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Ranking the No-Hitters of Sean Manaea, Mike Fiers and Homer Bailey

By Zachary Engberg

OAKLAND, CA - APRIL 21: Sean Manaea #55 of the Oakland Athletics celebrates after pitching a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox at the Oakland Alameda Coliseum on April 21, 2018 in Oakland, California. The Athletics won the game 3-0. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - APRIL 21: Sean Manaea #55 of the Oakland Athletics celebrates after pitching a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox at the Oakland Alameda Coliseum on April 21, 2018 in Oakland, California. The Athletics won the game 3-0. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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5. Mike Fiers vs Cincinnati, May 7, 2019

OAKLAND, CA – MAY 07: Mike Fiers #50 of the Oakland Athletics has Gatorade poured on him by teammates after pitching a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds at the Oakland Coliseum on May 7, 2019, in Oakland, California. The Oakland Athletics defeated the Cincinnati Reds 2-0. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – MAY 07: Mike Fiers #50 of the Oakland Athletics has Gatorade poured on him by teammates after pitching a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds at the Oakland Coliseum on May 7, 2019, in Oakland, California. The Oakland Athletics defeated the Cincinnati Reds 2-0. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images) /

The first no-hitter of the 2019 MLB season, the second of Mike Fiers’ career and the 13th in Oakland Athletics history was easily the most baseball-y of the five.

Fiers was 2-3 with a 6.81 ERA coming into the game, allowing at least five runs in four of his first eight starts while only made it into the seventh inning once and the A’s were 15-21.

The contest was postponed over an hour-and-a-half because of a light malfunction at the Coliseum, extending the matchup deep into the Oakland night.

Fiers’ second no-no had the fewest strikeouts (six), required the second-most pitches (131), saw the fewest swinging strikes (10) and had the most balls put in the air (11 flyouts).

It also saw the best individual defensive play, Ramon Laureano’s home-run-stealing catch in the sixth inning that came directly after Jurickson Profar’s stellar diving catch to save a bloop single.

All three of the baserunners he allowed (two walks and one E-5) came in the fourth inning or later, with both walks coming in the seventh frame.

Fiers ended the game, which bled well into the late-night, with a swinging strikeout, one of five in the game (he produced only one punchout looking).

He actually had the second-highest Win Probability Added – at 0.626 – of the five performances, but it was the least individually dominant and had three or four instances that it could have easily ended, but baseball had other plans for MLBs 300th ever no-hitter and the first of four (so far) in 2019.