Getty Aaron Sanchez #18 of the Houston Astros pitches in the first inning against the Seattle Mariners at Minute Maid Park on August 03, 2019 in Houston, Texas.
The Houston Astros combined for a no-hitter against the Seattle Mariners Saturday night at Minute Maid Park. Aaron Sanchez started it, Will Harris and Joe Biagini relieved in the middle and Chris Devenski finished off the visitors in a 9-0 victory.
Sanchez and Biagini are recent additions from the Toronto Blue Jays. Hidden underneath the high-profile deal for Zach Greinke, Houston acquired the two in exchange for outfielder Derek Fisher.
Sanchez threw 92 pitches, including 55 strikes, through six innings. He lost the perfect game with a walk in the fourth inning against Daniel Vogelbach. He recorded another walk, but more than made up for it with six strikeouts.
Harris entered for the seventh inning and walked another batter. However, he forced J.P. Crawford into a double play to close the inning. Biagini grounded out two batters and fanned another (along with a walk).
Chris Devenski struct out a batter before Vogelbach flied out to right field for the final out.
There have been two other no-hitters so far in 2019, and the Mariners are involved in one of them. Less than two weeks after the death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs, the Angels rode Taylor Cole and Felix Pena to a 13-0 rout. The other came on May 7 when Mike Fiers led Oakland to a 2-0 squeaker over Cincinnati.
This improved Houston’s record to 72-40, as the recent influx of quality pitching has the franchise thinking about a World Series repeat from 2017. The Mariners dipped to 47-66 and haven’t made the playoffs since 2001.
Here’s footage of Devenski’s final pitch to seal the no-no.
Houston Astros…Combined No Hitter.