Better late than never: July no-no not a first
While the 2012 season was home to seven no-hitters, the first of which was thrown on April 21, it seemed hard to imagine that no one had thrown a no-no more than three months into the 2013 season.
That is, until Reds right-hander Homer Bailey accomplished the feat on Tuesday night in a 3-0 win over the Giants.
With no-hitters occurring so often, it seemed bizarre to go into July without a single occurrence this season. Before Bailey's second career no-no, 20 had been thrown in the past five years.
In plenty of seasons -- dating to 1876, when George Bradley threw a no-no -- it has taken later than July 2 for one to be thrown. In all, a season's first no-hitter has been thrown later than July 2 all of 49 times.
And there have, of course, been years in which a no-hitter hasn't been thrown, the most recent coming in 2005.
While Bailey was the first this season, a few close calls happened earlier in the year.
May saw many pitchers gets close to tossing a no-hitter. First, on May 7, Mets right-hander Matt Harvey retired the first 20 White Sox batters he faced before losing his no-hit bid with two outs in the seventh.
Cardinals right-hander Shelby Miller was just as impressive on May 10, allowing a leadoff single to Eric Young Jr. in the first inning, then mowing down 27 straight Rockies hitters.
On the same night, Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester retired the first 17 Blue Jays batters he faced and finished his shutout having allowed only one hit, a double with two outs in the sixth.
On May 24, Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez, who already has one no-hitter under his belt, allowed a single with one out in the ninth inning against the Twins.