10 unlikely pitchers who threw no-hitters in past 30 years

Tommy Greene, Philadelphia Phillies

May 23, 1991 | @ Montreal Expos | 10 strikeouts, 7 walks, 0 errors

The Phillies have had five starting pitchers since 1900 with a win-loss percentage of at least .600 and at least 75 starts. Three of those pitchers are Hall of Famers: Pete Alexander (.676), Roy Halladay (.655) and Steve Carlton (.600). The other two are a tad less distinguished: Robert Person (.613) and Tommy Greene (.621).

But what Alexander, Carlton and Person were never able to do — leaving Halladay and Greene as the only members of this Phillies group — was throw a no-hitter. Halladay did it twice, once in the playoffs and one in perfect fashion, and Greene achieved his early in the 1991 season against a formidable Expos lineup that featured Andres Galarraga and Larry Walker.

Jim Abbott, New York Yankees

September 4, 1993 | vs. Cleveland Indians | 3 strikeouts, 5 walks, 0 errors

No one is forgetting this classic anytime soon, but that doesn't mean it was expected to happen. At the time, the one-handed Abbott was 9-11 with a 4.31 ERA and had been absolutely torched by these same Indians the last time he took the hill. They lit him up for 10 hits and seven runs in just 3 2/3 innings pitched on their home turf.

But at Yankee Stadium, it was a whole different story. Abbott prevented Indians baserunners from ever getting into scoring position, kept the ball predominantly on the ground in order to force some key double plays and proved unhittable for that memorable game. It was no small feat either — the Indians featured fearsome hitters such as Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton and Carlos Baerga.

Kent Mercker, Atlanta Braves

April 8, 1994 | @ Los Angeles Dodgers | 10 strikeouts, 4 walks, 0 errors

The 1994 Atlanta Braves started off the season with about as fun a series as possible, sweeping the San Diego Padres on the road. The Hall of Fame trio of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz all twirled outings of at least seven innings pitched and without any runs surrendered, and Greg McMichael earned a win in a high-scoring finale. How could the season possibly start off on a better note?

How about if your fifth starter throws a no-hitter in his season debut? That's exactly what Kent Mercker did, entering hostile territory and defeating Mike Piazza's Dodgers with a brilliant outing. It was a great showing after a solid 1993 season for Mercker, most of which came in relief, though it didn't last all that long. By 1996, Mercker was splitting time with the Orioles and Indians and recording a 6.98 ERA for the season.

27 years ago today....Kent Mercker got his no-hitter against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium...Mercker wasn't one of the "Big 4" but he was steady with the Braves pic.twitter.com/YYFgTy4O22

— OlSkoolSports (@OlSkoolSports) April 9, 2021

Perhaps this no-no shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise though. Mercker was part of a combined no-hit effort with the Braves in 1991, pitching six innings to go along with two from Mark Wohlers and one from Alejandro Pena, who closed it out.

Jose Jimenez, St. Louis Cardinals

June 25, 1999 | @ Arizona Diamondbacks | 8 strikeouts, 2 walks, 0 errors

The 1999 Diamondbacks, who were 42-31 entering Jimenez's start, weren't a team you looked forward to facing. Luis Gonzalez was batting .373 entering the contest. Jay Bell, Matt Williams and Steve Finley were all having considerable success from the plate in the heart of the order alongside Gonzalez. The previous night, they had rallied back from a 7-5 deficit to score three runs in the bottom of the ninth in a walk-off win against the Cardinals. And in the second game, Randy Johnson was on the mound. He was 9-3 at the time in what would turn out to be the first of four straight Cy Young Award seasons.

So, obviously, it was Cardinals starter Jimenez — who would go on to record a 5-14 record with a 5.85 ERA in the 1999 season — who threw the no-no that night. His ERA entering that game was a whopping 6.69, and he hadn't given up fewer than two runs in a game the entire season prior to that evening. Heck, he was traded after the year was over and converted into a closer on his new team, the Colorado Rockies. Some days, however, everything just clicks.

Bud Smith, St. Louis Cardinals

September 3, 2001 | @ San Diego Padres | 7 strikeouts, 4 walks, 0 errors

On June 10, 2001, Bud Smith made his MLB debut. Three months later, he threw a no-hitter. And around 10 months after that, he made his final appearance, allowing eight earned runs over 4 2/3 innings. It was a short, wild ride for Smith, who was ultimately plagued by shoulder issues. The Phillies attempted to revive him after that 2002 season in which he posted a 6.94 ERA, receiving him as part of the package that brought Scott Rolen to St. Louis, but to no avail.

The stat that's perhaps most interesting about Smith's no-hitter was just how long Tony La Russa had to wait until he managed another no-no. It didn't happen with the Cardinals for all the years that followed, and only in 2021 did he break the streak thanks to White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon.

Jonathan Sanchez, San Francisco Giants

July 10, 2009 | vs. San Diego Padres | 11 strikeouts, 0 walks, 1 error

It's not right to remember the game this way, but the fact of the matter is that an error committed by the usually surehanded Juan Uribe is all that stood in the way of Sanchez and perfection. It wasn't an easy play though, as Chase Headley scorched one to third that took a tough hop, causing Uribe to bobble the ball. Other than that blip — and a wild pitch during the subsequent at-bat — Sanchez was untouchable.

Untouchable isn't exactly how you would have described Sanchez prior to that start, however, seeing as he was 2-8 with a 5.30 ERA and had actually been used out of the bullpen in recent games due to his rocky start. He finished the season with an 8-12 record and 4.24 ERA, only to follow up that effort with his best performance in 2010, going 13-9 with a 3.07 ERA and pitching some solid games in the Giants' World Series run.

Dallas Braden, Oakland Athletics

Perfect game
May 9, 2010 | vs. Tampa Bay Rays | 6 strikeouts, 0 walks, 0 errors

The 22-8 Tampa Bay Rays were red hot, entering their 31st game of the season against the A's on a 9-3 run over their last dozen games. Dallas Braden wasn't exactly hot, getting tagged for 11 hits in his most recent start after giving up six earned over four innings in the one before that.

But on Mother's Day of 2010, there was magic in the air. Braden's mother had passed away from cancer while he was in high school, and his grandmother was at the Coliseum for what would ultimately be an extremely special day in the lives of Braden, his family and baseball fans across the nation. What's more is that Braden told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he was hungover for the start because he was drinking to grieve the loss of his mother the night before the game.

Philip Humber, Chicago White Sox

Perfect game
April 21, 2012 | @ Seattle Mariners | 9 strikeouts, 0 walks, 0 errors

Philip Humber's 2012 season couldn't have gotten off on a much stronger note. After tossing 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball in his first appearance of the season, Humber recorded the 21st perfect game in the history of MLB, the third in White Sox history and the second in the team's past three years due to Mark Buehrle's 2009 gem.

Just three starts after that perfect game, which left Humber with a 0.63 ERA, his ERA sat at 6.83. He allowed 20 runs over those three subsequent outings and never quite rebounded, finishing the year with a 6.44 ERA and a demotion to a bullpen role. His last game took place the next season.

Chris Heston, San Francisco Giants

June 9, 2015 | @ New York Mets | 11 strikeouts, 0 walks, 0 errors

Heston had come pretty close to a no-no earlier in the 2015 campaign, striking out 10 batters and allowing only two hits in a complete game victory against the Astros in May. A month later, he shaved that pair of hits out of the box score, added another K and made some history.

There were no walks and no errors in this one, but there was no perfect game either. Heston was effectively wild, hitting each of Ruben Tejada, Lucas Duda and Anthony Recker with a pitch over the course of the outing. It was just the 15th game that Heston had ever played, and he'd only go on to make a handful of starts over the remainder of his career before pitching his final game in 2017.

Alec Mills, Chicago Cubs

September 13, 2020 | @ Milwaukee Brewers | 5 strikeouts, 3 walks, 0 errors

This one legitimately happened nine months ago, so it's not like it's forgettable yet ... or is it? Unless you're a Chicago local, you might not recall that Mills — who has a 5.96 ERA in 12 appearances for the Cubs this season, predominantly in relief — approached perfection in the shortened 2020 season, with only a few walks in the box score keeping him from just that. A no-hitter isn't too shabby though, and Christian Yelich's Brewers couldn't do anything to defend their home turf from a strong Mills performance.