The Houston Astros continue to be the surprise team of the 2015 MLB season. The young upstart team is led by diminutive second baseman Jose Altuve, superstar in the making at shortstop in Carlos Correa and newly acquired big bat and outfield standout Carlos Gomez but it was a pitcher that wasn’t even a member of the organization a month ago that stole the show for the Astros last night.
In their matchup against the legendary Los Angeles Dodgers, the Astros put out one of their newer pitchers, Mike Fiers, to go up against the historic franchise. Fiers was making his fourth start as a member of the Astros and had been recently trending in the right way for Houston after struggling and giving up six runs in his first start for them.
But what he did on Friday Night, no one was prepared for.
Fiers was a ‘throw-in’ as a part of the Houston Astros deal with the Milwaukee Brewers for Carlos Gomez. Gomez was the prize but Fiers showed his worth in one solid night of pitching for the ‘Stros.
Mike Fiers became the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers since Nolan Ryan did it in 1981. Fiers and Ryan actually both threw the near-perfect game at home and both only walked three batters in the game. The one difference is, Ryan’s 1981 Astros team went on to win the World Series. 2015 Astros fans are hoping for the same luck over 30 years later.
In Fiers’ nine innings of work he struck out 10 batters, his second double-digit strike out game in the last month, previously he did it as a member of the Brewers against Arizona Diamondbacks.