15 amazing facts about Fiers' no-hitter

A's right-hander Mike Fiers delivered the first no-hitter of the 2019 MLB season on Tuesday, completing the rare feat against the Reds in a 2-0 win at Oakland Coliseum.

Here are 15 amazing facts about the historic night:

• Fiers' no-hitter was the 300th in MLB history, including the postseason, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. It was also the first no-hitter since James Paxton's for the Mariners against the Blue Jays almost a year ago to the day, on May 8, 2018.

• This was the second no-hitter of Fiers' career. He threw one for the Astros on Aug. 21, 2015, against the Dodgers.

• Fiers is the 35th pitcher to throw multiple no-hitters, including the postseason, per Elias. The most recent to accomplish the feat was Jake Arrieta, who threw his second career no-hitter for the Cubs on April 21, 2016 -- also against the Reds. That was the most recent time the Reds were no-hit before Fiers got them on Tuesday.

• Fiers’ first no-hitter came a little more than two months after his 30th birthday. That makes him just the seventh pitcher to have multiple no-hitters in his 30s or beyond.

• The A's now have two of the past four no-hitters in MLB. Sean Manaea threw their most recent one before Fiers, against the Red Sox on April 21 of last season. Paxton's and the Dodgers' combined no-hitter against the Padres in Mexico last May are the only ones between Fiers' and Manaea's.

• Fiers' no-hitter is the 13th in A's franchise history. It's the eighth since the team moved to Oakland in 1968.

• Fiers threw 131 pitches in Tuesday's no-hitter. The last pitcher to throw at least 130 pitches in a no-no was … Fiers. He threw 134 pitches when he no-hit Los Angeles.

• The last pitcher to throw 130-plus pitches in any Major League game was the Braves' Sean Newcomb, last July 29 (134 pitches). In that game, Newcomb fell one out shy of a no-hitter against the Dodgers, losing his bid on a single by Chris Taylor.

• Both of Fiers' no-hitters have been in Interleague games. That gives him two of the six no-hitters thrown in Interleague Play -- the most recent two.

• In an odd twist, Fiers’ performance means that each of the past seven pitchers to throw a no-hitter for an American League team have played in the AL West. The A’s have two of those, the Mariners have three and the Astros and Angels both have one. Yet, none of those seven have come against another AL West team.

• Besides his two no-hitters, Fiers has started 160 MLB games and never once recorded an out beyond the eighth inning. That makes him the first pitcher in MLB history to throw a no-hitter in both of his first two complete games, according to STATS.

• The Reds only hit three balls that had an expected batting average above .250, according to Statcast, based on their exit velocity and launch angle: Yasiel Puig’s second-inning fly ball to the center field warning track (.860), Joey Votto’s sixth-inning fly ball that center fielder Ramon Laureano pulled back from over the wall (.620), and Jose Iglesias’ eighth-inning groundout (.340).

• It just so happens that when Fiers threw his first no-hitter, the opposing starting pitcher was Brett Anderson, then of the Dodgers. Anderson is now Fiers’ teammate on the A’s and is scheduled to start against the Reds on Wednesday.

• Prior to Tuesday, opponents had hit .297 this season against Fiers, who had allowed 44 hits in 37 innings. That was tied for the seventh-highest opponent average among 100 qualified pitchers, while Fiers’ 10.7 hits-per-nine-innings rate was ninth highest in that group.

• Meanwhile, Fiers’ 6.81 season ERA entering the game is the highest for any pitcher at the time of his no-hitter -- with a minimum of 25 innings -- since ERA became an official statistic in 1913, according to STATS.