Historical night for Giants Rookie

They don't call him Hesto Presto for nothing - So far in 2015, Giants rookie pitcher Chris Heston has been hit or miss. Tonight, he was all miss for the opposition. In only his 13th career start, the 27-year old would pitch his way into the history books with a dominant performance against the New York Mets. With injuries to pitchers Matt Cain and Jake Peavy prior to the start of the 2015 season, the Giants were left with a hole in their pitching rotation and question marks as to who would fill the void. With only 5.1 career innings pitched under his belt entering the season, the Giants went with Heston to solve their pitching woes for the time being. Heston was given the opportunity and has simply ran with it ever since.  

After a stellar month of April, Bruce Bochy and company appeared to have made the perfect decision. But an up and down month of May caused many to wonder if Heston's star had begun to fade. Prior to Tuesday's game, Heston had allowed 16 earned runs in his last 18 innings pitched as his ERA on the year spiked to 4.29. With all that in his rear-view, Heston came out guns blazing at Citi Field as the Giants looked to improve to their NL-best 17th win on the road this season. Though they would end up winning the game, 5-0, it was Heston who stole the show as he twirled the 17th no-hitter in Giants franchise history. One way to describe Heston's feat -- pure dominance. Just how on was Heston you ask? Of the 27 outs recorded, only two came through he air and left the infield as Heston threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of the batters he faced and surrendered only four three-ball counts as he tallied 11 strikeouts and didn't allow a single walk. Heston's only blemish would come in the hit batsman department as he allowed only three men to reach base, all of which were hit by a pitch including back-to-back batters in the fourth inning. The last of which to leadoff the ninth.

He would follow that up by striking out the side in the ninth as all three batters were caught looking, the first time a no-hitter had ended in three consecutive strikeouts since Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers did it back in the 1960's, only Koufax's were of the swinging variety. After recording the final out, catcher Buster Posey met Heston halfway and had a big hug waiting for his pitcher. Heston needed only 110-pitches in the feat and became the first rookie to toss a no-hitter since Boston's Clay Buccholtz in 2007. Of the 17 no-no's in Giants franchise history, only two others were thrown by rookies as Christy Mathewson (1901) and Jeff Tesreau (1912) accomplished the others. Heston's bid for history made it four consecutive seasons in which a Giants pitcher has threw a no-hitter with Tim Lincecum accomplishing the feat in each of the past two seasons and Matt Cain doing so back in 2012 when he completed a perfect game. The Giants join only the archrival Dodgers to have accomplished four consecutive seasons with a no-hitter as Koufax repeated the feat from 1962 to 1965. Something Heston can say he did that Koufax can't, however, is that he became the first pitcher since 1914 to have two of his first 15 career starts be complete games with at least 10 K's and no more than two hits allowed. 

Just how good of a day was it for Heston? He also helped his own cause in the batters box, collecting two hits and driving in the first two runs of his career. With the win, Heston improved to 6-4 on the year and saw his ERA dip under four as it currently sits at a respectable 3.77. While Heston's improbable journey continues, here's to hoping those ugly outings that usually follow up the good ones are a thing of the past. Congratulations, Heston & Go Giants! 

Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest