Every Orioles no-hitter in history
The Orioles have thrown 10 no-hitters in club history -- six since moving to Baltimore and four when they were previously known as the St. Louis Browns. Their most recent no-hitter was thrown by John Means in 2021. The O's are still seeking their first perfect game.
Here is a look back at the franchise’s no-hitters:
May 5, 2021: John Means
Orioles 6, Mariners 0
Means gave the Orioles their first no-hitter of the 21st century and first solo no-no in more than 50 years when he went into Seattle and carved up the Mariners. The left-hander faced the minimum, with the only batter reaching on a third-strike wild pitch before getting caught stealing. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first non-perfect no-no in Major League history that didn't include a walk, a hit by pitch or an error. This marked the first career complete game for Means, who tied a career high with 12 strikeouts.
July 13, 1991: Bob Milacki, Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson, Gregg Olson
Orioles 2, Athletics 0
This was the Orioles’ second combined no-hitter. Milacki pitched six innings in a 2-0 win over the A’s, but left the game because his “fingers were tingling,” according to The New York Times account of the game. He struck out three and walked three during his outing. Flanagan, Williamson and Olson each pitched an inning to complete the feat. The victory was only the second time in MLB history that four pitchers had combined on a no-hitter.
Aug. 13, 1969: Jim Palmer
Orioles 8, Athletics 0
After struggling with back and shoulder problems during the 1967-68 seasons, Palmer returned to the Major League field with a phenomenal 10-2 campaign on the season. He struck out eight batters on 142 pitches. While he issued six walks, three of those were to Reggie Jackson; Palmer insisted that wasn’t intentional in a postgame interview. The 8-0 win was the Orioles’ largest margin of victory for a no-hitter in club history, and it marked the third straight year in which the club pitched a no-hitter.
April 27, 1968: Tom Phoebus
Orioles 6, Red Sox 0
In 1967, Phoebus was named the American League Rookie Pitcher of the Year by The Sporting News, and he took that momentum into the following season. He hadn’t pitched in a week due to a cold and took a couple of innings to get into a groove before he began commanding the Red Sox hitters. Like any no-hitter, there were a few close calls -- like an eighth-inning line drive that Brooks Robinson snared with a diving catch -- but Phoebus struck out nine in the thriller.
April 30, 1967: Steve Barber, Stu Miller
Tigers 2, Orioles 1
In the first game of a doubleheader with the Tigers, Barber took a no-hitter into the ninth inning with a 1-0 lead. He then walked the first two batters of the ninth and threw a wild pitch to let the tying run score with two outs. He issued another walk before Miller relieved him. The Tigers scored the go-ahead run on an error, but the two pitchers still combined for the no-hitter. Barber’s final line: 8 2/3 innings, 10 walks, two hit batters, a wild pitch and a throwing error. Barber said to reporters after the game that he felt like he ran out of gas in the fifth inning and should've come out of the game sooner if not for the no-hit bid. He also told The Sporting News that “no-hitters are not worth anything in the books unless you win.”
Sept. 20, 1958: Hoyt Wilhelm
Orioles 1, Yankees 0
Wilhelm pitched the first no-hitter for the newly minted Baltimore Orioles. A relief pitcher for most of his career, this was just his third start for the Orioles and ninth of his career. Wilhelm retired the first seven batters before issuing his first walk in the third inning. He only needed 99 total pitches to finish the win, striking out eight batters along the way.
May 6, 1953: Bobo Holloman
Browns 6, Philadelphia Athletics 0
This was not a banner year for Holloman, who struggled to secure and keep his starting spot through most of the 1953 season. Without the no-hitter, which came in his first Major League start, Holloman probably wouldn’t have lasted with the club through the end of the month, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at the time. While he did make it through the May 14 roster cut deadline, he continued to pitch poorly throughout the summer and was eventually sold to the International League’s Toronto franchise on July 23.
May 6, 1917: Bob Groom
Browns 3, White Sox 0
This was the second of back-to-back no-hitters during the Browns' series against the Chicago White Sox. St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter W.J. O’Connor said in the postgame story that nothing even “remotely resembled a hit” in Groom’s no-hitter, unlike Ernie Koob’s controversial one the day before. Those White Sox went on to win the World Series.
May 5, 1917: Ernie Koob
Browns 1, White Sox 0
Multiple sportswriters at the time contended that what was the first of St. Louis’ back-to-back no-hitters was actually a one-hit shutout by Koob. The official scorer changed what was a first-inning hit to an error by second baseman Ernie Johnson after the game had ended, calling it a no-hitter well after the fact.
Aug. 30, 1912: Earl Hamilton
Browns 5, Tigers 1
Hamilton pitched the first no-hitter in franchise history. It was also the first no-strikeout no-hitter, which has only happened two more times since – once by the Yankees’ Sam Jones in 1923 and then by the Cubs’ Ken Holtzman in 1969. The Tigers’ lone run was scored after a walk and a throwing error by the Browns in the fourth inning.