Brett Gardner came up to Tyler Wade in the seventh inning on Wednesday night and said what was on every Yankee’s mind, but what nobody else would dare say.
“Hey, you know we got a no-hitter going, right?” Gardner said.
Wade, who was put into the lineup after an injury to Ryan LaMarre earlier in the game, obviously knew Corey Kluber had yet to allow a hit, and his RBI triple had broken a scoreless tie and set up a chance for an unforgettable night for Kluber.
He helped seal it in the ninth with a running catch in right field, and after one last out to seal Kluber’s place in history, the Yankees celebrated another landmark in Kluber’s return to dominance.
“That was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of in my life,” Wade said. “I’m getting goosebumps talking about it. That was unreal.”
Gardner brought the no-hitter up to Wade in the seventh, but manager Aaron Boone thought his veteran righty was flashing no-hit stuff from the start of the game, a belief that would have seemed ludicrous after Kluber threw just one inning last year and just 35.2 innings the year before.
“It popped up in the first inning, I’m not kidding you,” Boone said. “I’ve never been in one. I’ve played in a lot of games, now I’ve managed in a lot of games…that was so much fun to be a small part of and be on the team to see Corey go out there and spin that.”
Even if Boone felt Kluber was primed to make a run at the team’s first no-hitter in 22 years, when it came time to lock down the final outs, he was as nervous as everyone in the field behind the always-steady Kluber.
“I had butterflies in that ninth inning,” Boone said. “Getting to witness that was really special, and to see his teammates and the excitement from everyone for Corey…man, what a performance. I’m just so happy for him.”
Kyle Higashioka had the best view in the house of Kluber’s best outing since his Cy Young and All-Star seasons from 2014 to 2018, a level of dominance that many thought had long passed Kluber by. But if Boone was dealing with a few butterflies, Higashioka was dealing with a swarm of them.
“Probably that times 10,” Higashioka said. “In the eighth or ninth inning I was having a mini panic attack every time I went out there. I was extremely nervous. But that was incredible.”
After the final out was recorded on a groundout to Gleyber Torres, the celebration was on, the first time a Yankee team was able to mob their starting pitcher after joining the history books since David Cone in 1999. For the players on the field, it was as high a level of euphoria that can come from a regular season game in May. For one out, it felt like October.
Maybe even a little bit for the normally emotionless Kluber.
“It was almost like the feeling you would imagine after winning the World Series,” Higashioka said. “He lifted me off the ground pretty hard, so you can tell he was pumped.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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