A Fascinating History of Extra Inning No-Hitters the Pittsburgh Pirates Were Part of

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PITTSBURGH, PA – AUGUST 23: Josh Harrison #5 of the Pittsburgh Pirates celebrates after hitting a walk off home run in the tenth inning breaking up a no hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the at PNC Park on August 23, 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

Even though an extra inning no-hitter might be one of the rarest events in baseball, the Pittsburgh Pirates are all to familiar with them.

A no-hitter is one of the hardest feats in baseball history. To be honest, it is one most difficult, most impressive individual feats in all of sports. Rather it be at the MLB level, college, high school, or Pony League ball, often times no-hitters rely more so on luck than skill. Some of the best pitchers in the league like Corey Kluber, Gerrit Cole or Jacob deGrom have just as much of a chance of throwing one as someone like former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Edinson Volquez or Mike Fiers.

But do you know what’s even rarer? Carrying a no-hitter into extra innings. In MLB history, there have been 14 no hitters that have been broken up in extra innings. The Pirates have been part of three of them, including another extra inning affair in 1997. Which is one that we will get to later in the article.

So, needless to say, the Pirates are familiar with extra inning no hitters. However, each one is memorable in some way, and that’s what we will get into today. So buckle up for a trip down Pittsburgh Pirates memory lane.

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