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OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland Athletics lefthander Sean Manaea threw a no-hitter Saturday night, nothing will ever change that. But the Red Sox weren’t entirely convinced.
A decision by the official scorer in the fifth inning and a reversed call by the umpires in the sixth benefited Manaea. He took care of history from there, shutting down the best team in baseball for a 3-0 victory.
“Honestly, it still doesn’t feel real,” Manaea said. “Even after the last out I couldn’t even imagine throwing a no-hitter in the big leagues, especially against a team like the Red Sox.”
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The Sox, who had scored runs in bunches en route to a 17-2 start, were left arguing for an infield hit. Manaea didn’t give them much else as he stuck out 10 and got 13 other outs on the ground or on popups.
“Give him credit, man,” Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Great job.”
Related: A closer look at Sean Manaea
Manaea’s gem came one day shy of the 25th anniversary of the last time the Red Sox were no-hit. That was April 22, 1993, when Chris Bosio of the Seattle Mariners walked the first two batters then retired 27 in a row.
Oakland manager Bob Melvin was on the Red Sox roster for that game but did not play.
The only team to have gone longer without being no-hit is Oakland. That last happened in 1991.
The Red Sox had scored 34 runs in the first four games of their road trip, but they advanced only one runner beyond first base.
“We’re human,” said Chris Sale, who pitched well, but took the loss. “We haven’t been acting like that for very long. When it’s someone’s night, it’s their night. Manaea had really good stuff and was spot-on the whole night.”
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The ninth inning was tense.
Related: For A’s Bob Melvin, it’s nice being on right side of no-hitter
“My heart was beating out of my chest,” Manaea said.
After pinch hitter Blake Swihart grounded to shortstop, Mookie Betts hit a ball deep to right field that was caught on the warning track.
Andrew Benintendi, who lost a hit on a controversial call in the sixth inning, fell behind in the count then drew a walk. Hanley Ramirez had a chance, but grounded sharply to second and Marcus Semien flipped the ball to second to end the game.
Melvin, worried about losing the game, was about to get a reliever warming up. The crowd of 25,746, which included many Red Sox fans, roared when it ended. It was the 12th no-hitter in Athletics history, the first since Dallas Braden’s perfect game against Tampa Bay in 2010.
Braden, who now works for the Athletics, was at the game, which lasted only 2 hours and 16 minutes.
Betts drew a walk to start the game for the Sox. Benintendi then grounded into a force at second base before Manaea struck out Ramirez and J.D. Martinez. The Sox did not put another runner on base until the fifth inning, when Sandy Leon reached on what was called an error. With two outs, Leon hit a changeup to shallow left field. With his back to the plate, Semien tried to make the catch and the ball ticked off his glove.
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It was ruled an error by official scorer Art Santo Domingo. Leon advanced to second on a wild pitch, but Jackie Bradley Jr. struck out to end the inning.
Manaea assumed Leon had been awarded a hit and didn’t realize the no-hitter was intact until the eighth inning.
“I didn’t think it was a no-hitter, he said. “I looked up [at the scoreboard] and saw the zero.”
Related: Which pitchers have thrown no-hitters against the Red Sox?
There was another questionable call with two outs in the sixth inning. Benintendi took a full swing at a fastball that produced a groundball to the right side. First baseman Matt Olson lunged at Benintendi, who evaded the tag and slid into first base. Home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt called Benintendi safe. Then the umpires huddled and called Benintendi out for going outside the base line.
“When a fielder fields a ball and he attempts to tag a runner, the runner can go forward to the base or back to the base, but can’t go side-to-side,” crew chief Brian Gorman told a pool reporter. “He has 3 feet either way. So if he goes more than 3 feet avoiding the tag he’s declared out for being out of his baseline.”
Cora protested at length, as did Benintendi. But the play was not reviewable.
“I’ve never seen that call before. That’s kind of suspect in that situation,” Benintendi said. “It’s a big-league hit and they don’t grow on trees . . . I think if we have 10 hits at that point, that’s a single. But the situation the game was in, they might have been searching for something and they found it.”
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Benintendi rarely shows emotion on the field, but he argued his case for several minutes.
Manaea used his changeup effectively, particularly against lefthanded hitters. Cora felt it was the first time this season the Sox expanded the strike zone and chased pitches.
“He was effectively wild,” Benintendi said.
Sale (1-1) allowed three runs on six hits over seven innings. He struck out 10 with one walk. Five of Oakland’s hits were for extra bases.
Semien scored all three runs for Oakland. He walked in the first inning and scored on a double by Jed Lowrie. Semien singled in the third inning and came around on a double to the gap in right by Stephen Piscotty. Semien then homered to left field in the fifth inning, his second of the season. He had been 0 for 6 in his career against Sale.
For all the offense the Red Sox have produced this season, they have scored four or fewer runs in four of Sale’s five starts.
A look at the no-hitters pitched against the Red Sox:
Date | Pitcher, team | Score |
---|---|---|
April 21, 2018 | Sean Manaea, Oakland | 3-0 |
April 22, 1993 | Chris Bosio, Seattle | 7-0 |
July 4, 1983 | Dave Righetti, New York | 4-0 |
April 27, 1968 | Tom Phoebus, Baltimore | 6-0 |
July 20, 1958 | Jim Bunning, Detroit | 3-0 |
Sept. 28, 1951 | Allie Reynolds, New York | 8-0 |
Aug. 8, 1931 | Robert Burke, Washington | 5-0 |
Aug. 21, 1926 | Ted Lyons, Chicago | 6-0 |
July 1, 1920 | Walter Johnson, Washington | 1-0 |
April 24, 1917 | George Mogridge, New York | 2-1 |
Aug. 27, 1911 | Ed Walsh, Chicago | 5-0 |
Sept. 18, 1908 | Robert Rhoads, Cleveland | 2-1 |
Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @peteabe.