Manaea strikes out 10 in no-hitter over Red Sox
Sean Manaea pitched a no-hitter as the Oakland Athletics beat the red-hot Boston Red Sox 3-0 Saturday night at Oakland Coliseum.
Manaea tossed the 12th no-hitter in franchise history and first since current broadcaster Dallas Braden's perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays on May 9, 2010.
"Oh man, my heart was beating out of my chest," Manaea told Braden in a postgame interview.
The Red Sox were no-hit for the 12th time in team history and first time since Chris Bosio did it for the Seattle Mariners on April 22, 1993, at the Kingdome.
Manaea (3-2) began the ninth at 95 pitches.
The left-hander needed two pitches to retire pinch hitter Blake Swihart on a ground ball to shortstop Marcus Semien. On the next pitch, Mookie Betts flew out to the warning track in right field.
After getting to within one strike of history, Manaea walked Andrew Benintendi on a full count, but three pitches later, Hanley Ramirez grounded out to Semien, who completed the force at second base.
Manaea finished the milestone with 108 pitches and faced three above the minimum. He was mobbed by his teammates after completing the seventh no-hitter in the Oakland era as "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang blared.
The effort also marked Manaea's first career complete game.
He entered the eighth with 84 pitches and ended it quickly by getting Jackie Bradley Jr. with a breaking ball for his 10th strikeout.
Before hitting the late innings, Manaea faced close calls in the fifth and sixth.
In the fifth, Sandy Leon hit a popup to Semien, who ran out to shallow center field with his back to the infield. Semien attempted to make an over the shoulder the catch and the ball went off the heel of his glove.
After the play was reviewed by official scorer Art Santo Domingo, Semien was charged with an error. Leon reached second on a wild pitch but was stranded when Bradley struck out.
An inning later, Manaea nearly lost his no-hit bid on a slow roller by Benintendi to the first base side of the mound. First baseman Matt Olson tried to make a diving tag as Benintendi's left leg was on the grass at the edge of the baseline.
Manager Bob Melvin came out to question the call and all four umpires consulted for a few minutes before overturning the initial call and ruling Benintendi was called out for going out of the baseline.
Manaea achieved his milestone by beating Chris Sale. Sale recorded his 54th career double-digit strikeout game by punching out 10 but also allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings.
Besides being involved in a close call in the field, Semien also factored in all the offense. He scored on doubles by Jed Lowrie and Stephen Piscotty and hit his second homer of the season in the fifth.
The Red Sox dropped to 17-3 and saw an eight-game winning streak stopped.
Boston's streak of 3,987 games without being no-hit was the second-longest active streak in baseball. Only Oakland (4,242) has gone longer without being no-hit.
--Field Level Media
