Chris Heston tosses Giants’ fourth no-hitter in the past four seasons
The San Francisco Giants must have some incriminating photos of the baseball gods. No team has been more fortunate over the past few years than San Francisco.
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It’s not just the three World Series titles in the past six seasons, either. The club seems to have a knack for throwing no-hitters lately.
The Dodgers needed just one man to accomplish the feat. The Giants have needed three.
Chris Heston became the latest member of the organization to throw a no-no Tuesday. Tim Lincecum accomplished the feat in both 2014 and 2013, and Matt Cain did it back in 2012.
If you want to extend that fact a little further, you don’t have to go far.
Did you forget about Jonathan Sanchez’s no-hitter back in 2009? He pitched one heck of a game.
In fact, it might be fun to look at each pitcher’s stat line from each of their no-hitters.
| Year | Player | IP | H | BB | K | HBP | GS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Jonathan Sanchez | 9 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 98 |
| 2012 | Matt Cain | 9 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 101 |
| 2013 | Tim Lincecum | 9 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 96 |
| 2014 | Tim Lincecum | 9 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 92 |
| 2015 | Chris Heston | 9 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 98 |
The “GS” column refers to game score, a metric developed by Bill James that evaluates pitchers starts. According to the stat, Cain’s no-no in 2012 was the best of the bunch. That’s not a surprise, considering he struck out 14 hitters without giving up a walk.
Heston’s is tied for second with Sanchez. Amazingly, Sanchez did not issue a walk during his no-hitter. Sanchez walked exactly five hitters per every nine innings he pitched over his career.
Lincecum may have the two lowest game scores of the group, but he’s the only player to appear on this list twice. That’s a pretty significant accomplishment, so we’re sure he’s not too upset about his game score.
[On this week’s StewPod: Who belongs in the baseball video-game Hall of Fame?]
If recent history is any indication, the Giants won’t receive any odd year magic in the playoffs this season. Still, Tuesday’s no-no confirms that the baseball gods still favor San Francisco. Well, that and the fact that they hate the Mets.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
