Mariners pitcher James Paxton has become the sixth pitcher in team history to throw a no-hitter. It happened Tuesday night as the Mariners beat the Blue Jays, 5-0, in Toronto.
Paxton, who is a native of Ladner, British Columbia, also became the first Canadian-born Major League pitcher to toss a no-hitter on his home soil.
After the game, Paxton talked about when he knew something special might happen.
"It was probably, like, the sixth inning that I realized what was happening. And then I just was focused on making my pitches and getting ahead of guys, you know, getting into two-strikes counts, kind of put them away. And staying over the plate... and then we had the defense making amazing plays," Paxton said.
The other no-hitters in Mariners history belong to Randy Johnson in 1990, Chris Bosio in 1993, Felix Hernandez in his perfect game in 2012, a combined no hitter that same year from Kevin Milwood and five relievers, and the last no hitter before Paxton from Hisashi Iwakuma in 2015.
Paxton’s is the only Mariners no-hitter to happen on the road, and this milestone comes on the heels of another strong performance last week against the Oakland A's. Paxton had 16 strikeouts during the game, but the Mariners eventually lost.
