Rays no-hitter history

ST. PETERSBURG -- When Matt Garza took the mound at Tropicana Field on July 26, 2010, the Rays had been on the wrong end of no-hit history four times in the previous eight years. About two years later, Félix Hernández threw the 23rd perfect game in Major League history against them in Seattle.

But that one night in St. Petersburg, Garza put the shoe on the other foot. Two seasons after joining Tampa Bay’s rotation and pitching the club to the World Series as the American League Championship Series’ Most Valuable Player, Garza fired the first -- and, so far, only -- no-hitter in Rays history.

Garza’s effort came in a 5-0 win over the Tigers at the Trop. His only blemish was a second-inning walk to Brennan Boesch, which was immediately erased by an inning-ending double play. He threw 120 pitches, two-thirds of them for strikes, and faced the minimum 27 batters while striking out six.

For much of his history-making performance, Garza was locked in a pitcher’s duel. Detroit’s starting pitcher -- a 25-year-old right-hander you might have heard of: Max Scherzer -- held Tampa Bay hitless for five innings. In fact, the first hit Scherzer allowed was the game-breaker: Matt Joyce’s sixth-inning grand slam.

There was some poetic justice in that moment for Joyce. Almost exactly a month earlier, the Rays had been no-hit by the D-backs’ Edwin Jackson -- a bizarre, 149-pitch outing that took place about seven weeks after Dallas Braden pitched a perfect game against the Rays in Oakland on Mother’s Day. During pregame warmups the day after Jackson’s feat, some Tampa Bay players asked each other why the Rays had traded Jackson, a popular teammate and part of the 2008 club. Who’d they even get in that trade, anyway?

Well, it was Joyce. And fittingly enough, he was traded to the Rays for Jackson in December 2008 … by the Tigers.

With two outs in the ninth, the Tigers sent up pinch-hitter Ramon Santiago. Garza fired his 120th and final pitch to catcher Kelly Shoppach, and Santiago hit a fly ball to right field. Ben Zobrist settled under it, made the catch and jumped into the air. Garza raised both arms on the mound, where he was met first and lifted up by third baseman Evan Longoria. The entire Rays team, including fellow starters James Shields and David Price, soon joined the mob scene behind home plate.

Garza finished that season 15-10 with a 3.91 ERA and 150 strikeouts in 204 2/3 innings over 32 starts for the 96-win, AL East champion Rays. He was traded to the Cubs the following January for a huge return: prospect Hak-Ju Lee, outfielders Sam Fuld and Brandon Guyer, catcher Robinson Chirinos and a pitching prospect named Chris Archer.

Garza can still claim the Rays’ only no-hitter, and they’ve never thrown a perfect game. Tampa Bay did throw eight perfect innings against the Orioles on July 14, 2019, when Ryne Stanek opened and Ryan Yarbrough pitched six spotless frames before allowing back-to-back singles in the ninth of what turned out to be a 4-1 win in Baltimore. Stanek and Yarbrough set a Rays team record by retiring 24 straight batters to begin the game.

Individually, the Rays have taken a handful of no-hit and perfect-game bids into the late innings. Here’s a look at some of their most memorable efforts.

Most consecutive hitless innings by one pitcher to start a game

Matt Garza: 9 vs. Tigers, July 26, 2010
Dewon Brazelton: 7 2/3 vs. Marlins, June 25, 2004
Tony Saunders: 7 2/3 vs. Orioles, April 22, 1999
Alex Cobb: 7 1/3 vs. Yankees, Sept. 11, 2014
Erasmo Ramírez: 7 vs. Yankees, Sept. 14, 2015
James Shields: 7 vs. Royals, Aug. 2, 2009

Most consecutive batters retired by one pitcher to start a game

19: Chris Archer vs. Tigers, July 29, 2015
18: Nathan Eovaldi vs. Mets, July 8, 2018
18: Garza vs. Red Sox, April 30, 2009
17: Blake Snell vs. D-backs, May 6, 2019
16: Jake Odorizzi vs. Yankees, May 29, 2016
16: Alex Colomé vs. Indians, June 21, 2015