CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland Guardians rookie Parker Messick took a no-hitter into the ninth inning Thursday night against the Baltimore Orioles before Leody Taveras led off with a single to right field.
Batting eighth in the lineup, Taveras grounded the first pitch of the ninth past diving second baseman Juan Brito for Baltimore's first hit. Blaze Alexander followed with a line-drive single to center, and Messick was removed after throwing 112 pitches.
The 25-year-old left-hander walked two and matched a career high with nine strikeouts. He exited with the Guardians leading 4-0.
Eight-plus innings marked the longest outing of Messick’s career. He pitched seven shutout innings against Tampa Bay last season.
Messick was attempting to throw the first no-hitter in the majors since Sept. 4, 2024, when Shota Imanaga and two Chicago Cubs relievers combined to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-0 at Wrigley Field.
Cleveland has the longest current gap between no-hitters. The team’s most recent one was Len Barker’s perfect game on May 15, 1981, against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Carlos Carrasco went 8 2/3 innings against Tampa Bay on July 1, 2015, and Gavin Williams had a no-hitter for 8 1/3 innings last season on Aug. 6 against the New York Mets.
Carrasco came within one strike of a no-hitter when Rays left fielder Joey Butler lined a slider on an 0-2 count that just eluded the glove of leaping Cleveland second baseman Jason Kipnis.
Juan Soto broke up Williams’ no-hit bid with a home run to center.
Messick walked leadoff hitter Taylor Ward before retiring the next 15 batters. Ward hit a deep flyball to center field in the third inning that Steven Kwan caught at the wall, and José Ramírez made a nice stop on a grounder by Coby Mayo deep in the hole at third to end the fifth.
Messick walked Taveras leading off the sixth, but Ward grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Ramírez also made a terrific grab in foul territory to retire Samuel Basallo leading off the eighth.
Messick was making his 11th career start. He was the 54th overall pick in the 2022 amateur draft out of Florida State and made his big league debut last year.
Messick came into the game with a 5-1 career mark and a 2.04 ERA. He was 2-0 with a 0.51 ERA in his first three starts this season.
The Guardians backed up Messick with Ramírez's two-run homer in the first and RBI singles by Kwan in the fifth and George Valera in the sixth.
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