Ronel Blanco Throws No-Hitter in 8th Career Start
Ronel Blanco of the Houston Astros had the first historic moment of the 2024 Major League Baseball season on Monday night as he threw the 17th no-hitter in Astros history against the Toronto Blue Jays. The only batter to reach base against Blanco was George Springer, who walked to lead off the game and walked again with two outs in the ninth inning. The right-hander struck out seven Toronto batters on just 105 pitches.
As most no-hitters do, this one had a few scares. The most notable hit bid came from Cavan Biggio, with one out in the ninth. Biggio hit a sharp groundball that was grabbed by a diving José Abreu, who then tossed the ball from the seat of his pants to Blanco, who alertly covered the first base bag to put out Biggio. Another critical aspect of the no-hitter was the abundance of offensive support Blanco received from his teammates with the bats. Houston put up ten runs on 12 hits, including five home runs, with two coming from Kyle Tucker and Yainer Diaz, respectively, and another tallied by Jeremy Peña. The significant lead allowed Blanco to pitch much looser without having the burden of the score in the back of his mind.
It has not been an easy road for Blanco, to say the least. The 30-year-old was the very last pitcher to make the Astros’ Opening Day roster. Blanco was originally signed by the Astros out of the Dominican Republic at 22 years old, but he never pitched in a big league game until he was 28. Monday was just his eighth career start in the big leagues and his 25th appearance ever in a Major League game. It has been a crazy week for Blanco and his family. Last Tuesday, Blanco secured the fifth and final rotation spot for the Astros just hours after his wife gave birth to their baby girl. Fast forward six days later to Monday night, and Blanco throws a no-hitter in his season debut. Blanco’s performance gives the Astros the most no-hitters by a team since Hoston entered the league in 1962. As for Toronto, this marks the eighth time they have been no-hit in franchise history.
