In just his seventh career start in the majors, right-handed pitcher Jorge Lopez came within three outs of throwing a perfect game/no-hitter.
Lopez was perfect through eight innings, throwing 100 pitches and keeping the Twins without a hit or a walk, but he walked Max Kepler to lead-off the ninth inning before Robbie Grossman lined a single to center field to end the no-hit bid.
The Twins wound up scoring a run to avoid being shutout, but still lost 4-1.
The Twins have been no-hit five times in team history, with the last coming in 2012 when Jered Weaver and the Angels beat the Twins 9-0.
No-hitters against the Twins.
- May 8, 1968 – Jim “Catfish” Hunter (Oakland 4, Twins 0)
- Sep. 21, 1970 – Vida Blue (Oakland 6, Twins 0)
- Sep. 24, 1974 – Nolan Ryan (Angels 4, Twins 0)
- May 17, 1998 – *David Wells (Yankees 4, Twins 0)
- May 2, 2012 – Jered Weaver (Angels 9, Twins 0)
*Wells pitched a perfect game.
The Twins have 21 games left this season and one of them will likely come against Lopez as he’s slated to start Thursday, Sep. 13 against the Twins in Kansas City.
