On June 11, 2003, the Houston Astros threw a combined no-hitter against the New York Yankees in the Bronx. Just over 19 years later, history repeated itself.
While the 2003 no-hitter featured six pitchers, the Astros only needed three this time. Cristian Javier did most of the work, going seven innings before being pulled after throwing a career-high 115 pitches. Héctor Neris handled eighth inning duties and got into some trouble by walking two hitters, but got through the inning without allowing a hit when Aaron Judge hit into a fielder’s choice for the third out.
That cleared the stage for Ryan Pressly, who closed out the no-hitter in the ninth inning, last retiring Giancarlo Stanton.
The Houston Astros throw a combined no-hitter vs the New York Yankees!
pic.twitter.com/hI7wexwKAm — The Comeback (@thecomeback) June 25, 2022
Entering Saturday, the Yankees had MLB’s best record and led the league in runs scored, OPS and OPS+. Any no-hitter is notable. It’s even more notable when it comes against that kind of opponent. With that in mind, this effort caught the attention of the MLB world.
Javier went seven innings, walked one and struck out 13 hitters. Neris walked two and struck out one in his inning of work. Pressly pitched a perfect ninth inning, striking out two before the game-ending groundout from Stanton.
The series between these two American League powerhouses started terribly for the Astros, who blew a three-run ninth inning lead in a walk-off loss on Thursday. Since then, things have gone smoother. Houston defeated the Astros 3-1 on Friday, allowing only five hits. Now, the Astros have thrown a no-hitter and ensured that they’ll do no worse than split the four-game series in the Bronx.