Beginner's Luck: Arizona's Gilbert twirls unlikely No-No

In what's been a dismal season for the Arizona Diamondbacks, there hasn't been a whole lot to cheer for in the desert this year. Sitting in the cellar of the National League Western Division at 38-81 and 38.5 games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants, positivity and all around good vibes have been at a minimum for the D-Backs who own the worst record in all of baseball. However, the was one magical moment that took place on Saturday with the snakes in the limelight as 27-year old pitcher Tyler Gilbert threw a no-hitter in his first career big league start. With his family in attendance at Arizona's Chase Field, Gilbert blanked the high-powered San Diego Padres, albeit without their best player in Fernando Tatis Jr., to become the fourth pitcher in Major League history to toss a no-no in his first career start and the first since 1953. Making things even more improbable, Gilbert who had bounced around with the Phillies before being traded to the Dodgers and ultimately released and picked up by Arizona, had never logged a complete-game at any level in his professional baseball career. That was until his historic night. 

Having just made his Major League debut nine days earlier in a relief appearance against San Francisco in which Gilbert gave up a hit and a walk while striking out one in 2/3 innings pitched, followed by two shutout frames (1 hit, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts) against San Diego two days later, the D-Backs' southpaw has lived up to the adage, "one man's trash is another man's treasure." Or in this case one team's trash is another team's treasure, even if only for this one spectacular history-making evening. After all, it's stories like this that make us fall in love with baseball time and time again. Before being mobbed by his teammates as out No. 27 was caught in center-field on a line-drive off the bat of Tommy Pham, Gilbert walked three batters and struck out five Padre hitters on 102-pitches (64 strikes). And while he didn't have the type of stuff that was blowing guys away as he barely sniffed the low-90's with his fastball, he did enough to throw guys off and keep the ball in the park. Something that's easier said than done at Arizona's hitter-friendly ballpark. Oddly enough, Joe Musgrove who pitched the first no-hitter of 2021 back on April 9 against the Texas Rangers, was the opposing pitcher on Saturday. 

The first Diamondbacks no-hitter since Edwin Jackson's no-no in 2010 and just the third in D-Backs franchise history (Hall of Famer Randy Johnson the other), unless you count Madison Bumgarner's 7 no-hit frames in the second game of a 7-inning doubleheader back on April 25, it's the eighth no-hitter tossed this season which ties the record for the most in a single season set back in 1884. Quite the story and an unforgettable night for a guy who even if we never hear from him again, etched his name into the record books and will forever have a story to tell, especially considering he was working with his father as an electrician less than a year ago following the cancellation of the 2020 Minor League Baseball season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Learning the trade just in case he never received that call to the bigs. 

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Bumgarner makes History in Opening Day Loss

Baseball season is back at last! Sunday served as Opening Day for six MLB teams including the San Francisco Giants who made it as far as the National League Divisional round last season before falling in a best of five series against the eventual champion Chicago Cubs. And if there was one thing that kept the Giants from making it to the World Series for the fourth time in seven years or in its fourth consecutive even year if you believed in the even year magic, it was the inconsistency of the bullpen which showed its face all too often in 2016. After owning the dubious title of leading the league in blown saves a year ago with a total of 30, Sunday seemed all too familiar for Giants fans.

After leading for most of the game thanks to a bit of small ball and a pair of Madison Bumgarner home runs which we'll get to after the dreadful bullpen, Giants skipper Bruce Bochy saw much of the same in Game 1 of 162, falling to a walk-off loss on the road against the division rival Arizona Diamondbacks. Though Arizona starter Zack Greinke was only able to make it thru the first 5 innings due to a high pitch count, the former AL Cy Young Award winner who has some ownage on the Giants, would be bailed out and no longer on the hook for what appeared to be an imminent loss. With MadBum supplying some offense of his own as well as pitching a gem thru 5 innings and not allowing a single base runner until the bottom of the 6th, the Giants ace who made his fourth consecutive Opening Day start, would hit a rough patch as he surrendered three straight hits to end both his bid for a perfect game and the shutout. Following a 1-out triple by D-Backs catcher Jeff Mathis and a Nick Ahmed single to put Arizona on the board, A.J. Pollock tied the game at 3-3 just three pitches later with a 2-run homer. It would be a deflating inning considering how dominant Bumgarner was pitching before allowing his first hit, striking out 11 D-Backs batters in total, but he wouldn't let it effect him too much as he would more than make up for it during his next at-bat the following inning.

With the Giants back on top in a 4-3 ballgame, Derek Law would take the ball in the bottom of the 8th inning in relief of Bumgarner but would be greeted rather rudely as three straight singles tied the game once again and put an abrupt end to his day. Relievers Ty Blach and Hunter Strickland would limit the damage thanks to a double-play and a ground out to end the frame. Onto the 9th they went where a lead-off triple by Joe Panik who scored on a pinch-hit sac-fly by Conor Cillaspie one batter later, appeared to be the deciding blow. However, the third time would not be a charm this time around as San Francisco's bullpen struggles only continued. While the Giants headed into December's winter meetings with a closer atop their list of needs, they walked away with their guy after throwing what was then a record of $62 Million over 4 years at Mark Melancon. Though it would be a lot of money to invest into one guy, not to mention a reliever, the Giants were in desperate need as the signing received positive reviews among Giants fans who are hoping he'll be the anti-Santiago Casilla for years to come. But while facing his first big test in a San Francisco uniform, things didn't quite go as planned for the 3-time All-Star.

After retiring the first two batters he faced and needing only one more out to complete the save and seal the win, the same guy who ended Bumgarner's bid for perfection, sparked the late rally for Arizona. Jeff Mathis' 2-out double would be followed by three straight singles including the decisive blow off the bat of Chris Owings as the Diamondbacks walked-off to a 6-5 Opening Day victory, spoiling Bumgarner's record-setting day and Melancon's Giants debut as he was tagged with the loss. Defeat is always a bummer but this one stings a bit more because of how the Giants went ahead three different times and had their opponent's back against the wall and needing only one out for the win, but hey, its the first game of many. Let's just pray to the Baseball Gods that this isn't a repeat of the 2016 Giants bullpen. It'll be up to All-Star pitcher Johnny Cueto to get the Giants in the win column as he'll toe the slab in Game 2.

The biggest takeaway from the game would be Giants ace Madison Bumgarner who has proved to be almost as dangerous at the plate as he is on the mound. After making a bid for the Home Run Derby last season before the idea was shot down by Giants manager Bruce Bochy, baseball fans everywhere are already putting his name in the hat in hopes of getting a glimpse of MadBum at this year's Derby after his Opening Day magic which saw him belt a pair of home runs including his second career homer off of Zack Greinke. After becoming the fourth pitcher in Giants franchise history to connect for a home run on Opening Day, Bumgarner did something no other pitcher has done by becoming the first pitcher in MLB history to hit multiple home runs on Opening Day. It would also mark the fifth time a Giant at any position would have a multi-home run game on Opening Day with a guy named Barry Bonds being the last to do so. Following his home run in the fifth inning which tied him for the franchise lead for the most career home runs by a Giants pitcher with 15, Bumgarner separated himself from the rest of the list with another dinger in his very next at-bat for career home run No. 16. Though it won't last too long, how cool is it to say a pitcher (who isn't just any normal pitcher) is currently leading the league in home runs.


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