Colorado Rockies right-hander German Márquez nearly threw the eighth no-hitter of the 2021 regular season on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Had he completed the no-hit bid, he would've made modern Major League Baseball history in the process.
The modern record for the most no-hitters in a season is seven. That mark has been reached five times over the years, including this season and in 2015. The only other time the league had experienced eight no-nos in a single season came back in 1884.
Márquez had little trouble dispensing the Pirates throughout the night as part of a blowout 8-0 victory. Though he struck out only five batters, he issued just one walk and was able to get through the first eight frames on 86 pitches. Alas, he allowed a hard-hit single to right by Ka'ai Tom on the second pitch of the ninth that dashed his no-hit dreams. Márquez would rebound, retiring the side and preserving a one-hit shutout on just 92 pitches.
Shortstop Trevor Story, whose days with the Rockies appear to be coming to an end as the trade deadline nears, made what appeared to be the requisite defensive highlight of the late innings in the eighth:
Márquez also went 2 for 4 at the plate with a double and a run batted in.
Márquez entered Tuesday having posted a 3.99 ERA (114 ERA+) and a 2.28 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his first 16 starts this season. For his career, he had accumulated a 4.21 ERA (114 ERA+) and a 3.46 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The only no-hitter in Rockies history was recorded in April 2010 by Ubaldo Jiménez against the Atlanta Braves. The Rockies, for their part, have been on the receiving end of three no-hitters, including one at home in 1996 by Hideo Nomo then of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nomo's no-hitter is still the only no-no ever thrown at the notoriously hitter-friendly Coors Field.
Conversely, the Pirates have been no-hit 13 times. Pittsburgh was most recently victimized last August, when Chicago White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito did the deed. Prior to that, the Pirates had not been no-hit since the 2015 season.
