CLEVELAND (AP) — Rookie left-hander Parker Messick came within three outs of ending Cleveland's 45-year drought without a no-hitter.
Instead, he became the second Guardians pitcher in eight months to fall short in the ninth inning.
“I did my best. Maybe next time,” Messick said after Cleveland's 4-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night.
Leody Taveras led off the ninth with a grounder that just eluded diving second baseman Juan Brito and
went into right field for a single to break up Messick's no-hit bid.
Cleveland still has the longest current gap between no-hitters of any major league franchise. The team’s most recent one was Len Barker’s perfect game on May 15, 1981, against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Up to that point, Messick had faced only one batter over the minimum and silenced a Baltimore lineup that came into the game third in the American League in on-base percentage (.334).
Blaze Alexander followed with a line-drive single to center that ended Messick's night. The 25-year-old Messick was removed to a standing ovation from the crowd of 14,748.
“That was very special what we got to watch tonight. That’s an unbelievably talented lineup that he took a no-hitter into the ninth against and just continued to attack,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “He and (catcher Austin) Hedges were magnificent with their sequencing. With that arsenal, that was a beautiful game.”
It was the first time in 11 career starts that Messick went more than seven innings. He was the 54th overall pick in the 2022 amateur draft out of Florida State and made his big league debut last year.
Messick threw 112 pitches, 78 for strikes. The 69.6% strike rate was the third-highest of his career. He walked two and equaled a career best with nine strikeouts. He was charged with two runs in eight-plus innings.
Messick got ahead of hitters early with 21 first-pitch strikes to the 27 batters he faced. The 18 swings and misses also tied a career high.
Out of Messick's six-pitch repertoire, the most effective was the changeup. He threw it 29 times and got 22 strikes, including nine whiffs. His most-used pitch was his four-seam fastball, which he threw 43 times.
“I know they were looking for it. It's just, the bottom falls out of it when you've got late movement like that, especially when you’ve set it up with other pitches, the heaters and the curveballs and cutters — you have to take an outlier swing to it,” Hedges said of the changeup. “You could tell they were trying to, but it’s just that good of a pitch.”
The sinker was Messick's third-most frequent pitch in his first three starts this season, but he threw it only twice against the Orioles.
Hedges said he had the feeling it might be a special night when center fielder Steven Kwan caught Taylor Ward's deep flyball at the wall to end the third inning. José Ramírez — who had a two-run homer in the first — made a nice stop on a grounder by Coby Mayo deep in the hole at third to end the fifth.
“The crowd got pretty loud and that’s an awesome feeling when everybody gets into it. I was really trying to lock in every pitch,” Messick said. “Pretty much about the sixth inning on, I prayed between pretty much every inning and I just was telling myself to execute.”
Baltimore averted a shutout when Gunnar Henderson’s sacrifice fly against closer Cade Smith drove in Taveras. Pete Alonso hit an RBI double before Smith retired the final two batters with runners at second and third for his fourth save.
“The boys were into it the whole game. Once Leody got that hit, I equate it to a sniper in the NBA, where it only takes one to go in for everything to change," said Orioles first-year manager Craig Albernaz, who was Cleveland's bench coach in 2024 and associate manager last season. “Messick was on. He had all his pitches dialed in the strike zone. He did a great job changing speeds in all counts, (getting) weak contact. He was on tonight.”
It was the fourth time since Barker's gem that a Cleveland pitcher carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning. John Farrell went eight innings on May 4, 1989, against Kansas City before Kevin Seitzer broke it up with a single after Willie Wilson reached on an error.
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 is one of five American League pitchers with at least three wins. He improved to 3-0 this season and is third in the AL with a 1.05 ERA.
“I mean it (stinks), but it is baseball. I’ll have plenty more years to pitch a baseball game, so it might happen again,” he said.
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