He had a 22-27 MLB record coming in. He had been traded by the Brewers with Carlos Gomez for a bunch of minor leaguers. But last night, a kid from Hollywood, Florida became a star for a night. Pitcher Mike Fiers (pronounced Fires,) of the Astros threw a no-hitter at the first-place Dodgers, as his team won 3-0. It was the first one-pitcher no-hitter by an Astro since the late Darryl Kile no-hit the Mets at the AstroDome. It was the tenth one-man no-no by the Houston franchise, going back to Don Nottebart throwing one for the Houston Colt .45s in 1963. Fiers threw 134 pitches on his way into the record books, an extraordinary number in 2015 baseball. Unlike many no-hitters, there wasn’t a play you could call a “web gem,” behind Fiers to propel him over the top. Another oddity for hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park, there had been a one-hitter thrown there the night before by the Rays’ Chris Archer.
The Air is Rare, Home Runs Aren’t
Jim Rome tagged Coors Field with the name “Coors Canaveral,” when it opened in 1995 because of how the ball traveled in the light air. Last night’s contest with the Mets was a vintage Coors Canaveral game with the Rockies coming off second-best, 14-9. Just for starters, Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets put up 3 home runs and 7 rbis, plus a single and a double in six trips. Travis D’Arnaud and Michael Conforto went back-to-back in the 7th. Had that happened 50 years ago you could bet the next batter up would end up on the back of his lap. For their part, the Rockies tried to make a fight of it with 3 home runs of their own, chasing Mets’ starter Bartolo Colon and coming back from a 7-1 early deficit, but on this night the Mets had too many horses-something no Mets fan would have banked on in May and June of this year.
Sorry, old Pal
Yesterday, I said the Washington Nationals had a soft week-end ahead as they faced the 52-70 Milwaukee Brewers. My former broadcast intern Joe Block broadcasts for Milwaukee along with baseball legend Bob Uecker. I spent the entire 2000 season picking on Joe to toughen him up on his route to the top. I guess I was subconsciously still giving him the needle in this space yesterday. The Brewers had one of their better nights, wiping out the Nationals 10-3. One of the heroes was Domingo Santana, who had been acquired in the Mike Fiers-Carlos Gomez trade. In his first major league game Santana powered a 2-run home run to lead the Brewers to victory. Hope you had a fun night, Joe.