The Press Box Sports Mariners lefty James Paxton second Canadian to throw a no-hitter

James Paxton threw a no-hitter Tuesday night as the Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-0. Paxton is the fifth pitcher in Mariners history to ever throw a no-hitter. He joins the likes of Chris Bosio, Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma, and Randy Johnson to accomplish the feat. Six Mariners pitchers combined for a no-hitter in 2012.

Paxton struggled early in the game but kept grinding it out. Control was a factor early as the Canadian walked three batters over four innings. His velocity wasn’t there and he relied on his breaking balls to get him through the middle innings. After finding his control, Paxton then started bringing the heat. He recorded several 98 mph fastballs in the eighth inning. In the ninth, the 29-year-old reached 99 mph on the radar gun a couple of times. After settling down and finding his control, James Paxton needed only 99 pitches to become the second Canadian to throw a no-hitter. Dick Fowler of the Philadelphia A’s was the first to do so in 1945.

The Mariners gave Paxton plenty of run support, although he didn’t need it. Mike Zunino hit a two-run blast in the fourth to give the Mariners a 4-0 lead. Dee Gordon went 3-5 on the night, bringing his average up to .353 on the season. The Mariners are currently third in the AL West with a 20-14 record. They’re still in a great spot just being one game behind the division-leading Houston Astros.

What makes this even more special for James Paxton is throwing a no-no in Canada. For the season, “The Big Maple” put up his third-straight quality performance with tonight making his mark in history. He threw seven scoreless innings with 16 strikeouts against Oakland last week. With ten or more strikeouts in three outings in 2018, it’s not a surprise that Paxton was in line for a big game like this. And this game is one for the history books.

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