Reds no-hitter history
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The Reds have accumulated 17 no-hitters in their 100-year-plus history and at least one in three different centuries. The feat has been accomplished by some of the game’s greatest pitchers, and in some cases, twice.
MLB.com takes a look back at each no-hitter in Reds history.
May 7, 2021: Wade Miley
Reds 3, Indians 0
In his 11th Major League season, Miley was brilliant at Progressive Field, walking one and striking out eight on 114 pitches (72 strikes) to complete the fourth no-hitter in the first five weeks of the 2021 MLB season. The left-hander worked quickly and outdueled Zach Plesac, who turned in a great performance himself with eight scoreless innings. The game was scoreless until the top of the ninth inning, when Cincinnati broke through for three runs thanks to a pair of Cleveland errors and an RBI single by Mike Moustakas.
July 2, 2013: Homer Bailey
Reds 3, Giants 0
Bailey needed just 109 pitches to no-hit the defending world champions in the summer of 2013. He was perfect through six innings before surrendering a leadoff walk to Gregor Blanco to begin the seventh inning and promptly retired the next nine batters to notch his second no-hitter in 10 months. He struck out nine batters and became the first pitcher since Nolan Ryan in 1974 and '75 to own baseball’s two most recent no-hitters.
The Reds went 90-72 that season and lost in the National League Wild Card Game to the Pirates.
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Sept. 28, 2012: Homer Bailey
Reds 1, Pirates 0
Bailey’s first no-hitter came in a win by the slimmest of margins. The Reds scored a run in the first inning but did not provide additional run support after that. Bailey didn't need it, however, as he battled Pirates starter A.J. Burnett.
"I just kept trying to put up zeroes, seeing how A.J. pitched against us all year," Bailey would say after the game. ”We only had the one run, so I just tried to keep putting up zeroes.”
Clint Barmes reached on an error by Scott Rolen in the third inning, and Bailey walked a batter in the seventh, but that was the last runner to reach base for the Pirates in the game. Bailey recorded 10 strikeouts. The Reds won 97 games that season and clinched their second division title in three years.
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Sept. 16, 1988: Tom Browning
Reds 1, Dodgers 0
Browning claims the lone perfect game in Reds history, a game in which his counterpart -- Dodgers starter Tim Belcher -- took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. Browning needed 102 pitches to complete the perfect game. He struck out seven. The game was delayed 2 1/2 hours by rain, but took only one hour and 51 minutes to complete once underway.
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June 16, 1978: Tom Seaver
Reds 4, Cardinals 0
Seaver no-hit the Cardinals at Riverfront Stadium and needed just three strikeouts to do so. After allowing three walks in the first two innings, Seaver was perfect over the next six frames as he took the no-hitter into the ninth. He worked around a leadoff walk and added another accolade to an already decorated 20-year career that included three NL Cy Young Awards.
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April 30, 1969: Jim Maloney
Reds 10, Astros 0
The Reds provided plenty of offense for Maloney’s second career no-hitter in a trouncing of the Astros. Maloney walked five and struck out 13 batters. He also helped his own cause by hitting a double and scoring two runs in the game. The Reds went 89-73 in Crosley Field’s final full season of operation.
July 29, 1968: George Culver
Reds 6, Phillies 1
Culver’s no-hitter came in the second game of a doubleheader, and it didn’t come easy. The Reds made three errors and Culver walked five. The Phillies scored a run on a sac fly in the second inning with the help of a couple of errors. But Culver managed to go the distance as the Reds swept the twin bill that day. He struck out four, and the Reds offered more than enough support offensively.
Aug. 19, 1965: Jim Maloney
Reds 1, Cubs 0 (10 innings)
Maloney’s first no hitter came in possibly the wildest fashion imaginable. He went a remarkable 10 innings in a win over the Cubs, struck out 12 betters and issued 10 walks in a 187-pitch outing. After a Leo Cardenas solo home run in the top of the 10th, Maloney got Ernie Banks to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.
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June 18, 1947: Ewell Blackwell
Reds 6, Braves 0
Blackwell struck out three and walked four when he no-hit the Boston Braves in 1947. Just four days after notching the historic feat, he took another no-hit bid to the ninth inning against the Brooklyn Dodgers before allowing a pair of hits in the final frame.
May 15, 1944: Clyde Shoun
Reds 1, Braves 0
Shoun no-hit the Boston Braves in his first start of the 1944 season after making a couple of appearances out of the bullpen. The lone baserunner Shoun allowed was a walk to opposing pitcher Jim Toban. His only run support came by way of a solo home run from Chuck Aleno.
June 15, 1938: Johnny Vander Meer
Reds 6, Dodgers 0
Vander Meer is the only pitcher in history to throw back-to-back-no hitters, the latter of which came against the Brooklyn Dodgers just four days after his first one. Vander Meer struck out seven and walked eight, including walking the bases loaded in the ninth, but was able to escape the jam and etch his place in history.
June 11, 1938: Johnny Vander Meer
Reds 3, Braves 0
The front end of Vander Meer’s historic feat came against the Boston Braves at Crosley Field four days before doing it again in Brooklyn. The lefty was sharper in this contest. He struck out three, walked four and recorded a hit in a Reds win.
May 11, 1919: Hod Eller
Reds, 6, Cardinals 0
Eller pitched the first no-hitter in the history of Crosley Field -- then called Redland Field -- at 24 years old when he blanked the Cardinals one May afternoon. Eller went on to win 19 games that season, and the Reds claimed their first World Series.
May 2, 1917: Fred Toney
Reds 1, Cubs 0 (10 innings)
Oddly enough, both 10-inning no-hitters in Reds history have come in 1-0 wins over the Cubs. Toney was responsible for the first. He struck out three and walked two as he made it through nine hitless innings. Jim Thorpe drove in the game’s only run in the top half of the 10th, and Toney finished the Cubs off in the bottom half of the inning to complete his no-hit bid.
July 12, 1900: Noodles Hahn
Reds 4, Phillies 0
Hahn walked two batters in a no-hit bid against the Phillies in 1900. He was a durable pitcher who logged more than 300 innings for three consecutive seasons from 1899-1901 and boasted a 23-8 record his rookie season.
April 22, 1898: Ted Breitenstein
Reds 11, Pirates 0
Breitenstein no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates in late April 1898. It was a historic day for Breitenstein and baseball because Jay Hughes of the Baltimore Orioles no-hit the Boston Beaneaters on the same day.
Oct. 15, 1892: Bumpus Jones
Reds 7, Pirates 1
Jones pitched the first no-hitter in franchise history for the Reds when he no-hit Pittsburgh in October 1892. It was his first Major League appearance in the final game of the season.