Matt Garza Throws No-Hitter Against Tigers, The First In Rays' History

You know how you know you've made it? Twitter. Twitter is how you know you've made it. This, even two hours after the conclusion of Garza's one-walk no-hitter of the Detroit Tigers:

Let this be a lesson to those of you who feel that no-hitters have become old hat. The world is still enchanted.

So we've heard from the winning side. When a guy throws a no-hitter, it's all warm fuzzies all around for the players, coaches, and fans alike. There's no feeling quite like witnessing a no-no (or so I've been told), and the rush that comes with the final out is just unparalleled.

But what about the losing side? How does the loser feel? If Tigers blog Bless You Boys is any indication, the losing side doesn't feel real great.

Word of warning: I'm in bitter fan mode tonight.

Can it really be considered a true no-hitter when the Tigers' lineup is chock full of rookies, backups, and should be Mud Hens?
...

The Tiger' lineup included rookies Austin Jackson, Will Rhymes, Brennan Boesch, and Danny Worth. Also playing were backups Ryan Raburn and Gerald Laird. Backup Ramon Santiago pinch hit...making the last out. Miguel Cabrera and Johnny Damon were the only Tigers in the lineup you could consider both a veteran and/or not a backup.

If I"m head moron in standing commissioner Bud Lite Selig, I'd add an asterisk. Not that adding an asterisk after a players name because of the circumstance involved would ever happen in the MLB record book, right?

In fairness, Detroit fans were already frustrated before this game, as a number of unfortunate injuries have threatened to derail a potential run to the playoffs. Adding this game on top of all that bad news would make anyone flip a tizzy.

And this is how Matt Garza and the Tampa Bay Rays celebrate a first-time achievement, courtesy of Fox Sports:

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=37b6ae0c-c9bc-4a39-b9ff-c672ead91af0" mce_href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=37b6ae0c-c9bc-4a39-b9ff-c672ead91af0" target="_new" title="">Garza no-hits Detroit</a>

Always nice to make the last one an easy one.

So how did Matt Garza feel about the biggest moment of his career? I'd say he wasn't took broken up about it.

"Great night, great win," Garza said. "We played great defense. Whenever the ball was hit on the ground, these guys were there. And we had timely hitting."

"We wanted to establish [the fastball], make it known that's what we were going to use," he said. "We mixed in a breaking ball here and there.

"I just went out there and attacked the zone. That's the thing they've stressed to me: 'Your stuff is good enough.' Tonight it was good enough."

“That ninth inning,” Garza said, “I kept telling myself, ‘Just finish it, just finish it, just battle, battle. If it’s meant to happen, it’s going to happen.”’

Garza said his teammates didn’t leave him off by himself in the dugout during the late innings. He noticed several of them standing in the same spot, however, adhering to superstition.

“I recognized it and didn’t want to look up. I was like, ‘Just keep looking down and stay focused and get ready for the next inning,”’ he said.

Garza surpassed the one-hitter he threw against the Marlins on June 26th, 2008. The Tigers, meanwhile, were no-hit for the first time since Randy Johnson did it to them 20 years ago. Just a brilliant effort - albeit against a depleted Detroit lineup - in what was Tampa Bay's 2,039th game in franchise history.

The folks over at DRaysBay know, if any Tampa pitcher was going to throw stuff like they saw on Monday night against the Tigers, it was going to be Matt Garza. Garza pitched the first no-hitter in Tampa Rays history in their 5-0 win and DRaysBay is drinking it up.

That was simply stunning, and utterly impressive. The Tigers had only two hard hit balls all night. While Garza had only six strikeouts, he did get 13 swinging strikes on his 120 pitches. As has been the trend lately with Kelly Shoppach, he called for fastball after fastball and Garza gladly obliged. Of those 120 pitches, 101 were heaters.

There’s really not much else to say. Matt Garza was nearly perfect tonight. On national television. In a Rays uniform. Of course, he was helped out by the bat of Matt Joyce After being held hitless for 5.2 IP by Max Scherzer, the Rays loaded the bases with Joyce at the plate. After working the count full, Joyce blasted a grand slam into the right field seats, letting Rays fans breathe a big sigh of relief. The Rays also made some fine defensive plays to keep the no-no intact. Ben Zobrist made a running/leaping grab in right field, and Carl Crawford caught a ball in the 8th inning that he nearly lost in the lights.

After being on the wrong end of three no hitters in the past year, it feels FANTASTIC to get to see what it feels like on the other side.

Let's just get this out of the way: it's July 26th, and Matt Garza just threw the sixth* Major League Baseball no-hitter of the season. That's too many. That's too many no-hitters. But anyway, many congratulations to Garza, who finally gives the Rays one in the win column when it comes to this particular achievement. A history of no-hitters involving Tampa Bay:

4/27/02: Derek Lowe no-hits Devil Rays, Red Sox win 10-0

7/23/09: Mark Buehrle throws perfect game against Rays, White Sox win 5-0. DeWayne Wise becomes a somebody

5/29/10: Dallas Braden throws perfect game against Rays, A's win 4-0. Nation learns of Dallas Braden's grandmother and the Braden family's delightful collective personality

6/25/10: Ex-Ray Edwin Jackson no-hits Rays while walking 37 hitters. Diamondbacks win 1-0

7/26/10: Matt Garza no-hits Tigers. Rays win 5-0

Over the Rays' last 164 games, they have been involved in two perfect games and two other no-hitters. That is one young team determined to make an older team's history.

St. Petersburg, FL (Sports Network) -- Matt Garza tossed the first no-hitter in Tampa Bay history in a 5-0 win over Detroit in the opener of a four-game set at Tropicana Field.

Garza (11-5) walked one, struck out six and faced the minimum 27 hitters for the Rays, who have won three in a row and four out of five. Brennan Boesch was the only baserunner for Detroit and was erased on an inning-ending double play grounder in the second inning.

Tampa Bay was the victim of a no-hitter twice earlier this season at the hands of Oakland's Dallas Braden, who tossed a perfect game on May 9, and Arizona's Edwin Jackson, who needed 149 pitches to finish the job on June 25. In fact, the Rays have been no-hit three times since last season with the White Sox' Mark Buehrle turning the trick in another perfect game July 23, 2009.

The New York Mets and San Diego Padres are now the only major league teams not have not thrown a no-hitter.

Matt Joyce hit a two-out grand slam in the sixth inning to break up dueling no-hitters and Carl Crawford added a solo shot in the eighth.

Max Scherzer (7-8) had kept the Rays hitless until Joyce's decisive blow and wound up taking the loss after allowing four runs -- three earned -- on two hits and four walks while striking out eight over 5 2/3 innings for the Tigers, who have dropped three out of four.

Garza threw 120 pitches to etch his name in the record books and throw the fifth no-hitter in the major leagues this season. It's the first time since 1991 that at least five no-hitters have been thrown in a single season.

He set down Miguel Cabrera on a line drive to left to open the eighth and then retired Boesch on a called third strike and got Ryan Raburn on a swinging third strike to end the frame.

The right-hander set down Don Kelly on a ground ball to second to open the ninth and then got Gerald Laird on a called third strike to reach the brink of history. He completed the no-hitter by retiring pinch-hitter Ramon Santiago on a fly ball to shallow right field. The Rays then mobbed their teammate, who had been 0-4 in six previous starts against the Tigers.

Ben Zobrist started the winning rally in the sixth with a one-out walk and moved up when Crawford reached on catcher's interference. Evan Longoria walked to load the bases for Carlos Pena, who struck out. Joyce then broke up Scherzer's no-hit bid with a grand slam off the right field foul pole on a 3-2 pitch. He had hooked the prior pitch foul down the right field line.

Jason Bartlett followed with a single to center field that chased the Tigers' young right-hander from the game. Brad Thomas came on and retired Reid Brignac to end the inning.

Crawford's homered in the eighth off Enrique Gonzalez.

Garza has won his last four decisions...Tampa Bay is 17-8 against the AL Central this year...Joyce's grand slam was his second of the year and of his career. Detroit skipper Jim Leyland was thrown out of the game after B.J. Upton stole second base the third when he appeared to have been tagged out before arriving at the bag...Scherzer is 0-6 in his last eight road starts and has won only once away from home all season, April 18 in Seattle...Austin Jackson had a 10-game hit streak snapped, while Santiago and Cabrera lost seven-game hit strings.

Matt Garza and Max Scherzer both took a no-hitter into the sixth inning in Tampa. But Scherzer and the Tigers made it interesting, loading the bases with one out on a pair of walks and a catcher’s interference call.

Matt Joyce ended Scherzer’s no-hit bid with a grand slam, giving the Rays a 4-0 lead. Still a no-hitter for Garza. It was Joyce's second grand-slam of the month after he hit one in Minnesota on July 3.