga combined with two Chicago Cubs relievers did so against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sept. 4, 2024. Messick faced one more batter than the minimum through eight innings – his first time in 11 career starts of faring more than seven innings. Messick through 112 pitches, 78 of which were strikes. The 69.6 percent strike rate was Messick’s third-highest of his career. He added two walks and nine strikeouts. He set the tone first and often, with 21 first pitch strikes to the 27 batters the rookie faced. He also tied a career-high with 18 swings and misses.
Here is the full story from Guardians Roundtable writer Anthony Moeglin on the rookie star’s near miss with history.
Cleveland will now continue to tout the longest gap between no hitters, the last being Len Barker who pitched a perfect game against the Toronto Blue Jays on May 15, 1981. While it wasn’t the perfect game Messick was so close to, it moved him to 3-0 on the year with a 1.05 ERA. The two teams will meet again on Friday evening.