Astros’ Ronel Blanco sees hitless streak end after 15 innings.
Houston Astros pitcher Ronel Blanco flirted with history on Sunday night.
After pitching a no-hitter in his 2024 debut against the Toronto Blue Jays, Blanco took another no-hitter into the sixth inning against the Texas Rangers in an effort to become just the second pitcher to ever throw back-to-back no-hitters.
That start extended his consecutive hitless innings streak to 15 innings dating back to his last appearance in the 2023 season.
His streak finally came to an end in the bottom of the sixth when Adolis Garcia lined a single to center field.
It was an incredible run and a fantastic start to the season for Blanco. He was lifted after six innings, allowing just one hit and striking out four.
The only negative to the night for him is that he struggled at times with his control, issuing four walks. But when he was finding the strike zone the Rangers rarely put solid contact on the ball and were kept off balance all night.
In his first two starts this season Blanco has pitched 14.2 innings, allowing zero runs, just one hit, six walks and striking out 11 batters.
He pitched one hitless inning in his final appearance of the 2023 season against the Detroit Tigers to give him an official streak of 15.2 consecutive hitless innings.
The only pitcher in Major League Baseball history to throw back-to-back no-hitters was Johnny Vander Meer who did it during the 1938 season. Vander Meer’s consecutive no-hitters came during a stretch of games where he threw six consecutive complete games (including one 10-inning game) where he allowed just four runs and never more than one per start.
He also allowed just 17 hits during that stretch and took a no-hitter into the fourth inning following his second no-hitter.
