*Photo from Wood TV*
What a night for Detroit Tigers pitcher Spencer Turnbull. Despite their already having been 4 no hitters thrown this season in baseball, Turnbull decided he still wanted to throw one. So he did. Turnbull threw a no hitter, Jeimer Candelario homered, and the Tigers toppled the Seattle Mariners with a 5-0 win Tuesday night.
Turnbull credits some Tigers fans in Seattle for the no hitter, saying that "I got through the first inning and they’re like, ‘Oh, you’re the guy pitching tonight?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah'. They're like, ‘You’re throwing a no-hitter!’ It’s like the first inning. I got three outs. I was like, ‘All right, man.'"
Turnbull's no hitter is the 5th of the season so far in baseball, continuing a trend this season that has pitchers dominating on the mound this year. Turnbull joins Joe Musgrove, Carlos Rodon, John Means, and Wade Miley as the pitchers who have thrown a no hitter this season. It's only the middle of May.
When asked about throwing the 5th no hitter of the season, Turnbull said "I don’t really know how to think of it in a historical perspective. Just for myself, obviously, it’s the greatest achievement in my life so far, or at least my baseball career. It’s by far the best night of my life. And it’s definitely one of those landmark stamps on my career up to this point."
Candelario hit a solo homer for the Tigers in the first inning, making it a 1-0 lead early on. In the 3rd, Jonathan Schoop scored on a Candelario groundout to extend Detroit's lead to 2-0. In the 8th, Candelario blew through a stop sign from the 3rd base coach and still scored on a base hit from Miguel Cabrera to make it a 3-0 game. In the 9th, Akil Baddoo and Schoop each hit RBI singles, making this game 5-0, and Turnbull did the rest.
The Mariners, on the other side of the story, have been some unfortunate victims this season. At the beginning of the month, they were no hit by Means. Now, a few weeks later, they have been no hit for the second time this season. Seattle joins the Cleveland Indians as the two teams to be no hit twice this season, with the Texas Rangers getting no hit by Musgrove to start the season.
When asked about who is to blame for the struggles on offense, Seattle outfielder Mitch Haniger said "It definitely falls on the players. We’ve got to make adjustments, like I said. You can't be pointing fingers. You’ve just got to look in the mirror and figure out what you need to do, and at times, help motivate the guy next to you and try to get the ball rolling."
Detroit and Seattle wrap up their series tonight, with Tarik Skubal getting the start for the Tigers, and Logan Gilbert going for the Mariners.
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