To say the Indians are struggling right now would be a colossal understatement. Cleveland's tailspin continued Wednesday as the reeling Tribe dropped both legs of their doubleheader at Tampa Bay, extending their losing streak to a season-worst nine games.
The Indians failed to record a hit in the latter game of Wednesday's twin bill at Tropicana Field, though it won't go in the record books as an official no-hitter because it only lasted seven innings. MLB adopted seven-inning double-headers during the COVID pandemic in 2020 and, after seeing success with it, decided to make the change a permanent one. Wednesday's not-quite no-hitter was a combined effort with contributions from five pitchers (Colin McHugh, Josh Fleming, Diego Castillo, Matt Wisler and Pete Fairbanks).
Had they been credited with a no-hitter, it would have been the Rays' second in franchise history and first since Matt Garza accomplished the feat in 2010. As for Cleveland, the Tribe have already been no-hit twice this season. White Sox ace Carlos Rodon silenced them on April 14th with Cleveland experiencing the same fate at the hands of Wade Miley less than a month later. No team in the sport's history has ever been no-hit three times in one season, a dubious achievement the Indians will look to avoid over their final 78 games.
Hits have been hard to come by for the Indians, who entered Wednesday with the fifth-lowest average in MLB (.229), ahead of only the Cardinals, Cubs, Brewers and Mariners. The Tribe have also plummeted in the American League standings, falling eight games back of the division-leading White Sox and 5.5 games off the Wild Card pace as a result of their recent rough patch.
Seven-inning no-hitters have been a frequent debate topic in MLB with Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens presenting opposite views on how they should be classified. Diamondbacks hurler Madison Bumgarner tossed seven innings of no-hit ball as part of a doubleheader earlier this season, though his accomplishment wasn't recognized by MLB. No-hitters have become an increasingly common occurrence throughout baseball (we've already seen seven this season), dulling the luster of what was once considered a career milestone.
Wednesday was just the fifth doubleheader in the history of Tropicana Field (one of only a handful of closed-air venues in MLB) with Tuesday's game postponed due to the effects of Tropical Storm Elsa.
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