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

Sean Manaea made his 2019 season debut on Sunday, Sept. 1 for the Oakland Athletics, his first start in over a year (last was Aug. 24, 2018). His return makes a unique trio of starters for the Green and Gold.

When left-handed pitcher and facial hair aficionado Sean Manaea made his season debut on Sunday for the Oakland Athletics, pitching five scoreless innings against the New York Yankees, he will provide a bump to the starting rotation that has had to shoulder a lot for this potential playoff team.

Manaea started in place of Mike Fiers – who has thrown at least five innings in 22 consecutive starts and at least 85 pitches in 19 of his last 20 starts – and when he did, he created a rare combination in the A’s starting rotation.

Manaea, Fiers and Homer Bailey – who will each start in three consecutive games – have all thrown no-hitters in their MLB careers (Fiers and Bailey have each thrown two).

It is the first time in MLB that a team has had three pitchers who have each throw a no-hitter start in three consecutive games since… I don’t know because Tim Kurkjian didn’t reply to my Tweet.

Regardless, it is an exciting proposition for the A’s, who didn’t have enough trust in their starting staff in 2018 to throw one guy out there in the Wild Card Game.

In light of the A’s new triplets, let’s take a look at the five no-hitters and see who’s was best.

5. Mike Fiers vs Cincinnati, May 7, 2019

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.

3. Mike Fiers vs Los Angeles Dodgers, Aug. 21, 2015

Keeping with the trend, Mike Fiers’ first no-hitter, a tight 3-0 win at home, was the best of his two.

The most strenuous of the bunch – 134 pitches (the most of the five) and a high of three walks (each coming in one of the first three innings) – also tied for the lead with 10 strikeouts, six of which came in the final three frames, including a 13-pitch eighth in which he struck out the side and a swinging K of Justin Turner to end the outing.

After allowing a leadoff walk in the third and getting that runner out on a fielder’s choice, Fiers retired the final 19 batters, featuring only two outfield flyouts and no ball that had much of a chance to drop for a hit.

No fantastic defensive plays were needed, but Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Jake Marisinick played strong behind 6-foot-2 Fiers.

2. Homer Bailey at Pittsburgh Pirates, Sept. 28, 2012

Homer Bailey’s first no-hitter – and the first of the five – was impressive for a number of reasons.

It was the only one to happen on the road, coming in Pittsburgh against an NL Central division rival in front of 35,000 fans. It was the latest in the season, coming in the last week of September while the Reds were preparing for the postseason (they lost in the NLDS to future WS champion San Francisco). Bailey also got the least run support: a single run, coming in the top of the first inning on a sac fly by Todd Frazier.

Bailey struck out 10 and allowed only two baserunners, one on an error to lead off the third and one on a walk to Andrew McCutchen – who was caught stealing third one pitch after successfully swiping second – in the seventh inning, facing one above the minimum for the game.

Bailey’s performance had the most WPA at 0.799 and the highest Game Score at 96 on baseball-reference. 

He allowed the least balls in the air (five flyouts and two lineouts) and the most groundballs with 11.

Bailey also had the fewest contact rate, allowing only 39 strikes to be contacted (either fouled off or put in play) and he produced the second-most swinging strikes (15, the only one with more was his first, which had 16).

Fun added bonus: one of his out came on a foul bunt strikeout by opposing pitcher A.J. Burnett in the third inning (sometimes, pitchers batting is nice).

1. Sean Manaea vs Boston Red Sox, April 21, 2018

Sean Manaea’s no-hitter, a 3-0 win at the Coliseum early in the 2018 season, was a great game regardless of the opponent: 10 strikeouts (tied for the most), only two walks, an equal number of groundouts (nine) and flyouts (nine) in only 108 pitches, the fewest of the bunch.

What makes his performance the most impressive was the competition.

The 2018 Boston Red Sox, the eventual World Series champions and possibly one of the greatest teams off all-time, were 17-2 coming into the contest (the best record of a team that was no-hit, according to Elias) and had just won eight in a row, only twice during the first 19 games scoring fewer than three runs (both wins) and scoring 10 or more runs four times.

That team went on to be shutout only six times in the season en route to winning 108 games and leading the majors in hits (1509), batting average (.268), runs (876) and extra-base hits (594), all by a fairly wide margin (the gap in batting average between the Red Sox and the no. 2 team was the same margin as the one between the no. 2 and no. 14 teams).

Manaea walked eventual MVP Mookie Betts to open the game, following that up by retiring the next 14 batters before an error by Marcus Semien on a popup allowed a runner to reach with two outs in the fifth before throwing a wild pitch where the runner advanced to second. Manaea proceeded to strike out Jackie Bradley Jr. (the E-6 was briefly ruled a single and only until the eighth inning did Manaea realize he still had a no-hitter, according to Jane Lee).

Andrew Benintendi – who was ruled out on a controversial play in the sixth when he reached first but was called out after a review because he ran outside of the basepaths – walked with two outs in the top of the ninth, but Manaea got a force-out the next batter to close the best no-hitter by an Oakland Athletics’ pitcher currently on the roster.

Plus, he’s a lefty, which makes it much cooler.