Seattle Mariners starter James Paxton has thrown the third no-hitter of the 2018 season against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Mariners won 5-0 and Paxton finished with 7 strikeouts and 3 walks throwing 99 pitches. Paxton finished off his no-hitter by getting Josh Donaldson to groundout to shortstop for the last out.
.@James_Paxton’s last three pitches:
98 mph
100 mph
99 mphTHAT’S how you finish a no-no. pic.twitter.com/BWdmtS863U
— MLB (@MLB) May 9, 2018
This is the first no-hitter by a Canadian born player since 1945 when Dick Fowler of Philadelphia A’s no-hit the St. Louis Barons. This is the first no-hitter for the Mariners since Hisashi Iwakuma threw a perfect game in 2015.
Earlier this year, Sean Manaea threw a no hitter against the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers threw a combined no-hitter against the San Diego Padres in their Mexico Series. This no-hitter is the second of three no-hitters in 2018 thrown outside of the United States. Coincidentally, the Canadian born lefty threw his no-hitter in Toronto, the last time a no-hitter was thrown in Toronto was in 2011 when Justin Verlander no-hit the Blue Jays.
Paxton, nicknamed “Big Maple” for his Canadian roots, hails from Ladner, British Columbia. He played his college ball for the University of Kentucky where he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the fourth round of the 2010 draft. Paxton has started 2018 being 1-1 with 7 total starts, with an ERA 4.19. However, in Paxton’s last two starts he is 1-0 but has not given up a run over 16 total innings pitched.
