St. Petersburg, FL (Sports Network) – Matt Garza tossed the first no-hitter in Tampa Bay history in a 5-0 win over Detroit in the opener of a four-game set at Tropicana Field.
Garza (11-5) walked one, struck out six and faced the minimum 27 hitters for the Rays, who have won three in a row and four out of five. Brennan Boesch was the only baserunner for Detroit and was erased on an inning-ending double play grounder in the second inning.
Tampa Bay was the victim of a no-hitter twice earlier this season at the hands of Oakland’s Dallas Braden, who tossed a perfect game on May 9, and Arizona’s Edwin Jackson, who needed 149 pitches to finish the job on June 25.
The New York Mets and San Diego Padres are now the only major league teams not have not thrown a no-hitter.
Matt Joyce hit a two-out grand slam in the sixth inning to break up dueling no-hitters and Carl Crawford added a solo shot in the eighth for Tampa Bay.
Max Scherzer (7-8) had kept the Rays hitless until Joyce’s decisive blow and wound up taking the loss after allowing four runs — three earned — on two hits and four walks while striking out eight over 5 2/3 innings for the Tigers, who have dropped three out of four.