However things turn out, 2015 will go down as a magical season for the Houston Astros. On Friday night, Mike Fiers added a pretty neat trick of his own.
For nine innings and a career-high 134 pitches, Fiers held the Los Angeles Dodgers hitless, scattering three walks and striking out 10. It was the fifth no-hitter thrown in MLB this year and the 11th in Astros franchise history.
Most strikingly, it was the first shutout and the first complete game of Fiers’ career. He’d never even pitched into the ninth inning in a big league contest.
Quite simply, the 30-year-old right-hander elevated his game to a place no one knew it could go.
It may have been uncharted territory, but Fiers never doubted he could get it done, as he explained after the game.
“Obviously everybody wants to throw a no-hitter and do everything you can to do that as a pitcher,” he said, per Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle. “I told [manager A.J. Hinch] I wasn’t going to come out of the game. He was literally going to have to throw me in the clubhouse, lock me somewhere. This doesn’t happen often.”
Speaking of things that don’t happen often, at least lately, the ‘Stros have been giving their fans reasons to cheer all season.
A perennially lousy, small-budget club virtually no one picked as a postseason contender, Houston has set the pace in the AL West and holds a 3.5-game division lead over the Los Angeles Angels entering play Saturday.
That’s quite a turnaround after three consecutive 100-loss campaigns between 2011 and 2013 and a 92-loss “rebound” in 2014.
As Jacob B. Lourim of USA Today noted Aug. 4, “There are tangible reasons for the turnaround, from a revamped bullpen…to prospects emerging from a fertile farm system, to new blood coming from winning clubhouses and raising expectations to fit their new potential.”
Still, it’s been an eye-opening about-face.
Now, as if the Astros’ impressive, unexpected rise needed another punctuation mark, here comes Fiers.
Acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers as the “other guy” in the July 30 deal that netted All-Star center fielder Carlos Gomez, Fiers seemed like a decent addition at best, a serviceable arm that wouldn’t make or break the Astros’ October dreams.
On Friday at hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park, against a powerful Dodgers lineup, Fiers convincingly played the role of genuine world-beater.
Yes, it’s only one game. And, impressive as they are, no-hitters are becoming more commonplace in today’s pitching-dominated MLB, as I recently outlined.
More than a harbinger of things to come, though, Fiers’ no-no represents another triumph in a charmed season in East Texas. And all the better that it came against Los Angeles, owner of baseball’s gaudiest payroll.
ESPN Stats & Info broke down the disparity between the thrifty ‘Stros and free-spending Dodgers:
The Astros haven’t won anything yet, other than respect. But, as Fiers’ dominance further solidified, they look like a club with momentum and the wind at their backs.
They have a leading candidate for AL Rookie of the Year honors in shortstop Carlos Correa. They have a lineup that leads the AL in dingers. They have first place in the West.
And now they have Mike Fiers, unexpected no-hitter thrower.
Add it to the growing pile of magical moments. And don’t be surprised if they have more tricks up their sleeves for the stretch run.
All statistics and standings current as of Aug. 21 and courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.
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