Matt Garza Pitches No-Hitter: First in Tampa Bay Rays History

Saint Petersburg, Fla. (GaeaTimes.com) - The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Detroit Tigers 5-0 Monday night after a memorable pitching performance by Matt Garza. He pitched the first no-hitter in Tampa Bay Rays history. It is the fifth no-hitter in the major leagues this season.

Twenty six year old Matt Garza faced the minimum 27 batters. He struck out six while throwing 120 pitches and only 40 balls. He allowed only a second-inning walk to Brennan Boesch.

It was one of those days where everything lined up

Matt Garza said,

The defense made great plays. I really can’t say enough about them.

However, this Detroit lineup was not the same lineup that was 31 runs above average when entering this season. Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillen, and Brandon Inge were out. They were replaced by Will Rhymes, Don Kelly, and Ryan Raburn. Ordonez is a well above average hitter whereas this was the third major league game for Rhymes. Raburn and Kelly also struggled to get around average.

The Rays have been held hitless four times in their 13 season history of which three times since last July. This included a pair of perfect games. This is the third time in the major league history that a team is involved in three no-hitters in one season. It is also the first time that two no-hitters have occurred in the same AL ballpark in 37 years.

We needed one. I don’t care who it came from. We just needed one for our own confidence

Matt Garza said,

The guys are just as excited as I am. It’s fun.

Matt Garza’s teammates mobbed him after his stunning performance. They formed a circular celebration around him.