In what felt like a scene out of Groundhog Day, the Astros held the Yankees hitless for six innings a day after throwing a combined no-hitter against them on Saturday, making it 16 straight no-hit innings dating back to the end of Friday's game for their pitching staff. They fell just eight outs shy of baseball history, because no team has ever thrown no-hitters in back-to-back games.

Even still, Houston’s pitching staff did something extremely rare in keeping the Bombers’ vaunted lineup hitless for 16 consecutive innings, which tied the longest such streak in at least the expansion era (since 1961). The Dodgers did it against the Astros in 1981 and the A’s did it against the Rangers and the Twins in 1973, per the Elias Sports Bureau. Both Los Angeles and Oakland won the World Series in those years.

“The staff, all the way through from the starters to relievers, did a great job executing what we asked them to do,” catcher Jason Castro said. “That was pitch-calling and pitch sequencing and stuff. You can kind of interchange pitches a lot of times. It’s about executing what you’re throwing. You can’t say enough for not only what they did this series, but what they’ve been doing all year for us.”

Right-hander José Urquidy followed up Cristian Javier’s brilliant starting effort on Saturday with 6 1/3 no-hit innings on Sunday afternoon before Giancarlo Stanton broke up the no-hitter with a home run with one out in the seventh inning. The Yankees would go on to win the game, 6-3, after Aaron Judge hit a three-run walk-off homer in the 10th.

“He was great,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said of Urquidy. “That’s the best game he’s thrown this year. To hold the Yankees to [16] or so innings hitless, that’s a pretty good job of pitching.”

Only one pitcher, Johnny Vander Meer of the Reds, has ever thrown a no-hitter in back-to-back starts, a record that is widely believed will never be broken.