Stats of the Day: History made by Heston
Giants rookie takes place in the books with no-hitter against Mets
Here are four interesting items from around the big leagues on Tuesday:
Making his 15th career appearance, Giants rookie Chris Heston twirled the first no-hitter of the 2015 season as San Francisco beat the Mets, 5-0, on Tuesday. The 27-year-old fanned 11, walked none and hit three batters. Heston is the 17th Giants pitcher to throw a no-hitter and the fourth in as many years, joining Matt Cain (2012) and Tim Lincecum ('13, '14). Additionally, he is the third Giants rookie (based on today's definition) to throw one, joining Christy Mathewson and Jeff Tesreau. Heston is the 12th pitcher since 1914 to have a no-hitter within his first 15 career games. It's a list that starts with Charlie Robertson throwing a perfect game in his fifth appearance (in 1922) and offers Clay Buchholz in 2007 (in his second game) as the immediate predecessor to Heston.
In the Nationals' 6-1 loss to the Yankees, Bryce Harper swatted his 20th homer of the season. Harper is the 12th player to be in his age-22 or younger season and collect at least 20 round-trippers before the All-Star break. The first was Joe DiMaggio (20 in 1937), and the most recent had been Mike Trout (22 in 2014). The most among the dozen is Johnny Bench's 28 in 1970.Video: WSH@NYY: Harper crushes his 20th homer of the season
Robinson Cano doubled twice and drove in a run to help the Mariners to a 3-2 win over the Indians. The pair gives Cano 426 two-base hits in his career, which is already the fifth-highest total for a player through his first 11 seasons. He trails Albert Pujols (455), Todd Helton (455), Ducky Medwick (453) and Paul Waner (451).
For Pujols, another day on the diamond meant another day reaching and approaching milestones. With a single, a homer and a double, Pujols tied Mickey Mantle for 16th on the all-time home run list, with 536; broke out of a tie with George Brett for 15th on the career list for extra-base hits, and with 1,121, sits one behind Manny Ramirez; moved to within two bases of tying Andre Dawson for 28th on the lifetime list for total bases.
Video: LAA@TB: Pujols drills solo shot to tie Mantle
Milestone watch for Wednesday
Cano needs two runs for 900 in his career. Only three second basemen have reached 900 runs and 900 RBIs through their first 11 seasons: Hall of Famers Nap Lajoie, Rogers Hornsby and Joe Gordon. Cano has 923 RBIs.
Kyle Lohse needs two strikeouts to reach 1,000 as a National League pitcher. The all-time NL strikeout leader is Steve Carlton, with exactly 4,000.