The first five weeks of the 2021 MLB season have been filled with pitching drama. Three hurlers (or four, depending on what you think of MLB rules) have already thrown no-hitters, and all of them were one baserunner away from being perfect.
Orioles left-hander John Means threw the third official no-no in a little more than a month when he zipped the Mariners 6-0 on May 5 in Seattle. The only baserunner he allowed was on a wild pitch following a strikeout of Sam Haggerty.
White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon and Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove threw nine-inning no-hitters in April. Diamondbacks left-hander Madison Bumgarner threw a seven-inning no-no in Game 2 of a doubleheader that month, but MLB only recognizes nine-inning no-hitters.
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There have been more than 215,000 games in MLB history but there have been just over 300 no-hitters thrown, meaning the members of the no-hit club are among some pretty elite company.
No-hitters come in all shapes and sizes, with no two no-nos looking the same. Below you can see every team's most recent no-hitter, every perfect game and more.
No-hitter vs. perfect game
A perfect game only occurs when the pitcher doesn't allow a single baserunner in the game, as in 27 batters up and 27 batters down. In a no-hitter baserunners are allowed, by walk, hit by pitch, error and so forth. Every perfect game is a no-hitter, but not every no-hitter is a perfect game.
Postseason no-hitters
In baseball history, there have only been two no-hitters thrown in the postseason.
The first was Don Larsen's perfect game for the Yankees against the Dodgers on Oct. 8, 1956, in Game 5 of the World Series.
The late, great Hall of Famer Roy Halladay joined Larsen as the second man to throw a no-hitter in the postseason when he no-hit the Cincinnati Reds for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2010 NLDS.
Most recent no-hitters
Team | Pitcher | Date | Opponent |
---|---|---|---|
Arizona Diamondbacks | Edwin Jackson | June 25, 2010 | Tampa Bay Rays |
Atlanta Braves | Kent Mercker | April 8, 1994 | Los Angeles Dodgers |
Baltimore Orioles | John Means | May 5, 2021 | Seattle Mariners |
Boston Red Sox | Jon Lester | May 19, 2008 | Kansas City Royals |
Chicago Cubs | Alec Mills | Sept. 13, 2020 | Milwaukee Brewers |
Chicago White Sox | Carlos Rodon | April 14, 2021 | Cleveland |
Cincinnati Reds | Homer Bailey | July 3, 2013 | San Francisco Giants |
Cleveland Indians | Len Barker | May 15, 1981 | Toronto Blue Jays |
Colorado Rockies | Ubaldo Jimenez | April 17, 2010 | Atlanta Braves |
Detroit Tigers | Justin Verlander | May 7, 2011 | Toronto Blue Jays |
Houston Astros | Justin Verlander | Sept. 1, 2019 | Toronto Blue Jays |
Kansas City Royals | Brett Saberhagen | Aug. 26, 1991 | Chicago White Sox |
Los Angeles Angels | Combined: Taylor Cole (2 IP) Félix Peña (7 IP) |
July 12, 2019 | Seattle Mariners |
Los Angeles Dodgers | Combined: Walker Buehler (6 IP) Tony Cingrani (1 IP) Yimi Garcia (1 IP) Adam Liberator (1 IP) |
May 4, 2018 | San Diego Padres |
Miami Marlins | Edinson Volquez | June 3, 2017 | Arizona Diamondbacks |
Milwaukee Brewers | Juan Nieves | April 15, 1987 | Baltimore Orioles |
Minnesota Twins | Francisco Liriano | May 3, 2011 | Chicago White Sox |
New York Mets | Johan Santana | June 1, 2012 | St. Louis Cardinals |
New York Yankees | David Cone | July 18, 1999 | Montreal Expos |
Oakland Athletics | Mike Fiers | May 7, 2019 | Cincinnati Reds |
Philadelphia Phillies | Cole Hamels | July 25, 2015 | Chicago Cubs |
Pittsburgh Pirates | Combined: Francisco Cordova (9 IP) Ricardo Rincón (1 IP) |
July 12, 1997 | Houston Astros |
San Diego Padres | Joe Musgrove | April 9, 2021 | Texas Rangers |
San Francisco Giants | Chris Heston | June 9, 2015 | New York Mets |
Seattle Mariners | James Paxton | May 8, 2018 | Toronto Blue Jays |
St. Louis Cardinals | Bud Smith | Sept. 3, 2001 | San Diego Padres |
Tampa Bay Rays | Matt Garza | July 26, 2010 | Detroit Tigers |
Texas Rangers | Kenny Rogers | July 28, 1994 | California Angels |
Toronto Blue Jays | Dave Stieb | Sept. 2, 1990 | Cleveland |
Washington Nationals | Max Scherzer | Oct. 3, 2015 | New York Mets |
Bold lettering denotes a perfect game.
List of perfect games
Since 1903 — the World Series era — there have been 21 perfect games. There have been 23 perfectos total when factoring in pre-modern era play.
Pitcher | Date | Team | Opponent |
---|---|---|---|
Felix Hernandez | Aug. 15, 2012 | Seattle Mariners | Tampa Bay Rays |
Matt Cain | June 13, 2012 | San Francisco Giants | Houston Astros |
Philip Humber | Apr. 21, 2012 | Chicago White Sox | Seattle Mariners |
Roy Halladay | May 29, 2010 | Philadelphia Phillies | Florida Marlins |
Dallas Braden | May 9, 2010 | Oakland A's | Tampa Bay Rays |
Mark Buehrle | July 23, 2009 | Chicago White Sox | Tampa Bay Rays |
Randy Johnson | May 18, 2004 | Arizona Diamondbacks | Atlanta Braves |
David Cone | July 18, 1999 | New York Yankees | Montreal Expos |
David Wells | May 17, 1998 | New York Yankees | Minnesota Twins |
Kenny Rogers | July 28, 1994 | Texas Rangers | California Angels |
Dennis Martinez | July 28, 1991 | Montreal Expos | Los Angeles Dodgers |
Tom Browning | Sept. 16, 1988 | Cincinnati Reds | Los Angeles Dodgers |
Mike Witt | Sept. 30, 1984 | California Angels | Texas Rangers |
Len Barker | May 15, 1981 | Cleveland Indians | Toronto Blue Jays |
Catfish Hunter | May 8, 1968 | Oakland A's | Minnesota Twins |
Sandy Koufax | Sept. 9, 1965 | Los Angeles Dodgers | Chicago Cubs |
Jim Bunning | June 21, 1964 | Philadelphia Phillies | New York Mets |
Don Larsen | Oct. 8, 1956 | New York Yankees | Brooklyn Dodgers |
Charlie Robertson | April 30, 1922 | Chicago White Sox | Detroit Tigers |
Addie Joss | Oct. 2, 1908 | Cleveland Naps | Chicago White Sox |
Cy Young | May 5, 1904 | Boston Americans | Philadelphia A's |
John Ward | June 17, 1880 | Providence Grays | Buffalo Bisons |
Lee Richmond | June 12, 1880 | Worcester Ruby Legs | Cleveland Blues |
Don Larsen's perfect game remains the only perfect game in postseason history.
No-hitters by team
Team | Number of no-hitters |
---|---|
Los Angeles Dodgers | 26 |
Chicago White Sox | 20 |
Boston Red Sox | 18 |
San Francisco Giants | 17 |
Cincinnati Reds | 16 |
Chicago Cubs | 16 |
Atlanta Braves | 14 |
Cleveland Indians | 14 |
Philadelphia Phillies | 13 |
Oakland Athletics | 13 |
Houston Astros | 12 |
New York Yankees | 11 |
Los Angeles Angels | 11 |
St. Louis Cardinals | 9 |
Detroit Tigers | 7 |
Washington Nationals | 7 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 6 |
Miami Marlins | 6 |
Seattle Mariners | 6 |
Baltimore Orioles (modern) | 6 |
Minnesota Twins | 5 |
Texas Rangers | 5 |
Kansas City Royals | 4 |
Louisville Colonels | 4 |
Philadelphia Athletics | 4 |
Baltimore Orioles (old) | 3 |
Arizona Diamondbacks | 2 |
Buffalo Bisons | 2 |
Columbus Buckeyes | 2 |
Providence Grays | 2 |
Brooklyn Tip-Tops | 1 |
Chicago Chi-Feds/Whales | 1 |
Cincinnati Outlaw Reds | 1 |
Cleveland Blues | 1 |
Cleveland Spiders | 1 |
Colorado Rockies | 1 |
Kansas City Cowboys | 1 |
Kansas City Packers | 1 |
Milwaukee Brewers (old) | 1 |
Milwaukee Brewers (modern) | 1 |
New York Mets | 1 |
Pittsburgh Rebels | 1 |
Rochester Broncos | 1 |
San Diego Padres | 1 |
Tampa Bay Rays | 1 |
Toronto Blue Jays | 1 |
Italic lettering indicates defunct/moved franchises.
Tom Gatto contributed to this report.