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Ronel Blanco of the Houston Astros pitched a no-hitter on Monday, his team’s first of the young MLB season, as they defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 10-0.
With four of the Astros starting pitchers sidelined due to injuries, Blanco made his sixth career MLB start and led Houston with remarkable efficiency.
The 30-year-old shut down the Toronto offense at Minute Maid Park with 105 pitches and seven strikeouts against the Blue Jays.
The Astros report that Blanco threw four curveballs, thirty-one fastballs, thirty-four sliders, and thirty-six changeups. Throughout the game, he forced 59 swings, forcing 20 misses, half of which came on his changeup.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of Toronto was forced to ground out to second baseman Mauricio Dubón by Blanco, marking his last out.
The 17th no-hitter in Astros history has been achieved.
One of baseball’s greatest accomplishments is tossing a no-hitter, which is when you go nine or more innings and collect 27 or more outs without giving up a hit to the opposition.
It completes an unforgettable day for Blanco, who took full advantage of the ailments sustained by fellow Astros pitchers Luis Garcia, Lance McCullers Jr., Justin Verlander, and José Urquidy.
Blanco completed the historic achievement in just his third major league season, celebrating on the field with his mother afterwards.
His journey has been a tough one, as he was working part-time at a car wash in 2016 in his home country of the Dominican Republic to help his mother when he joined the Astros.
He had been told just days before the new season began by Astros manager Joe Espada that he was being named to the final spot in the rotation. It was truly a serendipitous time for Blanco as he and his wife’s second child was born that same day.
“It’s been a very long road traveled for me, a lot of ups and downs – a lot of falls and me getting back up,” Blanco told reporters through an interpreter. “But I think all of that has been worth it for me to be able to get to this moment.”
