James Paxton entered his outing on Tuesday night at Toronto coming off a dominant performance in which he struck out 16 over seven innings against the A's on Wednesday.
The Mariners left-hander somehow topped himself, twirling a no-hitter in Seattle's 5-0 victory at Rogers Centre. Paxton walked three and struck out seven for the third no-hitter of 2018, and second by an individual pitcher.
Here are some notable facts and figures about Paxton's performance.
:: James Paxton no-hitter ::
• Paxton, who was born in Ladner, British Columbia, became just the second Canadian-born pitcher to throw a no-hitter -- and he fittingly did it on Canadian soil. Dick Fowler (for the Philadelphia A's against the St. Louis Browns on Sept. 9, 1945) was the only Canadian-born hurler before Paxton to complete the feat.
• This is the second straight no-hitter thrown outside the United States, following the Dodgers' combined no-no against the Padres on Friday in Monterrey, Mexico. That was the first no-hitter to take place outside the United States or Canada, and Paxton's performance marks the sixth overall on Canadian soil (three in Toronto and three in Montreal). Along with A's ace Sean Manaea's no-hitter against the Red Sox on April 21 at the Coliseum, the 2018 season has now seen three no-hitters in three countries.
• Paxton's is the sixth no-hitter in Mariners history, and the first since Hisashi Iwakuma no-hit the Orioles on Aug. 12, 2015, at Safeco Field. Prior to that, Felix Hernandez tossed a perfect game against the Rays at Safeco on Aug. 15, 2012. However, this was the first time that the Mariners completed a no-no away from Seattle.

• Tuesday marked the third no-hitter thrown at Rogers Centre, following Justin Verlander's second no-no for the Tigers in 2011 and Dave Stewart's no-hitter for the A's in 1990.
• The Blue Jays were no-hit for the fifth time in franchise history, with the most recent coming via Verlander, seven years ago, nearly to the day, on May 7, 2011. Other pitchers who no-hit Toronto include Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan (1991), Stewart ('90) and Len Barker ('81).

• The National League has dominated the no-hitter landscape in recent years, as this was just the fourth thrown by an American League pitcher against an AL team, out of the past 22 individual no-hitters, since June 2012. Amazingly, three of those four have come via the Mariners, with Paxton following Iwakuma and Hernandez. The only other AL-vs.-AL no-no during that time came earlier this season, on Manaea's.
• Among all teams, Seattle's four no-hitters since 2012 are tied with San Francisco for the most during that time.

• Paxton blitzed through nine innings in just 99 pitches. That made him the 12th pitcher to record a no-hitter and a "Maddux" -- a shutout with less than 100 pitches thrown -- since 1988, the first year for which pitch-count data is complete. The last was Edinson Volquez for the Marlins on June 3, 2017.

• Paxton dug deep to complete his historic night, throwing his two fastest pitches of the season (99.5 mph and 99.0 mph, per Statcast™) on his last two pitches against Josh Donaldson. In fact, Paxton's 99.5 mph called strike to Donaldson on his penultimate pitch was also faster than any pitch the southpaw threw in 2017. As MLB.com's Mike Petriello noted, that kind of velocity is rare for a starter in the ninth frame.

• Paxton, one of the Major's premier strikeout artists, pitched to contact Tuesday to complete his incredibly efficient night. In his 16-strikeout outing last time out, Paxton racked up 31 swinging strikes to set an MLB high for any pitcher this season. Tuesday night, Paxton needed just 15 swings-and-misses.

• Paxton became just the eighth pitcher in history to record both a start with at least 16 strikeouts and a no-hitter in the same season. The Seattle lefty is just the third AL pitcher do so, with the others being Nolan Ryan (who accomplished both feats in his final no-hitter in 1991 with the Rangers) and Mike Witt ('84 with the Angels).

• This was Paxton's 82nd MLB start, and his first complete game. His previous career high was 8 1/3 innings, on Aug. 7, 2016, against the Angels. Paxton had completed eight innings four other times.

• Paxton's back-to-back dominant outings helped him compile a 16-inning scoreless streak, during which he's allowed five hits while striking out 23 batters and walking four.