The Washington Nationals’ Max Scherzer no-hit the New York Mets for his second second no-hitter of the 2015 season, three years ago today.
Scherzer stifled the Mets’ offense at Citi Field on Oct. 3, 2015, during the second game of a Saturday doubleheader for a 2-0 victory. He was throwing a perfect game until the sixth inning, when third baseman Yunel Escobar threw wild to first base for an error.
Scherzer became is only the fifth major league pitcher to throw two no-hitters in the same regular season, joining Johnny Vander Meer (1938 in back-to-back starts), Allie Reynolds (1951), Virgil Trucks (1952) and Nolan Ryan (1973). Roy Halladay threw no-hitters in the same season in 2010, but his second was tossed in Game 1 of the NLDS.
Scherzer also tied Nolan Ryan’s record for most strikeouts in a no-hitter with 17. Ryan set the mark during his second no-hitter as a member of the California Angels on Sunday, July 15, 1973, against the Tigers.
The game marked the second time the Mets were no-hit in 2015, as the San Francisco Giants’ Chris Heston no-no’d the Mets on June 9, 2015, at Citi Field. It was Scherzer’s second straight start with no-hit stuff. He reached the eighth inning with a no-no intact against the Cincinnati Reds on September 28, losing it when Tucker Barnhart lined a single to left with one out in the eighth inning.
On June 14, in the start just before his first no-hitter of 2015, Scherzer no-hit the Milwaukee Brewers through 6 innings before Carlos Gomez blooped a single over the second baseman’s head to lead off the seventh inning. Scherzer completed the task six days later by no-hitting the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, June 20, 2015 for a 6-0 victory at Nationals Park.
