ST. PETERSBURG, FL (AP) --
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Matt Garza has tossed the fifth
no-hitter of the baseball season and the first in Tampa Bay Rays'
history.
Garza allowed only a one-out walk in the second inning and faced
the minimum 27 batters, retiring Ramon Santiago on a flyout to
right to end his 120-pitch gem in the Rays' 5-0 win over the
Detroit Tigers.
Garza said "it was one of those days when everything lined up"
for the 26-year-old right-hander. Garza struck out six and improved
to 11-and-5 on the season.
Matt Joyce lined a grand slam with two out in the sixth inning
for the first hit off Detroit starter Max Scherzer as he and Garza
had dueling no-hitter for awhile.
The Rays have been held hitless three times since last July,
including a pair of perfect games that were thrown against them.
According to STATS LLC, the last time there were at least five
no-hitters in a season was 1991, when Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan
threw one of seven in the big leagues that year.
The other no-hitters this year were thrown by Arizona's Edwin
Jackson, Philadelphia's Roy Halladay, Oakland's Dallas Braden and
Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez (oo-BAHL'-doh hih-MEHN'-ehz). Halladay
and Braden threw perfect games.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
