Heston still in disbelief day after no-hitter
Giants rookie has cap, ball headed to Cooperstown
NEW YORK -- Chris Heston stayed up until 4 a.m. Wednesday morning answering a couple of hundred text messages, returning phone calls and watching replays of himself on TV.
Even the next day, it had still not set in yet for Heston, the 27-year-old Giants rookie who tossed the first no-hitter of the 2015 season Tuesday night at Citi Field.
Not even after spending all afternoon fulfilling interview requests, or the request from Cooperstown for his cap and a ball from his no-hitter. Heston will be allowed to keep the ball from the final out.
"Who would have thought that I'd have something in the Hall of Fame at this point?" he said.
In his locker, Heston had collected copies of each of the New York tabloids with himself on the cover. He said he planned to frame them and hang them up at his home in Florida.
"They're all sweet," Heston said.
The Giants were still marveling the next day as well.
"You look at the great pitchers that never threw a no-hitter and here he gets one in his first year," manager Bruce Bochy said. "To add to that, there just wasn't a lot of drama to it. ... And to strike out the side in the ninth, that was pretty impressive. I think I'll remember it as one of the easier no-hitters I've ever seen."
Video: SF@NYM: Heston strikes out the side to wrap up no-no
Matt Cain was making a rehab start with Double-A Richmond, but after he came out of the game, designated hitter Mac Williamson alerted him that Heston was on the verge on something special. They watched the seventh inning from Williamson's iPad before watching Heston secure the final outs on the clubhouse TV.
Cain, who started this run of four consecutive seasons of no-hitters from Giants pitchers with a perfect game in 2012, began this season on the disabled list, which is the reason Heston made the starting rotation out of Spring Training.
"I just told him, 'You're welcome,'" Cain said with a laugh.
Heston became the first Giants rookie to throw a no-hitter since Jeff Tesreau in 1912, joining a club that also includes Christy Mathewson (1901). Heston stayed dominant throughout and became the first pitcher to finish a no-hitter with three consecutive strikeouts since Sandy Koufax did so in his perfect game on Sept. 9, 1965, vs the Cubs, according to Elias.
"I'm still not sure what happened," Heston said.