Yankees’ hurler Corey Kluber became only the 12th pitcher in franchise history to throw a no-hitter on Wednesday night, blanking the Texas Rangers 2-0 on the road.
The former Cy Young Award winner, whom the Yankees signed away from the Rangers in the offseason with the hope that he’d return to form after a recent history of arm trouble, went the distance in stifling the Rangers at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
It’s the first no-hitter by the Yankees in more than 20 years. David Cone was the last to do it, throwing a perfect game against the Montreal Expos on July 18, 1999 at the old Yankee Stadium.
Kluber also became the first Yankee to throw a no-hitter on the road in the television era; the last one came back in 1923.
Kluber turned out to be near-perfect on this night, striking out nine as he faced only one batter over the minimum 27. He surrendered a third-inning walk to Rangers third baseman Charlie Culberson — who turned out to be Texas’ only base runner of the evening.
On his 101st pitch of the evening, Kluber got Rangers left fielder Willie Calhoun to hit a ground ball right to second baseman DJ LeMahieu, who threw to first for the final out of the game. Kluber embraced his battery mate, catcher Kyle Higashioka, just before being mobbed by the rest of his teammates.
“Higgie was unbelievable back there tonight,” Kluber told the YES Network in a post-game interview. “We kept them (the Rangers) off balance pretty much the entire game.”
Kluber became the sixth pitcher to throw a no-hitter in MLB this young season, less than 24 hours after Detroit Tigers hurler Spencer Turnbull tossed a no-no against the Seattle Mariners.
