Guardians Rookie Parker Messick Loses No-Hitter in the 9th Inning

Cleveland Guardians rookie Parker Messick lost his no-hitter on the first batter in the top of the ninth inning. Baltimore Orioles outfielder Leody Taveras knocked a single into right field to spoil Messick’s bid. He carried the no-hitter through eight innings, in which Messick walked two batters and matched a career high with nine strikeouts. Messick was pulled from the game after allowing another hit to shortstop Blaze Alexander, and was ultimately tagged with two earned runs when relief pitcher Cade Smith allowed RBIs to Gunnar Henderson and Pete Alonso. Messick came close to throwing the first no-hitter in the majors since Sept. 4, 2024, when Shota Imanaga and two Chicago Cubs relievers combined to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-0, and the first no-hitter for Cleveland’s organization since Len Barker’s perfect game on May 15, 1981, against the Toronto Blue Jays. Cleveland has the majors’ longest current gap between no-hitters. 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 faced one batter more than the minimum. He walked leadoff hitter Taylor Ward before retiring the next 15 batters. Ward hit a deep flyball to center field in the third inning that Steven Kwan caught at the wall, and Jose Ramirez made a nice stop on a grounder by Coby Mayo deep in the hole at third to end the fifth. Messick walked Taveras leading off the sixth, but Ward grounded into a double play to end the inning. Ramírez also made a terrific grab in foul territory to retire Samuel Basallo leading off the eighth. This was just Messick’s 11th career start at the major league level. He was the 54th overall pick in the 2022 amateur draft out of Florida State and made his big league debut last year. Messick came into the game with a 5-1 career mark and a 2.04 ERA. He was 2-0 with a 0.51 ERA in his first three starts this season. The Guardians backed up Messick with Ramírez’s two-run homer in the first and RBI singles by Kwan in the fifth and George Valera in the sixth. The Associated Press contributed to this report.