ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Corey Kluber stopped for a moment before his first pitch of the ninth inning.
“I had to take a breath after the warmups and calm myself down a little bit,” said the pitcher nicknamed Klubot for his robot-like demeanor.
Kluber then finished the sixth no-hitter in the majors this season and second in two nights, leading the New York Yankees over the Texas Rangers 2-0 on Wednesday.
“It was a lot of fun, I think it was a special night,” Kluber said. “I’ve never been part of one, witnessed one, let alone thrown one.”
There have been four no-hitters in a 15-day span. The six total are the most this early in a season.
Kluber came within a four-pitch walk to Charlie Culberson in the third inning of throwing a perfect game.
“I don’t really do too much with what-ifs. Obviously I would’ve like to not walk a guy on four straight pitches,” Kluber said. “That being said, at that point in the game, it’s still 0-0, so my thoughts after that walk were try to get out of the inning without allowing a run.”
The 35-year-old right-hander pitched his gem a night after Detroit Tright-hander Spencer Turnbull threw one against Seattle, marking the first no-hitters on consecutive days since 1969, when Cincinnati’s Jim Maloney threw one on April 30 and Houston’s Don Wilson on May 1. There were two no-hitters on June 29, 1990, by the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela and Oakland’s Dave Stewart.
Kluber (4-2) struck out nine. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner threw 71 of 101 pitches for strikes in his ninth start for the Yankees, lowering his ERA to 2.86 and winning his fourth straight decision.
With his fastest pitch at 92.5 mph, he mixed 31 curveballs, 27 cutters, 23 sinkers, 18 changeups and two four-seam…
Leave a Reply