No-Hit Bids That Weren't

The Royals haven't had a no-hitter since 1991, but they've had some chances.

I’ve always been fascinated in baseball by things that almost happened. If it didn’t happen to the Royals, the 2014 World Series would be something that I’d look back at a million times. Because it was, I’ve actually only seen the last out a couple times, but things like that are just so interesting to me. And in baseball, a no-hit bid is always something to watch. I find myself rooting for the no-hitter to get spoiled about half the time and for it to get completed about half the time. The Royals haven’t had one completed since August 26, 1991 when Frank Thomas grounded out to Terry Shumpert on Bret Saberhagen’s 114th pitch of the night.

I was young then. A whole lifetime of Royals no-hitters were ahead of me. Or so I thought. Similar to a playoff drought and a winning-season drought and all sorts of other droughts for the Royals, there’s been a no-hitter drought now. But some of the attempts were quite exciting. While others were close without us realizing it because of when the hits they allowed occurred. I want to go through some of my favorite near no-hitters, even if not all of them would be classified as a no-hit bid. I’ll go in reverse chronological order of some of my favorites, but just know that my favorite came in 2004, so keep an eye out for that one.

Brady Singer vs. Cleveland - September 10, 2020

After Singer made his first two starts of the 2020 season and looked like the Royals made the right choice in starting the season with him in the big leagues, he looked a lot more like a rookie pitcher. He gave up 35 hits in 30.1 innings over his next six starts and posted a 6.23 ERA in that time. It was ugly. And when he came out against Cleveland on September 10, I distinctly remember noting how difficult it could be to watch him pitch. He got through the first with two strikeouts and a walk, but he threw 22 pitches to get through it. It looked like it would be another exhausting game to watch from him.

But after going from 0-2 to 3-2 on Franmil Reyes to start the second before getting him out, he locked in. He threw 13 pitches in the third, 11 in the fourth, 10 in the fifth and six in the sixth. He was at 80 pitches at that point, which isn’t a ton, but it’s also a spot where young pitchers might start to tire. Oh yeah, one thing I forgot to point out is that September 10 was the night of the first NFL game of the season, which is typically hosted by the previous season’s Super Bowl Champion and given that the reigning champ was the Chiefs, they were on to start their title defense.

And that’s partially why this one is so memorable to me. The game started at 5 central time, which gave plenty of time to watch before football got going, but by the time it was a real no-hit bid, the Chiefs had kicked off, so I was trying to pull double duty and actually ended up missing a good chunk of the first quarter because I was so invested in Singer. Of course, he started to falter in the seventh. He got through it but needed 22 more pitches and walked his first batter since the first. Then in the eighth, he got the first two out before one of the worst hitters in baseball, Austin Hedges, squirted a single to right. That was it. Singer finished the inning at 119 pitches with one hit allowed. It was a valiant effort.

Jorge Lopez vs. Minnesota - September 8, 2018

This is an easy one to remember. It was the almost perfect game. The details might become more and more blurry over time, but if you’ll recall, a little more than a month prior to this, the Royals traded Mike Moustakas to the Brewers and brought back Lopez and Brett Phillips. Lopez has always been one of those pitchers who, if you catch him on the right day, you’d assume is a perennial Cy Young contender. And if you catch him on the wrong day, you’d assume that a rando came in off the street, put on a big league uniform and tricked the coaching staff into letting him pitch.

This one was the Cy Young winner. But, like the Singer bid, he didn’t come out looking great. One of Lopez’s hallmarks has always just been too many pitches. For all the great stuff, he just always seems to spend too much time on each hitter. And this game started with the first three retired (obviously), but he got to three balls on all three hitters. And like in the Singer no-hitter, he settled in. He threw 10 pitches in the second, 13 in the third, 10 in the fourth, nine in the fifth, eight in the sixth and 14 in the seventh. The Twins weren’t even putting up much of a fight, and this was a decent offensive team.

After going to three balls against everyone in the first, he only went to three balls twice more between the second and the eighth innings. It was riveting. And to interject my personal experience here, I was at a birthday gathering for a friend at Jazz on 39th Street in KC. We got there around the sixth inning and I’d realized that Lopez hadn’t allowed a hit because I tend to catch on to these things around the fourth. So I was listening on the radio on the drive there. I was watching the television while keeping conversations going, but it was the seventh inning when we were seated and my eyes were absolutely glued to the television.

By the eighth, everyone’s were, which was especially cool in a season where the Royals were careening toward 100 losses for the first time in more than a decade. To get the attention of an entire restaurant in September for a team that bad, something special must be going on. The perfect game bid ended on the fifth pitch of the ninth when Lopez walked Max Kepler and then the no-hitter was gone next when Robbie Grossman lined a single to right-center on a 1-2 pitch. Lopez was pulled, Wily Peralta came in and gave up an inherited run, but closed the door on the team one-hitter. So close.

Danny Duffy vs. Tampa Bay - August 1, 2016

I mentioned that there’s a bid in 2004 that is my favorite. This one is a close second. Duffy’s career has remained interesting since this time, but it was especially confusing leading up to 2016. He was one of the big pitching prospects from the farm system that promised to lead the Royals to the promised land. And he was a big part of the 2014 and 2015 teams, but worked as a reliever in both postseasons. Before the 2014 season, he even told me in Spring Training that he preferred to pitch out of the bullpen. After a 2014 season where his peripherals didn’t match his 2.53 ERA, he had similar peripherals and a still solid 4.08 ERA in 2015.

That led him to start the 2016 season in the bullpen and he was a legitimate weapon. He had 21 strikeouts in 18 innings, was murder on lefties and was a big part of why the team was hanging around in spite of the big injuries to Moustakas and Alex Gordon. But the rotation needed help, so back to it he went. But like Zack Greinke nearly a decade before, he brought the velocity from the bullpen to the rotation and he was awesome. In his first 14 starts, he struck out 89 and walked 17 in 82.2 innings. He had a 3.27 ERA. He was getting tons of whiffs and while his career had been successful to this point, this was when he looked the part of the guy ranked as one of the 70 best prospects in baseball.

And I believe the game on August 1 against the Rays was the peak of his individual performance in his career. He’s absolutely had high moments since then, but nothing better than this day. He came out with pinpoint control and command and was about as good as any pitcher I’ve ever seen. I’ll get to the actual game breakdown, but he threw 110 pitches, got 59 swings and 35 whiffs. He had 14 more called strikes and 15 more foul balls. He faced 26 batters and only nine put the ball in play. He got whiffs on 74 percent of his changeups that day. It was truly magical.

There were no struggles at any point in this game. He struck out two in the first, three in the second and two in the third. He did walk the leadoff man in the fourth and then committed a throwing error on an attempted pickoff that sent him to third, but the outs in the inning were a popup and two more strikeouts, so that didn’t allow for any additional advancement. He had two more strikeouts in the fifth, another strikeout in the sixth with two more popouts and then two more strikeouts in the seventh. At that point, Duffy had thrown 97 pitches over seven innings with 14 strikeouts and one walk. It was already magic. Six more outs would make it all-time great.

He had allowed one hard-hit ball all game through seven. Brad Miller had a deep lineout in the seventh that was the only ball hit more than 254 feet to that point. On a 1-2 pitch, he allowed his hardest hit ball of the night and it fell for a double by Desmond Jennings (boy, there’s a name). Duffy finished off the inning getting Kevin Kiermaier to line out and then struck out Tim Beckham and Nick Franklin on changeups to end his outing. In total, he went eight innings, gave up one hit, walked one and struck out 16. His game score of 95 was the second highest in Royals history, trailing only Dick Drago who posted a 98 game score in a game where he went 12 innings.

Duffy had a tough September that year, but August 1 against the Rays is one of those games that I will never forget. From the first pitch he threw, it was pure magic.

Zack Greinke vs. Seattle - August 30, 2009

The 2009 season for Greinke was so special for Royals fans. I think a lot about the order of things happening and I have a hard time thinking that it would have been as much fun watching him in 2009 if the Royals had made their 2015 run in, say, 2005. Of course I’d rather have the World Series titles earlier, but Greinke in 2009 was a drink of water in a never-ending desert. Every fifth day was something special, and it began when the season began. He started off that year with no earned runs allowed in his first four starts and ended April with a 0.50 ERA.

He didn’t ever exactly slump in 2009, but he did have a few bad starts here and there. On August 25, though, against Cleveland, he had a phenomenal start where he went eight innings, struck out 15 and walked one. Duffy’s no-hit bid from 2016 is the only game from a Royals starter with more strikeouts. He was amazing. And then his next time out in Seattle, he was even better. Now, this no-hit bid is one that’s just a bit different than the others. See, he gave up just one hit and one walk in a shutout. But it doesn’t get the recognition I believe it should. The reason is that he gave up that hit and walk in the second inning.

Otherwise, it was a clinic in pitching. It was truly surgical to watch him cut through a lackluster Mariners lineup like that. He threw 11 pitches in the first inning and if not for a mistake on a 2-0 pitch to Kenji Johjima, he’d have the most recent Royals no-hitter. He only had three three-ball counts after that inning. He only got to two balls on 10 of 21 hitters faced. He only ended eight at bats while behind in the count the rest of the game. I think what’s so amazing about this game is how dominant he was, but also the two games back-to-back. His combined game score of 167 is one of the best two-game game scores in franchise history. Just an incredible feat.

Brian Anderson vs. Chicago - August 4, 2004

Remember when I told you that my favorite came in 2004. Well this is it. And it’s a weird one because the first batter of the game got a hit. So how is it a no-hit bid? I mean, it’s really not, but it’s one of the most memorable games I ever attended before the Royals actually put a watchable product on the field. You’ll probably remember that the Royals were inexplicably in the playoff chase in 2003 on the backs of a 16-3 start to the season. And in August, they made some moves back when teams could make moves in August. They brought in guys like Curtis Leskanic, Rondell White and Anderson.

While Anderson posted a quite good 3.99 ERA down the stretch for the Royals, he did so with a strikeout rate of 7.6 percent. Even for nearly 20 years ago, that’s extreme. So when the Royals brought him back after 2003, it was pretty obvious there would be either be some regression or he’d need to strike out more batters. As was (is?) the case more often than not with the Royals, regression won. He came into this start against the White Sox having jumped between the rotation and the bullpen and had a 6.94 ERA, though he had thrown six shutout innings against Cleveland just two starts prior.

On the second pitch of the game, it felt like we were in for a long one when Aaron Rowand lined a double off the wall down the right field line for a leadoff double. But little did I know that we were in for something actually special. Juan Uribe took the very next pitch in a similar manner to right, but it was caught and Rowand tagged to move to third. Anderson struck out Carlos Lee and got Paul Konerko on a groundout to end the inning. The Royals scored seven runs on seven hits in the bottom of the first, so I suppose it was a long day at the stadium, but it turned out to be much better than I originally anticipated.

Anderson threw 18 pitches in the second, but got the White Sox 1-2-3. He got them 1-2-3 in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth as well. The lone blemish in those innings was a walk to Rowand in the third. Then in the ninth, after striking out Willie Harris, Rowand walked to the plate again and hit a fly ball off the wall in right field for a double. So he started the game with a double, walked in the third and doubled in the ninth. And that was it. The rest of the White Sox lineup was 0 for 26 with seven strikeouts while Aaron Roward went 2-3 with two doubles and a walk. Similar to Greinke’s bid, it was never really a bid, but I remember it well and still marvel at the box score.

Kevin Appier vs. Texas - July 27, 1993

Many of you reading this will remember a time when not every Royals game on television. Many of you reading this will not, but this game happened back in one of those times. And as a child, I made it a point to listen to every game I could. I’d actually find myself watching the Braves or Cubs game (because they were both on every day everywhere at the time) muted with the Royals game on the radio, which should surprise nobody if you think about it. This game was one of those games that wasn’t on television, so I had the pleasure of hearing it through the eyes of Denny Matthews and the late Fred White.

Any Appier start was a must-watch or must-listen and 1993 was arguably his best year for arguably (though I actually don’t think there’s an argument) the best Royals pitcher of all-time. He was at the height of his powers in 1993. He should have won the Cy Young, in my opinion, and if the vote was held today, he would have at least finished one spot higher in second. Jack McDowell won because he had 22 wins, a number that isn’t meaningless but would have been a data point to voters rather than the data point. Randy Johnson was more deserving than McDowell as well and his 308 strikeouts might have pushed him ahead of Appier, though Appier’s ERA was about 3/4 of a run lower.

Anyway, he was awesome in 1993 and, by game score, this game against the Rangers was the second best start of his Royals career. He had it working from the very beginning. His splitter was giving the Rangers fits with two strikeouts in the first and then two more in the second and two more in the third. He was getting weak contact and allowed only a walk heading into the seventh inning when the Rangers had Butch Davis, Julio Franco and Rafael Palmeiro due up. He got Davis and Franco to ground out. After a first pitch ball to Palmeiro, he made a mistake and Palmeiro hit a ball to right field to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.

And that was all Ape gave up that night. He got the next seven Rangers to finish with nine innings pitched, 11 strikeouts, one walk but also the one run on one hit. It was so so close to being that magical no-hitter. Of course, the Royals offense in Royals offense fashion wasted opportunities that night to even get Appier a win. In the bottom of the second, I remember vividly that Gary Gaetti his a long fly ball to left that went off the very top of the wall and stayed in the yard. A Kevin McReynolds (sorry, should have put a trigger warning on his name) singled and Gaetti couldn’t score and they were both stranded. They ended up with nine hits but went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position.

Hipolito Pichardo vs. Boston - July 21, 1992

You have to go back pretty deep in the collective Royals fan brain to remember the hype around Pichardo back in the day, but the organization talked him up like he was going to be the next big thing. He debuted at 22 in 1992 and made 24 starts with seven more relief appearances. He had a 3.95 ERA, which was about league average but had a 9.6 percent strikeout rate. The game, again, was different then, but even that was just too low. He was a classic pitcher who it seemed like the stuff should be much better than the results.

In spite of that, he was actually pretty useful. He had a 4.04 ERA in 165 innings in 1993 and then transitioned to the bullpen where he wasn’t good, but he wasn’t terrible. He was pretty good for Boston in 2000, mostly out of the bullpen, but after a disaster outing with Houston in 2002, his career was over. But for one night in 1992, he was making good on his promise and it was against the very Boston team he’d succeed for almost a decade later.

It should be noted that this was not a good Red Sox team. They ended the season with two players in the double digits in home runs. Out of 14 AL teams, they were 13th in average, 11th in OBP and 13th in SLG. But it was still a lineup that night that featured Wade Boggs, Mo Vaughn and Bob Zupcic. The catcher for the Red Sox that night was Tony Peña, so that’s sort of fun. Anyway, this was another Royals radio special and whatever you think of Denny now, he and Fred were such a treat to listen to in the 90s, especially when a pitcher was pitching well. It’s probably why I remember so much about this game.

I remember Pichardo got the Red Sox 1-2-3 in the first inning and if anyone can find the audio, I’d love to hear it, but I distinctly remember them talking about just how good “Hippo” looked early. It might have been in the second, but he labored a bit, so I’m thinking it was the first. He did have a 1-2-3 second as well, but he just ripped through the top of their order in the first. He was actually perfect through five innings and at that point, either Denny or Fred said something about how you might want to let people to know to tune in.

Jinx or not, Pichardo gave up a double to Luis Rivera with two outs in the sixth inning. If you think that name is familiar, it might be because he played for the Royals in 1998. If you don’t think that name is familiar, don’t worry, there are many more in your boat than in the boat who know him. But in this game, he cost Pichardo history because that double was the only base runner he’d allow in the entire game. Whatever inning Denny and Fred talked about Pichardo being on, they were absolutely right. He was flat out filthy. He didn’t do it with strikeouts, which is no surprise. He only got four whiffs, but his game score of 89 was tied for 18th best in Royals history. It was one of only nine games where the pitcher went no more than nine innings and had a game score above 85 with fewer than five strikeouts. So you know he was good in that one. Just not quite good enough.

I’m sure there are more that I overlooked, but these are ones that I remembered since Saberhagen got that last out in 1991. Kris Bubic had a close-ish call in Chicago just a few months ago that a dry rain delay ruined. I know that Dennis Rasmussen threw a one-hitter in September of 1992 and I vaguely recall Chris Haney having a handful of low-hit outings. But these seemed like the best chance even if, in the case of Greinke and Anderson, they never really stood a shot in reality.

I wonder a lot who the next Royals no-hitter will be thrown by. Is it someone currently in the organization? It’s easy to say that Singer could have it going well enough one day to get it done. Or maybe it’s Carlos Hernandez or Asa Lacy or Jonathan Bowlan or Brad Keller. Or maybe it’s someone we’ve never heard of yet who will make his way through the system in the next few years. Or maybe it’ll be a former top prospect who the Royals give a shot to in Spring Training. If I had to guess from the current staff, I’d actually put my money on Singer, mostly because we’ve seen him get close. But either way, it’s been too long. I’m ready for one of these bids to get completed.