Update (12:36 AM ET): Greinke is relieved, probably. With one out in the ninth inning, Greinke gave up a weakly-hit single to shallow left-center field to Austin Nola, ending the no-hit bid. He gave up another single to Tim Lopes before being taken out of the game at 108 pitches.
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Update (12:17 AM ET): Greinke is now through eight innings at 92 pitches. He sandwiched ground ball outs between a sharp comebacker from Omar Narváez.
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Astros starter Zack Greinke, who has actually said he never wants to throw a no-hitter, is through seven hitless innings against the Mariners in Seattle on Wednesday night. The Mariners have already been no-hit twice this season — twice since July, to be more specific.
With 82 pitches thrown thus far, Greinke has allowed just one base runner, coming on a Dee Gordon walk in the sixth inning. He has fanned nine batters. Both Astro runs came in the first inning on RBI doubles from Alex Bregman and Yordan Álvarez.
Greinke, 35, entered Wednesday night’s start with a 17-5 record, a 3.05 ERA, and a 178/29 K/BB ratio in 200 1/3 innings between the Diamondbacks (146 innings) and Astros (54 1/3 innings).
The Astros have authored the two most recent no-hitters. Justin Verlander pitched a no-no against the Blue Jays on September 1, and the foursome of Aaron Sanchez, Will Harris, Joe Biagini, and Chris Devenski combined to no-hit the Mariners on August 3.
In June, Richard Morin of the Arizona Republic quoted Greinke as saying about a no-hitter, “It would just probably be more hassle than anything … just a bunch of nonsense comes with it.”
We’ll keep you updated as Greinke attempts to navigate the final two innings.
