The Cincinnati Reds and Oakland Athletics had the start of their game delayed by more than 90 minutes on Tuesday night due to a lighting malfunction. Once the technical problem was resolved, Mike Fiers treated everyone in attendance to a piece of history by tossing the eighth no-hitter in Athletics history since the franchise moved to Oakland in 1968. Fiers' effort was the second A's no-hitter in as many seasons, coming less than 13 months after Sean Manaea's last April. Meanwhile, it came nearly nine years to the day of Dallas Braden's perfect game.
Predictably, Fiers received some help from his defenders. Take a look:
Those plays didn't just happen in the same half-inning -- they happened on consecutive pitches.
The first saw second baseman Jurickson Profar run down a Kyle Farmer blooped to right before extending and making a diving grab. Profar has struggled on both sides of the ball this season, and has battled the yips recently. Yet on Tuesday he played the role of hero by making the snag above and by driving in both A's runs: one on a double, another on a solo shot.
The second play involved who else but Ramon Laureano, the brilliant center fielder with a knack for making rangy grabs and big-time throws. Joey Votto gave a hanging curveball a ride, sending it deep to left-center field and threatening to end the no-hitter and shutout in a swing. But Laureano had just enough time to close the gap and time his leap to rob Votto.
There's an old parlance about how it takes a village to raise a child. Thanks to plays like Profar's and Laureano's, the A's proved on Tuesday that it takes a team to throw a no-hitter.
